McLeod Sears, the family office of long-time Houstonians, has just wrapped up construction on the major redevelopment of a local retail landmark in one of Houston's most affluent submarkets.

The 10,000-sf structure, now class A office/retail space, was the longtime home of Leibman's Fine Foods at 14529 Memorial Dr. on Houston's west side. It's now the headquarters of the McLeod Sears family office and its foundation, Grant Me The Wisdom (GMTW), and Memorial Children's Dentistry, a brand-new medical practice for Dr. Hyunso "Hanna" Park, who recently has relocated to Houston from Brooklyn, N.Y. The dentist's office will open in September.

McLeod Sears, with husband-and-wife team Michael and Meredith McLeod-Cobb at the helm, has invested $700,000 into a complete makeover of the building's interior and exterior, parking lot and monument signage. Construction has been underway roughly six months. The former retail space has been divvied into three suites – McLeod Sears, 3,265 sf; Memorial Children's Dentistry, 3,260 sf; and 3,174 sf, which is being marketed as premium office or retail space.

"There is not a lot of premium space along this stretch of Memorial Drive, but we know this real estate very well and it's where we wanted our headquarters to be," says Meredith McLeod-Cobb, a partner in the family firm and development partner of NewQuest Properties.

The building's one vacancy has sparked interest from retailers and restaurateurs because of the property's strong identity as Leibman's Fine Foods, a one-time staple in the Memorial area known for its upscale specialty deli and wine selection, including private label.

"This end cap is a prestigious location with affluent demographics," McLeod-Cobb explains. "I'm optimistic it won't take long to find a compatible co-tenant for Memorial Children's Dentistry and our family office."

The family office/investment firm also is led by Jay Sears, a leading commercial real estate professional who is co-founder and managing partner of NewQuest Properties. As partner of McLeod Sears, he is focused on investing the family's capital into real estate throughout the U.S. To date, he has personally developed in excess of 15 million sf of retail space valued at more than $2 billion. He also serves as chairman of GMTW, which he and his wife, Debbie McLeod, founded in 2010.

Debbie McLeod also is a managing partner of McLeod Sears, focusing on venture capital investing in start-ups with underrepresented leadership. McLeod runs GMTW as executive director and president. GMTW funds women and girls’ education in the developing world as well as health care and invests in documentary films and social entrepreneurs. To date, GMTW has invested in 60+ films. McLeod has been focused on underserved communities for more than 40 years.

The McLeod Sears family has lived in the Memorial neighborhood nearly 35 years. "We've always loved Memorial Drive real estate so we jumped at this redevelopment opportunity. It's in our backyard," McLeod-Cobb says, "and it has the strong retail presence that we wanted for our family office."

As a young developer in 1996, Sears began his career in a small office building along Memorial Drive. "For us, this is a return to Memorial," McLeod-Cobb says.

McLeod Sears is a Houston-based entrepreneurial firm focused on finding and analyzing opportunities to make long-term, sustainable investments in communities, people and organizations. The Grant Me The Wisdom Foundation, established nearly 10 years ago, is focused globally on women and girls, education, poverty alleviation and documentary film. Their new co-tenant, Memorial Children's Dentistry, specializes in providing dental care to children and adolescents of all ages in a comfortable environment.