Basu Aesthetics + Plastic Surgery opened the doors of an additional location in the glamorous Galleria/Uptown district of Houston last fall. The Galleria area is often considered the city’s ‘second downtown’—a chic, modern mecca with upscale shopping, five star hotels, and many of Houston’s best restaurants.
Can you believe that at one point in time this neighborhood was actually home to dusty farms, vegetable stands, and horse-hitched wagons?
1800s
Over a decade before Houston was officially founded in 1836, pioneers traveled the old San Felipe Trail through what is now the heart of Uptown. Immigrant families from Europe set up in the area’s rural farmland.
1940s
Houston suburbs were beginning to extend the cityscape into the surrounding prairies and farmland. At this time, Post Oak Road was centered around a simple two-lane asphalt road paralleled by drainage ditches.
Fun fact: Post Oak Road is named after a species of oak tree which are native to the region and used for making fence posts.
1950s
Following World War II, Houston visionaries such as William Farrington and Giorgio Borlenghi began the transformation of Uptown by opening Post Oak’s earliest retail developments. This also included the building of a 86,000 square foot studios and broadcast facility for KPRC-TV Channel 2.
1970s
Commercial developer Gerald Hines opened his 600,000 square foot Galleria shopping center on Uptown’s remnant farmland, at the corner of Post Oak and Westheimer. It is rumored Hines lured the venerated Dallas-based retailer, Neiman Marcus, into taking a chance on the new location by giving them the land for free. The Galleria offers a myriad of retail and dining options ranging from upscale to regional chains, as well as a large indoor ice skating rink.
1980s
In 1981 “South Post Oak” or “Post Oak Road” officially changed its name to Post Oak Boulevard and continued its expansion with the installation of street lights, public art fountains and sculptures. By this time Post Oak Boulevard had evolved into a wide, six-lane road with a grassy median and scattered mixed-use development.
A collection of mid-rise office and residential buildings appeared, including the landmark Williams Tower (one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers outside of a central business district).
1990s
This era marked the continual improvement of Post Oak Boulevard with the addition of the iconic stainless steel arches and rings designed by CommArts (now Stantec). Much of the Houston Uptown streetscape is executed in polished stainless steel, artfully inspired by the technology and infrastructure of the state’s booming oil and natural gas industry.
2000s
As Uptown entered the new millennium, several impressive additions to the Post Oak area changed the Houston skyline forever.
In 2004, St. Martin’s Episopal Church, the largest Episcopal Church in the country, was constructed. Years later it would undergo a $66 million construction project that added more than 65,000 square feet in specialized ministry space.
In 2014, a Whole Foods Market opened at Post Oak and San Felipe. It features an in-house butcher, smokehouse, and brewery, which was the first of its kind in the nation.
In 2018 local billionaire Tilman Fertitta opened a 700,000 square foot, $350 million mixed-use tower which included a luxury hotel, office, events, residential and high-end retail space all under one roof.
Uptown’s remarkable changes over time were also finally documented in a 2016 PBS special, “Post Oak Boulevard: A Texas Legacy.” This hour-long documentary program, produced by the Texas Foundation for the Arts, highlights the area’s rich history and transformation.
2020s: Basu Aesthetics + Plastic Surgery and Post Oak
In the fall of 2021, board certified plastic surgeon Dr. C. Bob Basu announced the expansion of his practice, Basu Aesthetics + Plastic Surgery, into a second location along historic Post Oak Boulevard. The new clinic is a spacious sun-filled suite surrounded by soothing views of trees and city skyline and offers a range of non-surgical medspa treatments such as body contouring, facial injectables, as well as consultations for surgical options with Dr. Basu.
This new office location is located at 1700 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 1-280 in Houston, and can be reached by phone at (713) 799-2278. Our team looks forward to seeing you soon!
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