Fidelis has purchased San Jacinto Mall, an '80s-era 1.2M SF facility, and plans to completely revamp it over the next five years.

San Jacinto Mall hasn't been renovated since it was built 34 years ago, something that mall-goers are not pleased with—Internet reviews include: "this mall needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch." That's exactly what Fidelis plans to do. It'll demolish all or most of the mall and replace it with a regional open air center with 1M SF of retail. The property is anchored by Macy's, JCPenney and Sears—those three companies own their facilities and will be part of the new iteration, and Fidelis head of leasing Lynn Davis hopes some of the other existing tenants will stick around, too. The mall is 70% occupied, and she says many of the current merchants are thriving despite the mall's deferred maintenance. Fidelis has a large site to work with: The mall sits on 107 acres in Baytown at the southwest corner of I-10 and Garth Road. It'll be a lengthy process—three years to prepare for demolition and then two more years of development.