
The Arboretum is an
upmarket retail trade area in the northwest portion of
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, centered roughly on the convergence of
U.S. Route 183
U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersection ...
, Anderson Lane,
Capital of Texas Highway and
Mopac Expressway
Loop 1 is a freeway that provides access to the west side of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas. It is named Mopac Expressway (or, according to some highway signs, Mopac Boulevard) after the Missouri Pacific Railroad (or "MoPac"). Local residen ...
.
Arboretum at Great Hills
The Arboretum at Great Hills was developed by
Trammell Crow Company
Trammell Crow Company is a global real estate development firm. It has been a subsidiary of CBRE Group since 2006.
History
The company was founded by Trammell Crow
Fred Trammell Crow (June 10, 1914 – January 14, 2009) was an American real est ...
, opened in 1985 and is managed by
Simon Malls
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
. It is the heavily wooded park-like atmosphere that gives the mall its
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
name.
The Arboretum's first anchor tenant, which opened on Sept 10, 1986, was a 492-room hotel with 65,000 sqft of meeting space now known as the Renaissance Austin.
The open-air mall features several open park spaces, and a
Renaissance Hotel
Renaissance Hotels was founded as Ramada Renaissance in 1981, as an upscale brand of Ramada Inns. Hong Kong–based New World Development (NWD) acquired Ramada in 1989 and re-launched Renaissance Hotels as a separate brand. The brand was acqui ...
, among other commercial establishments. The park spaces contain a set of five
cow
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...
statues by
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
Harold F. Clayton. It also formerly featured a movie theater - Arbor 7 Cinema - that participated in the
South by Southwest
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
film festiva
The theater moved locations in 2002 and was replaced with
The Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. It operates 348 full-service restaurants: 215 under the Cheesecake Factory brand, 42 under the North Italia brand, a ...
br>
The Arboretum has been owned by
Washington Prime Group
Washington Prime Group Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. The company is organized in Indiana with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. From January 2015 to September 2016, the company had the name WP ...
since 1998.
Arboretum Market
The Arboretum Market opened across the street in 1987 and featured upmarket retailers such as the city's only
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...
(now Trader Joe's) along with smaller specialty shops. The Saks space was previously a
Simon David specialty grocer, which closed in December 1996 and was subsequently converted into Saks.
The Saks was 52,000
[–55,000 ft2] in size, opened November 15, 1997, and closed December 31, 2012.[Harris, Anne (January 12, 2013)]
"Saks Packs It Up: Arboretum Location Exits Stage Left"
''Austin American-Statesman
The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...
''
As of June 20, 2014 the former Saks store was converted to Trader Joe's.
References
External links
Official website
Arboretum at Great Hills
Barshop & Oles
Arboretum Market
Washington Prime Group
Shopping malls in Austin, Texas
Shopping malls established in 1987
{{Austin-stub