Texas Landlord Chops Former Kroger Into Three Retail Spaces

The owners of the River Pointe Shopping Center in Conroe are redeveloping a former Kroger grocery store amid high demand for retail space.

The Houston-based Randall family is slicing the 58,500-square-foot building, on the northwestern corner of Interstate 45 and South Loop 336, into multiple retail spaces, the Houston Business Journal reported.

The project calls for three spaces, spanning 25,000, 23,000 and 10,000 square feet. Planet Fitness and Dollar Tree have already leased the 25,000- and 10,000-square-foot spaces, respectively. Several prospective tenants are in play for the last spot, said Sabre Properties’ Sharon Biles, the property’s leasing agent.

Construction started last month and is slated for completion this fall. The project will cost an estimated $2.3 million, the outlet reported, citing a filing with the state.

The Randall family acquired most of the 108,300-square-foot River Pointe Shopping Center in 2008 and owns several other retail centers in Conroe, including Town Center North, Town Center South and Crossroads Shopping Center.

The closure of the Kroger store in 2018 left a significant void in River Pointe. Efforts to fill the space were hampered by the pandemic, which sparked an increase of e-commerce and stymied demand for traditional retail space. But the script has flipped since then, and Texas retailers are gobbling up premium space.

River Pointe Shopping Center is 80 percent leased, with tenants including Subway, Pizza Hut, UPS and Verizon. Pad sites adjacent to the center feature brands such as Taco Cabana, Waffle House, Ni’s China Buffet and a Shell gas station.

Repurposing large retail spaces presents unique challenges, particularly in dividing the space effectively for smaller tenants. Plumbing and air conditioning systems require significant adjustments, and considerations such as natural light and loading ramp utilization impact the layout.

Similar repurposing efforts are underway across the Houston area, demonstrating a trend in adaptive reuse. Wu Properties, for example, purchased a former Sam’s Club in West Houston earlier this year, with plans to turn it into a multi-tenant building.

—Quinn Donoghue