History
Mr. Flippen and Mr. Hugh Prather Jr. decided that Highland Park needed a shopping center that could function as a town square, the developers traveled to Barcelona and Seville, Spain as well as to Mexico and California, studying the architecture in order to plan a retail center for Highland Park.
They hired American architects Marion Fresenius Fooshee and James B. Cheek to design the center. The center opened in 1931. After the death of Hugh Prather, Sr. in 1959, management of the Village was taken over by his sons, John Prather and Hugh Prather, Jr. In 1966, the Howard Corporation acquired the shopping center. Under Howard Corporation management, little attention was given to proper tenant mix, landscaping deteriorated, overhead wires began to criss-cross the property, inappropriate signage appeared, and tenants were permitted to make facade alterations that were not in keeping with the classical architecture of the Village. Spanish arches were covered up and newer materials that did not blend with the basic stone and stucco began to appear.
In 1976, the Howard Corporation decided to sell the Village and enlisted the help of the Henry S. Miller Company. Henry S. Miller, Jr. became attracted to the Village’s unrealized potential. Mr. Miller had a sentimental attachment to the property because his father had been an associate of the Flippen-Prather Realty Company from 1917 to 1919 and a close personal friend of both partners, Hugh Prather and Edgar Flippen.
Henry S. Miller and partners acquired the property in 1976 for $5 million and was developed by the Henry S. Miller Company, which later became Henry S. Miller Interests. Under the vision of Henry S. Miller, the sleepy shopping center quickly turned into a luxury shopping destination that is known for harboring the most premiere designer shops in North Texas. He replaced lesser known local stores with Ralph Lauren and the state's first Chanel. The Village commands about $125 per square foot, placing it among the most pricey retail locales in the state. Located among the wealthiest neighborhoods in the region with Texas's first country club right next door, store sales for luxury retailers in Highland Park Village range from $1,000 per square foot to more than $1,500 per square foot annually.
In 2009, Highland Park Village was purchased by Stephen Summers, Elisa Summers, Heather Washburne and Ray Washburne for a record $170 million dollars, the highest total price for a retail property of that year. While retail in other parts of the country was hit hard by the recession, Highland Park Village managed to stay strong with the opening of Vince, a contemporary sportswear label and Leggiadro, a Manhattan-based luxury Italian store. The new owners replaced the former Banana Republic space with Texas's first Christian Louboutin, a boutique from Diane Von Furstenberg, and Yves Saint Laurent.
Read more about this topic: Highland Park Village
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