Greens point shut down basically during the 08 crash. Macy’s was the last big box store and it left that mall around 2012. The movie theater was rebuilt back around 2015 and shut down after the pandemic.
@@realestatemindsetI live in Aldine. The whole area got screwed. The apartments around there are awful. They look ok on the outside, but the crime rate is ridiculous. That being said, across the mall is a lone star college with a few restaurants attached. It’s very nice and modern. That little strip center deserves a chance. It has a good sushi place called Ichiban.
This mall was built in 76, have a lot of memories going here as a kid and teen. They used to have fireworks during the 4th and New Year. It had a Central Park theme with live tress inside which would be decorated with lights during the holidays. There was a fountain with large pipes that filled with water and made music, a statue with a boy on a swing and these tubes kids could play in. The mall was sold and renovated in the late 80s and much of what may it unique was removed. The part of the beginning was a Foley's owned by May Department Stores and became a Macy's in the late 90s. The mall was still cool in the 90s, but the apartments in the area became low income and the area deteriorated rapidly. The area would get bad once the sun went down. It got the name Gunspoint after a female officer was murdered there in the late 80s.
@billyfowler Yes, I spent my teenage years at Greenspoint. Great hangout, safe, everyone was there on Saturdays. Better days when people behaved instead of running feral.
@@Claudialupperocd Kids got discipline back then. Even the bad ones knew their boundaries and didn't act all combative, maybe a little mouthy, but that is about all. Didn't have mobs of teens tearing the place up. Police didn't play around back then either.
That Movie theater was definitely not a main attraction at that Mall, it was built near the end of the malls life. It was built as a last resort type decision to keep them in business but the theater kinda sucked. The only thing keeping that Mall still alive is that Fitness connection Gym and the Carnivals they have every now and then on the spot where he stood next to that sign.
This is misinformation. Greenpoint closed itself, the reputation scared customers away. I wouldn't say all malls are doomed. This was an older mall that never got modern updates like Willowbrook or memorial city, it just stayed the same like northwest mall. It brought in the wrong customers and scared customers that actually keep the mall open.
I agree with your comment. I know for a fact that areas is a bad part of town. A lot of bad people live around that area. Those bad people is why greens point mall close down. There's only so much fighting, shooting, and gang activity a business can handle.
I agree as well. Kind of reminds me of Sharpstown Mall but they revamped and turned it into Las Americas mall. It still is kind of a hole in the wall. I really regret that West Oaks closed. They did a bit of renovations but couldn't keep up apparently. It's still sitting there collecting dust. West Wood Mall on Bissonnett closed over 20 years ago I think, and it just sat there. Then I think Tesla and Audi came thru and the college there. Just a waste. A center for the homeless would be good!! Have a good one
So sad..it was just a thing to get dropped off at the mall, or drive to the mall as a teen…it was the place to be and be seen. Even if you didn’t have any money to shop, which a lot of us kids didn’t, it was just a cool place to be and take in the sights and smells of the mall air. I grew up in Amarillo Texas, I remember the day that WESTGATE mall opened there in the early 80’s…I was there with my best friend, we had no money to shop, but we were there… just enjoying a new place to be and just to hang out as teenagers…what a happy wonderful memory I still have today at age 57♥️
You be careful! Get the hell out of there. I live in a small town lately I've noticed homeless people hanging outside of a dollar store. I never imagined having to ask for employee assistance to my car
People slowly stopped shopping there because they were always robbing people in the parking areas. When Exxon relocated their offices, at least six multiple story buildings, away from there to protect their employees and to get lower taxes, the entire area swiftly declined. Many other businesses in the area, not just at the mall, were filing bankruptcy or selling the locations due to lack of customers and the increase in robbery and theft. Grocery stores have also moved to areas with less chance of robbery and theft. Now, even the police storefront has left the mall.
All of those apartments being built will be just as bad as the mall. Gunspoint used to have a HPD unit stationed there because the crime was so bad. This is a very dangerous area to drive around, and to live in that area is totally out of the question.
There’s a reason,”Democrat/immigrant flight”. Born and raised in the Houston area, and I’ve watched the changes first hand. 52 year old whippersnapper here now. Every mall was nice when I was young. We went to all of them. Woodlands Mall wasn’t even built yet, and the HS wasn’t either. McCullough was the HS. Oak Ridge was 4a. Montgomery was a 3a school in the sticks. Conroe High was all country White and Black folks. Hell, I’m old enough to remember when Klein had (1) school, and they were 2a, then they went high rollers. Lifestyles of the wealthy big time. In the 80’s, Westfield was mostly rich White boys. I had friends there, and we used to drive over for parties. Spring was in the sticks with cowboy hats galore. “Growth”=flooding with immigration to push the Conservatives out further to more expensive areas and bigger mortgages. Works like charm. Every 20 years, they build Sect 8 apartments to flush them out further.
The movie theater wasn’t ever really an “attraction” at the mall, it opened in 2011 after they tore down the abandoned JCPenney (Closed since 1998). By the time the movie theater opened, the mall was already far into its downward spiral…
Very spooky lol. Not sure if its creepier to be at the completely abandoned mall or the nearly empty one. Glad the video's uploaded so we know you made it back safe 😬
I have been to a nearly empty one in upstate New York. It was sad because I used to go there when it was full. Then it finally closed down. I agree with you. The nearly empty one was the creepier one.
The boarded-up store entrance with the glass awning was originally a Foley’s and later a Macy’s. I grew up frequenting this mall and in the late 70’s and early 80’s it was a major shopping hub in North Houston.
