Highland Park Village
Encyclopedia
Highland Park Village is an upscale shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

 located at the southwest corner of Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road in Highland Park
Highland Park, Texas
Highland Park is a town in central Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,842 at the 2000 census. Located between the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Route 75 , four miles north of downtown Dallas....

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 (USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

) and was the first self-contained shopping center in America. The Highland Park Village was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 2000.

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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

s Marion Fresenius Fooshee
Marion Fresenius Fooshee
Marion Fresenius Fooshee was an American architect active in the Dallas, Texas area.The architect's name has also been spelled as Marion Fooshe....

 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
Henry S. Miller Company
Henry S. Miller Company is one of the largest independent brokerage and property management firms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Founded in 1919, the business and the metroplex seemed to grow together. In a 1999 editorial naming the leading 20 Dallasites of the 20th Century, Henry S. Miller was...

, 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
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...

 and the state's first Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

. 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
Christian Louboutin
Christian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose father is cabinetmaker Roger Louboutin and homemaker mother Irene. His siblings include three sisters, no brothers. Landscape architect Louis Benech has been his partner since 1997. Louboutin launched his line of high-end women's shoes in...

 and a boutique from Diane Von Furstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...

.

About

On February 16, 2000, the shopping center was recognized as a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

  and the center was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 on November 17, 1997. The center boasts several exclusive luxury stores in the Dallas market, including Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera (fashion designer)
Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño (born January 8, 1939) is a Venezuelan and naturalized American fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded her eponymous company in 1980.-Early life:...

, Vince, Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

, Loro Piana
Loro Piana
Loro Piana is an Italian clothing company specialising in high-end, luxury cashmere and wool products.-History:Originally from Trivero , the Loro Piana family started as merchants of wool fabrics at the beginning of the nineteenth century...

, Frédéric Fekkai
Frédéric Fekkai
Frédéric Fekkai is a French celebrity hairstylist.-Early life:Fekkai was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, and grew up in Aix-en-Provence and Paris...

, Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

, Harry Winston
Harry Winston
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade, and traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963.-History:...

, Escada
Escada
Escada is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer clothing. The company has a presence in about 60 different countries. Its main sales markets are North America, western and eastern Europe and Asia. It filed bankruptcy in August 2009, and was acquired by Megha Mittal, in November...

, Tory Burch
Tory Burch
Tory Burch is an American fashion designer, business woman and philanthropist who was born, raised and educated in the Philadelphia metropolitan area....

, Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...

, Christian Louboutin
Christian Louboutin
Christian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose father is cabinetmaker Roger Louboutin and homemaker mother Irene. His siblings include three sisters, no brothers. Landscape architect Louis Benech has been his partner since 1997. Louboutin launched his line of high-end women's shoes in...

 and Texas's first Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney
Stella Nina McCartney is an English fashion designer. She is the daughter of former Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney and the late photographer and animal rights activist, Linda McCartney.-Early life:...

 along with Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent may refer to:* Yves Saint Laurent , French fashion designer* Yves Saint Laurent , a luxury fashion house founded by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé...

.

The Village Theater, the first luxury theater in Texas, was built at a then-staggering cost of more than $100,000. In 1987, the theater was renovated and the screens were moved upstairs to create 11000 square feet (1,021.9 m²) in retail space.

External links

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