Memorial City Mall Redevelopment: MetroNational's $8.8 Million Demolition Plan

The Memorial City Mall redevelopment is one of the biggest brick-and-mortar retail resets underway in west Houston. MetroNational, the mall's longtime owner, filed plans with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to demolish approximately 216,000 square feet of interior space and roughly 190,000 square feet of exterior space, with the $8.8 million first phase scheduled to break ground in May 2026 and the broader redevelopment finishing in April 2027. The work centers on the former Sears wing and adjacent corridors, with a new ground-floor lobby and relocated mall entrance carved out for incoming tenants.

For shoppers across the Energy Corridor, Spring Branch, the Memorial Villages, and Bunker Hill, the redevelopment marks the most visible change at Memorial City since the medical and office towers went up across the broader campus in the 2010s. Parking and access improvements are expected to wrap by January 2027, and the full retail reconfiguration finishes that April. Here's what's coming, what's staying, and how the redevelopment fits MetroNational's larger town-center vision for the Memorial City district.

What MetroNational is demolishing at Memorial City Mall

The filing lists 216,000 square feet of interior demolition and around 190,000 square feet of exterior demolition. The bulk of the affected footprint is the former Sears anchor on the west side of the mall, plus connecting interior corridors that will be reworked into a new ground-floor lobby and tenant-ready commercial space. A relocated mall entrance is part of the plan, aimed at giving the new lobby better street presence along Memorial City Way.

MetroNational has not released a final tenant list. Industry filings and statements from the company point to a mix of food-and-beverage, experiential retail, fitness, and medical or wellness uses replacing the old department-store box, which is consistent with how Texas A&M's Real Estate Research Center has been characterizing the Memorial City redevelopment plans. The Macy's, Dillard's, JCPenney, and AMC anchors are not affected by this phase.

Memorial City redevelopment timeline

Construction starts in May 2026. Parking and access improvements are scheduled to wrap by January 2027, which is the milestone most current Memorial City shoppers will notice first; the parking deck restripes, new wayfinding signage, and rerouted vehicle entries should reduce the choke points around the south side of the mall. The broader interior demolition and reconfiguration finishes in April 2027, at which point the new lobby and tenant spaces will be ready for buildout and announcement.

During construction, the rest of Memorial City Mall stays open. Macy's, Dillard's, JCPenney, Target across the street, and the dining and entertainment options (including the AMC theater and the food court on the east side) continue normal hours. Shoppers should expect periodic detours and temporary signage near the construction zone. For another west-side retail update worth tracking, see our coverage of the new Target Houston-area receive center.

How Memorial City Mall fits MetroNational's bigger vision

The $8.8 million phase is the operational first move, but MetroNational has been signaling much bigger intentions for the surrounding 265-acre Memorial City district. In 2022 the company unveiled a 27-acre "town square" proposal that would add apartments, boutiques, restaurants, offices, and an open-air central plaza with green space tying the mall to the existing medical and office towers. MetroNational has said that proposal is still under evaluation as of 2026, though the new demolition filing brings part of it closer to reality.

A separate development called Greenside at Memorial City, a 35,000-square-foot mixed-use project being built by MetroNational with Radom Capital, is set to open in 2026 with retail, restaurants, offices, and wellness concepts. Together with the mall reset, Greenside is part of a broader push to turn Memorial City into a denser, walkable, mixed-use district rather than a stand-alone enclosed mall. The broader Memorial area guide covers the surrounding neighborhood and what else is changing.

Why this matters for Houston retail

Memorial City is one of the highest-traffic retail nodes west of Loop 610. The mall sits inside a campus that also includes Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, multiple Class A office towers, the Westin Houston Memorial City hotel, and an Ice at Memorial City rink. Retail filings of this scale signal that brick-and-mortar shopping centers continue to evolve toward mixed-use, experiential formats rather than fade out under e-commerce pressure.

For shoppers who want a non-mall alternative during the construction window, the Heights remains a strong walkable option; our shopping in The Heights guide covers 19th Street and Heights Mercantile. For real-estate investors and operators tracking Houston commercial trends, the Memorial City redevelopment also signals where retail-to-mixed-use plays will continue across the city.

Reporting sources include MetroNational filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, The Real Deal, Texas A&M's Real Estate Research Center, CultureMap Houston, and the Memorial Management District.