PlazAmericas, formerly known as Sharpstown Mall and earlier Sharpstown Center, is a shopping mall located in the Sharpstown development in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Texas. The mall is located on the northwest corner of Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59 and Bellaire Boulevard. This is the third mall to be built in Houston after Gulfgate Mall opened in 1956 and Meyerland Plaza in 1957, but the first fully air-conditioned mall in Houston. The area includes the Jewelry Exchange Center, a ten-story building. After the mall was renamed PlazAmericas, it took a Latin American theme and catered to Hispanics. The anchor stores are Burlington, SuperNova Furniture, America Cinemas, La Sorella, Gold Factory & Imports, and Clarewood Supermercado.
View along Bellaire Boulevard
Sharpstown Center in 2006
The remains of the bank are three drive-throughs in the middle of the front parking lot that are still standing to this day.
Jewelry Exchange Center
Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District, Southwest Houston, Texas. It was one of the first communities to be built as a master-planned, automobile centered community and the first in Houston. Frank Sharp (1906–1993), the developer of the subdivision, made provisions not only for homes but also for schools, shopping and recreation areas. While this model has been duplicated countless times in the past fifty years, at the time it was quite revolutionary, attracting national media attention. The development was dedicated on March 13, 1955.
A sign in a median indicating Sharpstown
Sharpstown sign from the Greater Sharpstown Management District (now the Southwest Management District)
PlazAmericas (formerly Sharpstown Center and Sharpstown Mall)
Sharpstown Mall sign