This is not a typical mall failure. Greenspoint crashed and burned beginning in the early 1980s. Here's some history on Greenspoint Mall. The mall was built and the area thrived during the oil and gas boom in the 1970s. Oil and gas companies hired massively. People moved to Houston from the Rust Belt in drives. There was massive housing and apartment construction. Then oil and gas prices crashed. There were massive foreclosures. The area transitioned from middle and upper middle class to lower income working class and plenty of habitually non-employed people. Gang and criminal violence exploded. And customers and merchant disappeared.
@@Claudialupperocd When I was in high school we'd go to Mr Dunderbak's after school for a sandwich and a beer (The drinking age was 18, and no one carded anyway). Or go blow our paychecks playing video games at Scooby's Pizza. Those were fun times
Unbelievable to see. I was born in the Houston Heights in the 1950's and left Houston in 1982. I lived in North and Northwest Houston and went to this mall quite often in the 1970's and early 1980's and over the years I have followed the decline of Greenspoint Mall as well as other businesses around the city. Very sad to see this but it has happened to malls all over the country. What happened from the 1960's through today. Back then there were very few homeless people on the streets and even in Houston it was fairly safe as long as a person minded their own business. Has civilization really declined this much? I would say, yes! Thanks for taking me back to have a recent look.
The fire station I used to ride out of was across the street from the Galleria II Lord and Taylor's. After years and years of developers trying to bribe city council, the city finally wised up and took the money, causing the fire station to move several blocks west to Chimney Rock road. The old station used to have a purple Martin condo on the parking cover. Each year the fire fighters would take it down and clean it out, then add another floor to it and put it back up.
Growing up in the era of malls was awesome. My fave rote was the all you can eat restaurants. These days you could go and have fun all day. Also Christmas time was wonderful with all the decorations. Wards, pennys, Macys, mervyns , sears were the staples. You could buy anything you wanted. We are not in a better place today. We have ruined America in so many ways
😢😢🤔 I remember those days when the Mall used to be a family friendly occasion. Nice relaxing music, in some malls they had live entertainment, in other malls it was the place to be for socializing. 😓😢 But then the shift happened... Every municipality wanted their own outlets malls and enclosure malls. There was a mall explosion across the US. Too many malls were competing for the same group of people whose income was often trailing and falling behind the cost of living indices. Then the birth of E-commerce and online purchases provided the blueprint to kill off all desires to update or build new malls. Local businesses and local sale taxes trackers began to lobby against the free Internet - zero sale tax collection responsibilities for E-commerce businesses, and so on... We are losing a lot of good US culture.
Gunspoint shut down when the city started those section 8 projects near the mall. The crime went through the roof. I knew one of the local restaurant owners over there and they said they had to close because they just got tired of being robbed.
The San Jacinto Mall in Baytown was very nice in the "old days" but was also demolished because it went bankrupt and now used to build "mixed use" commercial residential housing.
Greenspoint mall was a nice mall in the 1980' and started to go to hell in the 1990's. Its simple, once the metro bus's pushed out to that area then the criminals move in. As far out as the metro bus's push out too, The criminals hits that area like a nuke. Fm1960 went from nice to cancer. Once the metro bus's move father out Houston push's criminals to that outer edge of the metro bus:s reach. Greenpoint mall fell to criminals long ago. Your way late.on reporting this area. Follow the metro bus's to there farthest reach's if you want to see the front edge of the decline of areas.
The problem is that the malls are all REIT owned. If real people owned them, they'd give super low rates to a grocery store, crossfit, orange theory, a couple of bar/restaurants, medical offices, and then start converting places to apartments. There is money to be made on these malls, but it's based on reducing pricing on leases for businesses and eliminating driving.
@LucasFernandez-fk8se mostly scare away families and bigger spenders. Really only see people go to the mall for apple stores, maybe tmobile or att and movie theaters. Almost everything else can be purchased online without the hassle.
I live in Harris County. Since the late 80's people have avoided Greenspoint Mall for ONE REASON: CRIME. The locals prey upon shoppers. There's apartment complexes for miles in Greenspoint, and plenty of unemployed criminals live there. A short trip north, The Woodlands Mall, is thriving. They have lots of security, and they don't play around with criminals. Side note: Dearbrook Mall will be the next Greenspoint Mall.
Lol, you actually went. I haven’t been in such a long time. I usually go to Wllowbrook mall and have seen a lot of places close in the last few months. Those lease renewals are killing them
Little late to the party but have you seen deerbrook lately?!?! The stores aren’t closing but the crime is crazy. Every day stores are getting shoplifted and you can here gun shots on a day to day
In San Antonio, Rackspace converted a failed mall into a giant data center and their corporate HQ so it's definitely been something that's been going on for a while. And I'll echo the others...props for having the cajones to go out there (especially the abandoned side) and thankfully you did it during the day at least. I have no idea if you carry...but I, for one, wouldn't be out there without a sidearm.
I’d like to say that it’s incredibly difficult to believe….. However, go to Florida and visit the malls there. Everyone of them, compared to what you’ve identified in Housto, are are booming!!!!! For example, check-out “The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale”. It’s just one of many booming malls in Florida. As they say in the real estate business, “It’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION…”. Undesirable locations are synonymous with undesirable areas of the USA. You get what you pay for.
