 In 2002, General Growth Properties, which had previously overtaken management responsibilities for the mall around 1999, acquired First Colony Mall outright from its original owners.Over time, as the Sugar Land area grew both physically and economically, and Sharpstown began to lose more prominent national chains, First Colony Mall slowly began to add more upscale stores such as Williams Sonoma and newer concepts including Hollister Co. to its specialty store lineup.In 2005, the mall's first anchor change occurred when Mervyn's announced it would close its First Colony location as the chain exited Houston entirely.