The Outlet Shoppes at Laredo, completed in 2016, differs from most outlet centers in the US in that it forms a four block long edge to the historic downtown of Laredo, Texas; it is a two-story open air center over a level of parking, and it was built entirely on the foundations of a demolished one-story mall which had previously occupied the site.
As an urban edge project, the four blocks of the project align with the city grid, bisecting the project in the center by Santa Maria Street, and having pedestrian entrances at each of the other mid-block streets. The street along the north side is twenty-two feet higher that the street along the south, this allows the north side to match the two story scale of downtown, while the much taller three-story facade facing south addresses the Rio Grande river and Mexico, only a few hundred feet away.
The two-level open air shopping is accessed by two express escalators, by-passing the second floor and depositing all shoppers at the top level. The interior of the arcades are designed to recall the shopping streets of Mexican colonial cities such as San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato in its colors and intricacy.
First Concept Elevation
Opening Night...Whoopi!