😮😮😮 Omg... 🤔 I recall going to this same Mall and the Movie Theater in Travis video while I was attending a conference at TSU - Houston, Texas back in 2006. I recall the mall looking very empty and in need of a major face lift & draw back then too. This is crazy and sad... 😢
In Austin ACC Austin Community College took over most of Northcross Mall. It has been a pretty good utilization of a what would have been desolate failing property.
Yup I advised many people to stay the hell away from Gunspoint area. Started going downhill mid 80's. I lived on Greens Rd back then and like someone flipped a switch it started getting very dangerous so I moved.
I grew up on Greens Road, now called Old Greens Road. It's a desolate scumpit now, but used to be modest semi-rural houses and very safe. We didn't even lock our doors. Now it looks like a border town.
I used to live near there when I was little in the late 90's. It was interesting then too. Fights in the streets and random people trying to break into apartments. Not fun.
I have 2 dead malls in my head. The downside of considering mixed use renovations is both of these malls are now in crappy neighborhoods. One expanded the surrounding parking lot space with a rink of stores and restaurants, and converted part of the mall building into office space. The other mall is being demolished since, I guess it didn’t appeal to anyone to renovate it for anything. I don’t get the push to build expensive apartments. An area I moved away from in ‘21 was building apartments like crazy, but how is a 1 bedroom for $1800 a big plus? Doesn’t really address any housing issues. Just more overpriced “luxury” laminate floored sardine cans.
Greenspoint Mall died because the gangs that moved into that area destroyed the whole Greenspoint area, most of the people that used to shop there moved away because of all the crime. Then a similar situation happened to Northwest Mall, Northwest Houston turned into Southwest Houston practically overnight!
Two reasons malls took flight in the late 60s and early 70s: shoppers were tired of paying parking to downtown traffic meters and garages, and downtowns gained a reputation for being unsafe. Now shoppers are beginning to think malls are unsafe and staying away.
In Bellevue and Redmond WA, two cities east of Seattle, Euro-style buildings with boutique shops on the ground floor with luxury apartments for lease or condo space for sale.
Malls are mostly done, most of the tenants are trapped in their leases just waiting for them to end. Should monitor Simon and Westfield and some other big mall operators.
Lol yep! There's a reason why we in Houston refer to Greenspoint as "Gunspoint" 😆 You do NOT, and I repeat, you do NOT want to be in that area anywhere after 8pm (or when it gets dark).
The glass area that stinks like sewage was Foley’s which was bought out by Macy’s. The fitness connection was Sears. I worked my senior year of high school, 1979-1980 at Greenspoint sears. The apartments surrounding it were thrown together and poorly made. That contributed to its decline in my opinion. The area surrounding it got bad due to the shabby apartments that were bringing in people who were let’s say questionable. The people who could afford to live some place nicer did.
The Woodlands Mall is the reason for Greenspoint Mall's demise. When the Woodlands Mall opened, every store moved. Literally every store! That was in the 90's. Fitness Connection is the only thing left other than apartments in the parking lot.
Last time I went there was about 2015-2017 or so. It was functional but extremely run down with few name brand stores but one department store was still there where I bought a watch. I passed by the otherday and I was shocked at how run down it was. Sad.
I was super excited to hear about the housing being built, but not if its going to be STRs for transient workers or a hotel. Malls thrived when they were centers of community!
I regularly went to the JCPenney and macys while i worked at my first jobe nearby. I bought most of my office wardrobe from thier clearance sections while making less than 13 an hour. That being said, there was a really bad storm while I worked there and after that the stores all smelled like mold and mildew around 2016/2017. I think there was a some damage to the mall as a whole, many of the large stores started closing very shortly after. We always parked close, took all valuables in with us and trued to be in and out in 20-30 minutes tops.
Fun video. I still remember when it was a fun mall to go to. Greenspoint failed a long time ago. The Woodlands mall being built in mid 90s made it a very unattractive place to go.
Fact; Crime at Greenspoint Mall got so bad back in the 1990's that HPD had to post spotter/observers on the roofs of surrounding buildings while roving plain clothes officers sat in cars or were directed by spotters to in progress crimes. With all the crime, a lot of business suffered.
Thorough video, Travis. Malls and their parking lots have gotten very dangerous in Houston. Remember what happened in memorial Mall the other day, at 10am in the morning? Be careful, Travis.
You shouldve seen it back in the early 80's, it was really nice. I saw Superman 2 there in June 1981, the theater was packed. That big store you were standing in front of was Foleys then became Macys in the 90's. The old theater was in the entrance facing Greens rd.
Back after they redid the movie theater, it still had chuncks of the original movie theater layout behind it. I knew someone who worked there at the time and we got to explore back there. It was kinda like a catacomb. Too bad that was way before most of us had good camera smartphones.
Ain't no one sticking no one up at Greenspoint anymore. This ain't the 90s lol. It's abandoned and there are no stores outside the Black bookstore inside. You are much more likely to get stuck up and robbed at the Galleria, Baybrook, Memorial City, or Katy Mills mall because they are popular and people have more money who go there.
What type of people are going to rent there if it's that scarry to go to? I see this turning into a low income, drug dealer, crime ridden dump, in 5 years. I hope im wrong.
Yeah Houston has transformed in the last 30 years to a typical "big city" wasteland full of undrivable roads, rampant crime, homeless literally being put on busses by Houston authorities to go out to the suburbs due to the growing shanty towns developing under any and all overpasses in the down town area. It breaks my heart that it is becoming the cesspool that it is now.
