A Dallas company will finalize its purchase of the Country Club Plaza today, representatives of the buyer announced Thursday.
According to the Plaza District Council, an area advocacy group, the purchase will consist of just the shopping center—the retail spaces roughly between Summit Street and Mill Creek Parkway. Other district landmarks, like Brush Creek Greenway Park, the Jack Henry Building, and the Plaza Tennis Center, will keep their current owners.
Country Club Plaza’s buyer—an affiliate of HP Village Partners LP—bought Dallas’s Highland Park Village shopping center in 2009 and has pumped millions of dollars into it. At the time of purchase, Highland Park Village had 53 businesses, per The Dallas Morning News; today, it has nearly 70, including some that may excite longtime Plaza-goers: Mi Cocina and an Honor Bar.
Mi Cocina was a beloved Mexican chain that had a location in the Plaza from 1998 to 2008; Honor Bar is owned by the same company as Houston’s, which had a two-decade run at 4640 Wornall Road from the late 1980s to the late 2010s. This connection has stirred talk of these businesses making the trip north.
Representatives of HP Village say they’re not sure if new (or returning) businesses are being discussed at this stage; representatives from Country Club Plaza couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Plaza District Council is optimistic the new owners will revitalize the shopping district, which has seen a rash of closing retails in recent years.
“Prospective buyers Ray Washburne and Stephen Summers are well aware of the challenges they will face due to deferred maintenance, the state of retail, and other social and cultural factors that have challenged the area,” the council said in a blog Monday. “The buyers remain optimistic and excited about what lies ahead and, without a doubt, their ownership is an extremely bullish opportunity for this beloved area.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas will discuss the Plaza’s future in a press conference on Monday.