Marq-E Entertainment Center Houston TX

So I was looking into starting posts about Skyscrapers with this blog. The readers have spoken and I will continue to stay with retail and malls with this blog. I may start a skyscraper blog in the future though to showcase my thousands of photos of downtowns in Louisiana and Texas.

The Marq-E center in Houston Texas was developed as a mixed use retail and entertainment center. The entertainment and restaurant options have been mostly successful, but retail here has not taken off. The nearby Bunker Hill/ Gessner area is where most of the retail of the area is located, with the exception of the Houston Ikea which is near the Marq-E center. Retail also has struggled at the site because many of the entertainment options are frequented at night and not open during the day when the retail stores were open. The final reason why retail struggles here was the lack of a retail anchor on the site. Parking at the site was also an issue, so a parking garage was later built. The partially enclosed portion of the center was torn down in 2009 to make room for more parking. Wal-mart also recently opened a store right behind the center, and a small retail center was added to the front of the development.

Click here for the directory archive of the retail stores that were in the development.

Here are views of the development from the top of the parking garage. 

Most of the businesses are entertainment night clubs or restaurants. 

This was once the area of enclosed stores, now a parking lot and side walk. At the end of this walkway the Edwards Cinemas towers over the complex.

This was towards the end of the demolition of the interior portion of the center. Retail stores did not last as anticipated in this entertainment development.

The Improv labelscar is from the original location of the club which moved before this section of the development was demolished.