You cant tell me this is not by design. I live on Long Island and we are a mall capital. Most of our malls are closed and are being being sold. I'm 60 and the end game of it all scares me
As someone that literally lives right down the street from the mall, the area is not as bad as people make it seem. I mean, it’s Greenspoint, so you gotta make sure you keep your head up and mind your business, but that goes for anywhere, especially these days. Just don’t go out there at night, especially if you ain’t from the area, and you won’t have nothing to worry about.
This is the best pay off I’ve seen between Law Enforcement Agencies. You do not have the right connection made. I’d like to get a connection made in the D.A.’s office. Any imperfections will be found. They will have to be made perfect. Don’t confess ever. Two and two is not four.
Because of it's proximity to Intercontinental Airport, 45 and the Tollway, it would be a perfect location for thriving business's like an Amazon distribution center.
It's been like that for a couple of decades, not any recent events. But yes, last time I was there (2002ish) there was a shooting about 10 min after I left. They still hold street carnivals in the parking lot.
So sad. I remember when Greenspoint was not even built, when there was just a sign that said "Coming Soon - Greenspoint Mall." It started declining in the early 1980's when they routed bus lines out there and built cheap apartments. The whole area changed overnight to a high crime/bad schools dump. They should probably convert it to a police station or prison, more appropriate for the area now.
We have two malls that are the best North Star Mall, Shops of La Conterra Here in San Antonio, Tx. No sign of slowing down. A steady flow of foreign nationals and really nice resorts and high end Hotels are available. Honorable mention is the River Center Mall with more than 1/2 dozen boutique and 4 star hotels nearby.
There are still some full malls. The Woodlands mall always has stores coming in as others go out. Seemed a little empty during 2020 covid but it is back. I too live in Houston and went to this mall and Greens Point (Guns Point) as a kid. The outlet mall in Conroe is also looking a little barren. Really in the Houston area the business parks and highway retail have taken a small to large company business hit. When I go see my sister downtown it is amazing how many vacancies there are.
Remembered I used to love going to their indoor playground but was closed majority of the time and movie theater was nice , sadly it’s all gone … it’s historical
The crimes at Greenpoint Mall calmed down. There is nothing left to steal.
You’re wrong …. Someone’s dignity
Greens point shut down basically during the 08 crash. Macy’s was the last big box store and it left that mall around 2012. The movie theater was rebuilt back around 2015 and shut down after the pandemic.
Green Point= Gun Point, that was what I was told growing up.
That was a bit more brutal than I originally thought. First time there 😂
No, you're thinking of backwards hat mall
@@realestatemindsetI live in Aldine. The whole area got screwed. The apartments around there are awful. They look ok on the outside, but the crime rate is ridiculous. That being said, across the mall is a lone star college with a few restaurants attached. It’s very nice and modern. That little strip center deserves a chance. It has a good sushi place called Ichiban.
Gunspoint Mall. U brave.
That was worse than I thought lol geeeeze
Bruh I know Travis is in Houston but Man he brave going to Gunspoint Mall
Channel will become urbex centered now that nobody cares about real estate since they can't afford to buy anything.
@@realestatemindsetthat creepy laughing might be a sprit I’ve felt cold spots in the mall
Greenspoint ain’t even scary anymore lol area all lame and business just leave every year
This mall was built in 76, have a lot of memories going here as a kid and teen. They used to have fireworks during the 4th and New Year. It had a Central Park theme with live tress inside which would be decorated with lights during the holidays. There was a fountain with large pipes that filled with water and made music, a statue with a boy on a swing and these tubes kids could play in. The mall was sold and renovated in the late 80s and much of what may it unique was removed. The part of the beginning was a Foley's owned by May Department Stores and became a Macy's in the late 90s. The mall was still cool in the 90s, but the apartments in the area became low income and the area deteriorated rapidly. The area would get bad once the sun went down. It got the name Gunspoint after a female officer was murdered there in the late 80s.
@billyfowler
Yes, I spent my teenage years at Greenspoint. Great hangout, safe, everyone was there on Saturdays. Better days when people behaved instead of running feral.
@@Claudialupperocd Kids got discipline back then. Even the bad ones knew their boundaries and didn't act all combative, maybe a little mouthy, but that is about all. Didn't have mobs of teens tearing the place up. Police didn't play around back then either.
Malls need to add restaurants and entertainment attractions. That is something amazon can't stop.
That Movie theater was definitely not a main attraction at that Mall, it was built near the end of the malls life. It was built as a last resort type decision to keep them in business but the theater kinda sucked. The only thing keeping that Mall still alive is that Fitness connection Gym and the Carnivals they have every now and then on the spot where he stood next to that sign.
This is misinformation. Greenpoint closed itself, the reputation scared customers away. I wouldn't say all malls are doomed. This was an older mall that never got modern updates like Willowbrook or memorial city, it just stayed the same like northwest mall. It brought in the wrong customers and scared customers that actually keep the mall open.
I agree with your comment. I know for a fact that areas is a bad part of town. A lot of bad people live around that area. Those bad people is why greens point mall close down. There's only so much fighting, shooting, and gang activity a business can handle.
I agree as well. Kind of reminds me of Sharpstown Mall but they revamped and turned it into Las Americas mall. It still is kind of a hole in the wall. I really regret that West Oaks closed. They did a bit of renovations but couldn't keep up apparently. It's still sitting there collecting dust. West Wood Mall on Bissonnett closed over 20 years ago I think, and it just sat there. Then I think Tesla and Audi came thru and the college there. Just a waste. A center for the homeless would be good!! Have a good one
Same thing happened in Baytown , they ended up tearing the whole thing down .
