The Rouse Company Of Texas Inc history

Hunter Moss left the partnership in 1954, when it was renamed James W. Rouse & Company, Inc.

In November 1962, about the same time as the first land purchase, Rouse hired William E. Finley to head the planning and development of the new town.

30, 1963, Rouse announced to Howard County officials and residents that his company had acquired 14,000 acres and planned to build a city.

11, 1964, James Rouse made a formal presentation to officials of Howard County.

In August 1965, Howard County lawmakers passed “New Town zoning,” a code that had been written by county planners and Howard Research and Development so as to allow the plan to go ahead.

Construction began in June 1966.

The dedication ceremony at Wilde Lake was held a year later, on June 21, 1967, marking the beginning of Columbia.

He convinced Mathias DeVito to relinquish his partnership in the prestigious Baltimore law firm of Piper & Marbury and create an in-house legal department for Rouse in 1968.

But during the 1974-75 real estate slowdown, the company lost Housing and Urban Development funding for a major low-income housing project.

Named for Mayor Josiah Quincy and opened August 26, 1976 (150 years after its namesake had originally dedicated it), the retail center hosted 100,000 shoppers on its first day.

In 1978, it won an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.

1979: Rouse retires from the presidency and chief executive office (still retaining the chairmanship) to devote himself more fully to social welfare activities; Mathias DeVito is his successor.

In the meantime, DeVito sold the company's founding business, Rouse Real Estate Finance, to PaineWebber for $50.5 million in 1984.

Rouse also increased its current value in 1993.

The company did weather some sad news during this period of unprecedented growth, when its philanthropic founder, James Rouse, died in April 1996, at the age of 81.

1998: The Rouse Company converts from a standard corporation to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

In 2003, Rouse acquired controlling interests in two major master-planned communities: The Woodlands, a community on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, and Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida.

In 2004, General Growth Properties purchased The Rouse Company in a deal valued at $12.6 billion.

Beginning in 2014 with the adaptive re-use of the Frank Gehry-designed former headquarters of The Rouse Company as Whole Foods, the downtown is showing signs of meeting the goal of a vibrant city center.