Today's Michael Berry Show is sponsored by Galeria Post Oak.

Today we just call it the Galeria, but when it opened for business in January of 1969,

Houston's Crown Jewel retail space was known as Galleria Post Oak.

Notworthy as the nation's first major mixed use retail slash office slash hotel development.

With 3 million square feet of space, it is the largest mall in the great state of Texas and

the seventh largest in the entire country.

It was first developed by Gerald D. Hines with construction starting in

1967 at a cost of $30 million. That's just over 270 million dollars today.

Gerald D. Hines' interests also built Shell Oil's downtown headquarters,

Pinsoyle Place, and Transco Tower.

I know it's been renamed as Williams Tower, but most people still call it Transco Tower.

The Galeria Post Oak was modeled after the Galeria Vittario Imanale in Milan, Italy.

Borrowing as its most distinctive architectural feature, a glazed barrel vault

spanning the essential axis of the mall.

In other words, a real honest-goodness glass ceiling.

The original skylights had three hanging chandeliers. Now how fancy is that?

Chandeliers in a mall. The University Clubhouse 10 indoor tennis courts,

two squash courts, two handball courts, a clubhouse and a heated pool. A heated pool at the mall. The fitness facility opened in June of

1971. The 400-room Houston Oaks Hotel was dedicated in September of the same year.

We now know that as the Western Oaks Hotel.

The Galleria has gone through several changes over the years, four phases of expansion

and renovations.

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