Willowbrook is terrifying, too. Used to be nice even 15 years ago. The area is changing, border is open, nothing but criminals everywhere.
More like a certain demographic made it so dangerous the rest of the city stopped going
It’s sad to see this type of stuff spent alot at the mall in my youth. I feel bad that kids these days won’t experience the mall like I did.
So sad..it was just a thing to get dropped off at the mall, or drive to the mall as a teen…it was the place to be and be seen. Even if you didn’t have any money to shop, which a lot of us kids didn’t, it was just a cool place to be and take in the sights and smells of the mall air. I grew up in Amarillo Texas, I remember the day that WESTGATE mall opened there in the early 80’s…I was there with my best friend, we had no money to shop, but we were there… just enjoying a new place to be and just to hang out as teenagers…what a happy wonderful memory I still have today at age 57♥️
These dead malls videos are some of my favorite TH-cam channels
You be careful! Get the hell out of there. I live in a small town lately I've noticed homeless people hanging outside of a dollar store. I never imagined having to ask for employee assistance to my car
Lived here my whole life and never once even thought about going there.
People slowly stopped shopping there because they were always robbing people in the parking areas. When Exxon relocated their offices, at least six multiple story buildings, away from there to protect their employees and to get lower taxes, the entire area swiftly declined. Many other businesses in the area, not just at the mall, were filing bankruptcy or selling the locations due to lack of customers and the increase in robbery and theft. Grocery stores have also moved to areas with less chance of robbery and theft. Now, even the police storefront has left the mall.
All of those apartments being built will be just as bad as the mall. Gunspoint used to have a HPD unit stationed there because the crime was so bad. This is a very dangerous area to drive around, and to live in that area is totally out of the question.
Glorified projects, but the old projects were built better with brick. But even they are being torn down like the Perkins Homes in Baltimore.
So many dead malls but for some reason the mall in The Woodlands Texas is crazy busy all the time. It’s like back in the 80’s in there everyday. 😂
First Colony and Memorial City too.
There’s a reason,”Democrat/immigrant flight”. Born and raised in the Houston area, and I’ve watched the changes first hand. 52 year old whippersnapper here now. Every mall was nice when I was young. We went to all of them. Woodlands Mall wasn’t even built yet, and the HS wasn’t either. McCullough was the HS. Oak Ridge was 4a. Montgomery was a 3a school in the sticks. Conroe High was all country White and Black folks. Hell, I’m old enough to remember when Klein had (1) school, and they were 2a, then they went high rollers. Lifestyles of the wealthy big time. In the 80’s, Westfield was mostly rich White boys. I had friends there, and we used to drive over for parties. Spring was in the sticks with cowboy hats galore. “Growth”=flooding with immigration to push the Conservatives out further to more expensive areas and bigger mortgages. Works like charm. Every 20 years, they build Sect 8 apartments to flush them out further.
@@jgringo5516As a graduate of Westfield in the mid-80’s, I can attest to all this!
Jobs gone, no malls needed
"For some reason."
Security and safety. Nice people. Trees. Far less antiwhitism.
Absolutely bonkers! You're brave for going down there my friend.
Granted, I didn't realize how bad it was until I was there 😅
@@realestatemindset I don't even live in Houston and have heard of that area. Lol
@@medic1937 🤣😅
That theater was only 10 years old. Opened in 2010, closed due to the Rona.
The movie theater wasn’t ever really an “attraction” at the mall, it opened in 2011 after they tore down the abandoned JCPenney (Closed since 1998). By the time the movie theater opened, the mall was already far into its downward spiral…
Very spooky lol. Not sure if its creepier to be at the completely abandoned mall or the nearly empty one. Glad the video's uploaded so we know you made it back safe 😬
To me, it was the nearly empty one.
I have been to a nearly empty one in upstate New York. It was sad because I used to go there when it was full. Then it finally closed down. I agree with you. The nearly empty one was the creepier one.
The boarded-up store entrance with the glass awning was originally a Foley’s and later a Macy’s. I grew up frequenting this mall and in the late 70’s and early 80’s it was a major shopping hub in North Houston.
This is not a typical mall failure. Greenspoint crashed and burned beginning in the early 1980s. Here's some history on Greenspoint Mall. The mall was built and the area thrived during the oil and gas boom in the 1970s. Oil and gas companies hired massively. People moved to Houston from the Rust Belt in drives. There was massive housing and apartment construction.
Then oil and gas prices crashed. There were massive foreclosures. The area transitioned from middle and upper middle class to lower income working class and plenty of habitually non-employed people. Gang and criminal violence exploded. And customers and merchant disappeared.
@baarbacoa
Yes, I grew up there and that is EXACTLY how it happened.
@@Claudialupperocd Same here.
@@Claudialupperocd When I was in high school we'd go to Mr Dunderbak's after school for a sandwich and a beer (The drinking age was 18, and no one carded anyway). Or go blow our paychecks playing video games at Scooby's Pizza. Those were fun times
Unbelievable to see. I was born in the Houston Heights in the 1950's and left Houston in 1982. I lived in North and Northwest Houston and went to this mall quite often in the 1970's and early 1980's and over the years I have followed the decline of Greenspoint Mall as well as other businesses around the city. Very sad to see this but it has happened to malls all over the country. What happened from the 1960's through today. Back then there were very few homeless people on the streets and even in Houston it was fairly safe as long as a person minded their own business. Has civilization really declined this much? I would say, yes! Thanks for taking me back to have a recent look.
