MetroNational, the Bunker Hill-based privately held real estate investment, development, and management company, announced David Glover as their new Chief Creative Officer. Glover will oversee strategy and design for all real estate development, including a new Master Plan for the transformation of Memorial City.

Through his 35-year career, Glover has collaborated with a variety of prestigious development organizations, heads of state, entrepreneurs, and renowned artists. Glover most recently served as principal and global director of mixed-use at Gensler, an international design firm, where he led the design and planning of mixed-use and retail centers around the world. Before Gensler, he served as Vice President of Design at Westfield and Executive Creative Director at Universal Studios.

The transformation of Memorial City began last year after the demolition of the mall’s former Sears and, according to MetroNational, the new Memorial City will heavily focus on mixed-use development. Glover discussed his plans to help the mall succeed.

Q: Are conventional retail centers a thing of the past?

A: I do not think that shopping centers are a thing of the past, but they will have to completely change their mindset to be sustainable and stay relevant. More than ever before, today’s consumers are driven by purpose and the belief that what a brand stands for is more important than what they sell. People are getting behind the brand’s mission and are motivated to support their coalesced ambitions through the purchase of products and services. Successful centers will build communities around these brands by creating and sharing content so that the customer is becoming the voice of the brand. It is about heart share, not market share. It is about connecting the place to the need of leaving something behind that makes this a better world.

Q: How do you as Chief Creative Officer adapt to doing your job in a pandemic?

A: There is a lot to consider for this new normal. As we think about a future state, we will be thinking differently. The consequential issues around design and planning today are not related to style, rather they relate to purpose and performance considering the human condition and a global desire for unity. In this lonelier more divided world, developers and landlords are under pressure to create new concepts to restore our sense of closeness and community. Integrative thinking at the intersection of technology and place can provide a new purpose at a time when we are paradoxically isolated from one another. Leveraging and synchronizing this convergence is at the heart of what will fuel innovation in the future and move us towards a disruptive and transformational shift to a “New Hybrid” experience.

Q: Do you expect there to be a difference in creating mixed-use development in Houston as opposed to anywhere else in the world?

A: Good design creates a place as much as it responds to it. Boston is not Beijing, Chicago is not Cairo, and Raleigh is not Rome. In contrast to globalization, we understand that what works here in Houston and what does not work in Seoul. As a local landlord/developer, we can operate locally so that we understand the culture within the context of each project. I believe that every project needs a deep relationship with its community and its people to create connections that are both open and resonant at all scales.

Q: How do you incorporate storytelling into development?

A: Every mixed-use project comes with its site-specific challenges as well as its own client and program brief idiosyncrasies. By accepting these idiosyncrasies, we are enabled to distinguish the proper guiding principles to generate site-specific solutions. By designing places that are vibrant and fulfilling for everyone who visits, stays, or works there, we can play a significant role in restoring our sense of closeness in our communities. Content is king and the livelihood of each center is dependent upon the ability to stay relevant by listening to your customer and providing a robust, seamless, and fully orchestrated experience. As arbiters of commerce and culture, curators of experience, and ambassadors of storytelling, we are creating something new.

ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com