LAURA ELDER The Daily News
Department store Palais Royal is making a move in Texas City, but not too far from its longtime spot at the Mall of the Mainland.
Developer Jerome Karam on Thursday confirmed that Palais Royal would lease 23,000 square feet in the building that formerly housed Macy’s at the mall.
Karam, who’s bullish on Galveston County, which is evident by his prolific real estate buying spree, said Palais Royal would join a 42,000-square-foot World Gym franchise in the Macy’s building.
Palais Royal officials weren’t immediately available for comment.
Karam earlier this year acquired the 150,000-square-foot building from Macy’s, which departed the mall in 2012 but still owned the building.
Earlier this year, Coastline Retail Center Inc., which gained control of Mall of the Mainland as a result of foreclosure action and related litigation, closed the interior common areas of the shopping center, which had struggled for years to attract staple stores and shoppers. Palais Royal, along with Sears, and movie theater Cinemark, were the only tenants standing.
The new site is expected to give Palais Royal more visibility. It was unclear how much time remained on the retailer’s mall
lease.
I’ll have more details about the Palais Royal move and other major moves by Karam in Tuesday’s Biz Buzz.