1960 is a scene from the walking dead, won’t drive there at all
Former Historic Heights resident 😊.The craftsman I use to reside in at 944 Dorothy was torn down🥲
Longtime Heights resident too. Houston is in the open border generous welfare apocalypse all blue cities suffer.
@@Claudialupperocd Do you still live in the Heights?
Now, that you showed us the dead mall. Show us the Galleria.
The fire station I used to ride out of was across the street from the Galleria II Lord and Taylor's. After years and years of developers trying to bribe city council, the city finally wised up and took the money, causing the fire station to move several blocks west to Chimney Rock road. The old station used to have a purple Martin condo on the parking cover. Each year the fire fighters would take it down and clean it out, then add another floor to it and put it back up.
Growing up in the era of malls was awesome. My fave rote was the all you can eat restaurants. These days you could go and have fun all day. Also Christmas time was wonderful with all the decorations. Wards, pennys, Macys, mervyns , sears were the staples. You could buy anything you wanted. We are not in a better place today. We have ruined America in so many ways
Other than making this video I have good memories of going to malls
😢😢🤔 I remember those days when the Mall used to be a family friendly occasion. Nice relaxing music, in some malls they had live entertainment, in other malls it was the place to be for socializing.
😓😢 But then the shift happened... Every municipality wanted their own outlets malls and enclosure malls. There was a mall explosion across the US. Too many malls were competing for the same group of people whose income was often trailing and falling behind the cost of living indices. Then the birth of E-commerce and online purchases provided the blueprint to kill off all desires to update or build new malls. Local businesses and local sale taxes trackers began to lobby against the free Internet - zero sale tax collection responsibilities for E-commerce businesses, and so on...
We are losing a lot of good US culture.
Gunspoint shut down when the city started those section 8 projects near the mall. The crime went through the roof. I knew one of the local restaurant owners over there and they said they had to close because they just got tired of being robbed.
The San Jacinto Mall in Baytown was very nice in the "old days" but was also demolished because it went bankrupt and now used to build "mixed use" commercial residential housing.
How safe will that neighborhood be in several years after the new housing?
It's never going to be safe. Section 8. Trashed and full of drug zombies within a year.
Greenspoint mall was a nice mall in the 1980' and started to go to hell in the 1990's. Its simple, once the metro bus's pushed out to that area then the criminals move in. As far out as the metro bus's push out too, The criminals hits that area like a nuke. Fm1960 went from nice to cancer. Once the metro bus's move father out Houston push's criminals to that outer edge of the metro bus:s reach. Greenpoint mall fell to criminals long ago. Your way late.on reporting this area. Follow the metro bus's to there farthest reach's if you want to see the front edge of the decline of areas.
The problem is that the malls are all REIT owned. If real people owned them, they'd give super low rates to a grocery store, crossfit, orange theory, a couple of bar/restaurants, medical offices, and then start converting places to apartments. There is money to be made on these malls, but it's based on reducing pricing on leases for businesses and eliminating driving.
Great Intel thank you Mark
How is a REIT's goals different than a person's? They both want the mall to survive.
Demographics prevent these areas from thriving.
The loss of anchor tenants like Sears, Penneys, Macys, Dillards and packs of roving "teens" have destroyed the mall in most big cities.
SO TRUE! Times are changing quickly
usual suspects
How do roving teens destroy the mall? We spend food court money and occasionally buy a pants or a shirt from Abercrombie and fitch 🤷♂️
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se One day you'll understand :D
@LucasFernandez-fk8se mostly scare away families and bigger spenders. Really only see people go to the mall for apple stores, maybe tmobile or att and movie theaters. Almost everything else can be purchased online without the hassle.
I live in Harris County. Since the late 80's people have avoided Greenspoint Mall for ONE REASON: CRIME.
The locals prey upon shoppers. There's apartment complexes for miles in Greenspoint, and plenty of unemployed criminals live there.
A short trip north, The Woodlands Mall, is thriving. They have lots of security, and they don't play around with criminals.
Side note: Dearbrook Mall will be the next Greenspoint Mall.
Lol, you actually went. I haven’t been in such a long time.
I usually go to Wllowbrook mall and have seen a lot of places close in the last few months. Those lease renewals are killing them
True that. Absolutely brural
Little late to the party but have you seen deerbrook lately?!?! The stores aren’t closing but the crime is crazy.
Every day stores are getting shoplifted and you can here gun shots on a day to day
Willowbrook is terrifying now, Houston is deep blue, last stage before full blown socialist open border apocalypse. Thanks, dems!
In San Antonio, Rackspace converted a failed mall into a giant data center and their corporate HQ so it's definitely been something that's been going on for a while. And I'll echo the others...props for having the cajones to go out there (especially the abandoned side) and thankfully you did it during the day at least. I have no idea if you carry...but I, for one, wouldn't be out there without a sidearm.
and people are gonna rent there????
@@Vade1313 yeah that's a good point. But you'd be surprised where people will live if the price is right
I’d like to say that it’s incredibly difficult to believe….. However, go to Florida and visit the malls there. Everyone of them, compared to what you’ve identified in Housto, are are booming!!!!! For example, check-out “The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale”. It’s just one of many booming malls in Florida. As they say in the real estate business, “It’s all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION…”. Undesirable locations are synonymous with undesirable areas of the USA. You get what you pay for.
That isn't a store that is a workout place
Ah. Guns point mall. Does the carnival still set up there at least?
Nope
Yes
It’s there now
They even added a drive through christmas lights.
