Home Depot Eyes Pearland Retail Site Closing

PEARLAND, TX-Home Depot Inc. will close within three weeks on its 125,000-sf retail spot at Silverlake Village, a 500,000-sf community shopping center on 54 acres at the southeast corner of US Highway 288 and FM 518 in Pearland, a suburb of Houston.

The shopping center, which opens in 2002, broke ground last month. Silverlake Village is the first large commercial development in the booming Pearland area. Ed James and Lance Gilliam of Moody Rambin Interests are represent shopping center owner, Lasco Development.

Gilliam tells GlobeSt.com that the tremendous residential growth in Pearland should make the commercial market interesting. He notes that Pearland is not just an underserved market in terms of retail presence, but an “unserved” market. Retailers need not worry about cannibalizing themselves by building new stores too close together since the retail scene in Pearland is in its early cycle, he says.

Other stores joining Home Depot in the Silverlake Village line up include anchor-store Kohl’s, 86,000 sf; Linens n Things, 35,000 sf; Ross Dress for Less, 30,000 sf; Circuit City Stores Inc., 34,000 sf; and Chili’s restaurant, 5,600 sf. Tom Wilcox, general manager of Silverlake says that not only is Silverlake Village one of the largest retail areas in Pearland, but will be the highest quality. Wilcox is working with Lasco Development to incorporate the upscale landscape and architectural standards of abutting residential Silverlake community into Silverlake Village and all retail centers adjoining the neighborhood.

Wilcox says Silverlake has about 4,000 homes, with another 500 to 600 in the works. American Metro/Study Corp. names Silverlake as the fourth most active community in the Houston area in terms of home starts during second quarter 2001. Wilcox says the development has sold 230 homes so far this year and anticipates 450 home sales by year-end. Another retail development is under way just east of Silverlake Village.

A 57,000-sf Randalls-anchored store is in the works for the main entrance to Silverlake. The center also will feature 23,000 sf of retail space, including a Bank of America. James says roughly 750,000 sf of new retail space is to deliver by the end of 2002.