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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Simon may be opening Galveston Premium Outlets

Prime Property with Nancy Sarnoff

The Texas City area may be getting a major outlet mall to be operated by the outlet division of Simon Property Group, owners of the Galleria.

The company has plans for a 350,000 square foot Galveston Premium Outlets to be located along Interstate 45 at Holland Road and contain about 100 stores.

"We are currently under contract to purchase the land," said Michele Rothstein, spokesperson for Premium Outlets, Simon's outlet division. The opening date has not yet been announced.

Galveston Premium Outlets will enable Premium Outlets to serve the Galveston and southeast Houston area, Rothstein said.

In the greater Houston area Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group operates the Katy Mills and Houston Premium Outlets.

The Galveston Premium Outlets project is not a done deal, however.

Ed Page, principal of Houston-based Page Partners, is representing Simon on the land acquisition and said a few other developers are also looking to build an outlet mall in the Houston area, he said.

Which one actually builds the mall will depend on who can line up the most tenants.

"When you have three major players running after the same tenants, the tenants are going to keep options open and talk to everybody. There will be a tipping point when a couple of key tenants will make a decision," Page said.

He declined to name the other players scouting Houston.

Simon's Premium Outlet malls specialize in discounted designer apparel. At Houston Premium Outlets near Cypress, for example, stores include Ann Taylor, Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade, Cole Haan and Nike.

If the deal goes through, a list of merchants for Galveston Premium Outlets will be announced in the spring, Rothstein said.

Outlet malls have been among the few retail center sectors to expand lately.

Last April Simon CEO David Simon told the Chronicle: "Ground up development is really dormant today except for the outlet properties."

Galveston Premium Outlets is expected to generate $120 million in retail sales, according to Simon

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