Ours got torn down and replaced with Amazon distribution center. How ironic is that?
😮😮😮 Omg...
🤔 I recall going to this same Mall and the Movie Theater in Travis video while I was attending a conference at TSU - Houston, Texas back in 2006. I recall the mall looking very empty and in need of a major face lift & draw back then too. This is crazy and sad... 😢
In Austin ACC Austin Community College took over most of Northcross Mall. It has been a pretty good utilization of a what would have been desolate failing property.
they closed it down....they will build apartments
Yup I advised many people to stay the hell away from Gunspoint area. Started going downhill mid 80's. I lived on Greens Rd back then and like someone flipped a switch it started getting very dangerous so I moved.
I grew up on Greens Road, now called Old Greens Road. It's a desolate scumpit now, but used to be modest semi-rural houses and very safe. We didn't even lock our doors. Now it looks like a border town.
0:30 I went to this Macys during their going out of business sale. The store had beautiful faux French ceiling tiles.
I used to live near there when I was little in the late 90's. It was interesting then too. Fights in the streets and random people trying to break into apartments. Not fun.
Hopefully, one day, it serves a greater purpose.
I have 2 dead malls in my head. The downside of considering mixed use renovations is both of these malls are now in crappy neighborhoods. One expanded the surrounding parking lot space with a rink of stores and restaurants, and converted part of the mall building into office space. The other mall is being demolished since, I guess it didn’t appeal to anyone to renovate it for anything.
I don’t get the push to build expensive apartments. An area I moved away from in ‘21 was building apartments like crazy, but how is a 1 bedroom for $1800 a big plus? Doesn’t really address any housing issues. Just more overpriced “luxury” laminate floored sardine cans.
Do a skirting ring , a dance floor , an arcade, and a bar . Do not do housing for lazy people.
Multi-housing Apt. turns into Crime infested places!
Greenspoint Mall died because the gangs that moved into that area destroyed the whole Greenspoint area, most of the people that used to shop there moved away because of all the crime. Then a similar situation happened to Northwest Mall, Northwest Houston turned into Southwest Houston practically overnight!
Two reasons malls took flight in the late 60s and early 70s: shoppers were tired of paying parking to downtown traffic meters and garages, and downtowns gained a reputation for being unsafe.
Now shoppers are beginning to think malls are unsafe and staying away.
This isn’t downtown and parking is free.
In Bellevue and Redmond WA, two cities east of Seattle, Euro-style buildings with boutique shops on the ground floor with luxury apartments for lease or condo space for sale.
Malls are mostly done, most of the tenants are trapped in their leases just waiting for them to end. Should monitor Simon and Westfield and some other big mall operators.
Lol yep! There's a reason why we in Houston refer to Greenspoint as "Gunspoint" 😆 You do NOT, and I repeat, you do NOT want to be in that area anywhere after 8pm (or when it gets dark).
The glass area that stinks like sewage was Foley’s which was bought out by Macy’s. The fitness connection was Sears. I worked my senior year of high school, 1979-1980 at Greenspoint sears. The apartments surrounding it were thrown together and poorly made. That contributed to its decline in my opinion. The area surrounding it got bad due to the shabby apartments that were bringing in people who were let’s say questionable. The people who could afford to live some place nicer did.
national average 30-year fixed mortgage APR is 7.56% 🤜 💥 😢
I used to love this place when I was little. Thirsty’s was bomb 🥲
The Woodlands Mall is the reason for Greenspoint Mall's demise. When the Woodlands Mall opened, every store moved. Literally every store! That was in the 90's. Fitness Connection is the only thing left other than apartments in the parking lot.
Last time I went there was about 2015-2017 or so. It was functional but extremely run down with few name brand stores but one department store was still there where I bought a watch. I passed by the otherday and I was shocked at how run down it was. Sad.
I was super excited to hear about the housing being built, but not if its going to be STRs for transient workers or a hotel. Malls thrived when they were centers of community!
No such things as community anymore.
I regularly went to the JCPenney and macys while i worked at my first jobe nearby. I bought most of my office wardrobe from thier clearance sections while making less than 13 an hour. That being said, there was a really bad storm while I worked there and after that the stores all smelled like mold and mildew around 2016/2017. I think there was a some damage to the mall as a whole, many of the large stores started closing very shortly after. We always parked close, took all valuables in with us and trued to be in and out in 20-30 minutes tops.
I remember that mall when I was a kid, another one that is like something out of a scary movie is northwest mall off 290
Geeeze which one?
Northwest mall 290 and 610 bring a gun@@realestatemindset
Fun video. I still remember when it was a fun mall to go to.
Greenspoint failed a long time ago.
The Woodlands mall being built in mid 90s made it a very unattractive place to go.
Fact;
Crime at Greenspoint Mall got so bad back in the 1990's that HPD had to post spotter/observers on the roofs of surrounding buildings while roving plain clothes officers sat in cars or were directed by spotters to in progress crimes. With all the crime, a lot of business suffered.
Thorough video, Travis. Malls and their parking lots have gotten very dangerous in Houston. Remember what happened in memorial Mall the other day, at 10am in the morning? Be careful, Travis.
You shouldve seen it back in the early 80's, it was really nice. I saw Superman 2 there in June 1981, the theater was packed. That big store you were standing in front of was Foleys then became Macys in the 90's. The old theater was in the entrance facing Greens rd.
I'm so glad the malls are going. They were really expensive. Online shopping provides a much better selection.
And a safer alternative.
Good work getting out there. I am glad to see Texas city frontier the path of the inevitable.
Back after they redid the movie theater, it still had chuncks of the original movie theater layout behind it.
I knew someone who worked there at the time and we got to explore back there. It was kinda like a catacomb.
Too bad that was way before most of us had good camera smartphones.
Thank you for an awesome boots on the ground video today. Excellent work as usual. Blessings, Carlos ✝️🙏❤️😊🇺🇸
Ain't no one sticking no one up at Greenspoint anymore. This ain't the 90s lol. It's abandoned and there are no stores outside the Black bookstore inside. You are much more likely to get stuck up and robbed at the Galleria, Baybrook, Memorial City, or Katy Mills mall because they are popular and people have more money who go there.
What type of people are going to rent there if it's that scarry to go to? I see this turning into a low income, drug dealer, crime ridden dump, in 5 years. I hope im wrong.
Low income people still need a place to call home. I too hope for none of the drug dealing and crime though.
Damn I remember standing in line, waiting to buy shoes back in 06 and even then, it was ran down
I went to that mall like 20 years ago....wow ...what a transformation...and it's like right near the airport....what a shame!
Yeah Houston has transformed in the last 30 years to a typical "big city" wasteland full of undrivable roads, rampant crime, homeless literally being put on busses by Houston authorities to go out to the suburbs due to the growing shanty towns developing under any and all overpasses in the down town area. It breaks my heart that it is becoming the cesspool that it is now.
I still like this town.
You cant tell me this is not by design. I live on Long Island and we are a mall capital. Most of our malls are closed and are being being sold. I'm 60 and the end game of it all scares me
Great video glad to see you got out of there without any. scratches or gunshots.
Nowadays you don't see as many malls around as you use to back in the days before internet & i-phones.
The valley view mall in North Dallas has been closed for about 10yr at least 🎉And looks just like that. AND I AM SO TRIED OF WINNING 🥇
Savage. Are they making housing units also?
@@realestatemindset
Idk 🤷🏼 have been by their for years
No. It's still open.
That's not winning. That's going deep blue. Which is losing.
I saw Star Wars at Greenspoint in 77. Greenspoint was expanding, and we had to stand in line on plywood platforms to get to the theatre.
What?! Why are you at Gunspoint?! 😳
As someone that literally lives right down the street from the mall, the area is not as bad as people make it seem. I mean, it’s Greenspoint, so you gotta make sure you keep your head up and mind your business, but that goes for anywhere, especially these days. Just don’t go out there at night, especially if you ain’t from the area, and you won’t have nothing to worry about.
Bro this one wasn't shit compared to how bad San jacinto mall in shitty Baytown TX. was!
Great video, but you can’t go alone into Hood areas… Hire a bodyguard for the day next time you do something like this. 😇🙏
They did not repurpose any of the mall building just the parking lot. The apartment complex is built in the parking lot.
Greenspoint baby!
This is like a Halloween horror movie 😂🎃 so brave!!
You had your head on a swivel for this one. Gunspoint isn’t safe at all, but I do remember when it was decent.
This is the best pay off I’ve seen between Law Enforcement Agencies. You do not have the right connection made. I’d like to get a connection made in the D.A.’s office. Any imperfections will be found. They will have to be made perfect. Don’t confess ever. Two and two is not four.
"Guns Point" is unfortunately a well earned monicker.
Macys is that store and there is no shops
Because of it's proximity to Intercontinental Airport, 45 and the Tollway, it would be a perfect location for thriving business's like an Amazon distribution center.
Are you driving the Nissan frontier or tittan.
Grounded boots are good ... same with boots on the ground.
It's been like that for a couple of decades, not any recent events. But yes, last time I was there (2002ish) there was a shooting about 10 min after I left. They still hold street carnivals in the parking lot.
I used to work there in the early '80's and it was swanky 😢 plus a great food court.
True, I worked at Foley's during its transformation into Macy's.
I grew up in the area and always went to deerbrook mall which is still busy but Baytown San Jacinto mall is totally leveled now it's sad
Bro the cinema was my childhood I used to go and watch the movies there and I still remember the paintings inside
So sad. I remember when Greenspoint was not even built, when there was just a sign that said "Coming Soon - Greenspoint Mall." It started declining in the early 1980's when they routed bus lines out there and built cheap apartments. The whole area changed overnight to a high crime/bad schools dump. They should probably convert it to a police station or prison, more appropriate for the area now.
We have two malls that are the best North Star Mall, Shops of La Conterra Here in San Antonio, Tx. No sign of slowing down. A steady flow of foreign nationals and really nice resorts and high end Hotels are available. Honorable mention is the River Center Mall with more than 1/2 dozen boutique and 4 star hotels nearby.
There are still some full malls. The Woodlands mall always has stores coming in as others go out. Seemed a little empty during 2020 covid but it is back. I too live in Houston and went to this mall and Greens Point (Guns Point) as a kid. The outlet mall in Conroe is also looking a little barren. Really in the Houston area the business parks and highway retail have taken a small to large company business hit. When I go see my sister downtown it is amazing how many vacancies there are.
I came here while I was visiting Houston and thought this was just completely abandoned
OMG it's Travis ❤. Fish on brother
Remembered I used to love going to their indoor playground but was closed majority of the time and movie theater was nice , sadly it’s all gone … it’s historical
The mall is a microcosm of the nation's death spiral into the economic abyss.
I'm a Houstonian. I was there few time before. I took a bus there since I explored the first time.