Two large shopping centers in Cy-Fair are about to undergo a facelift, following recent sales of the Northwest Village Shopping Center and the Willowchase Shopping Center.

Work to remodel the Northwest Village Shopping Center is expected to begin late this year, following Gordon Partners' acquisition Feb. 28 of the 190,000-square-foot center at Hwy. 290 and Jones Road.

"We like the [Hwy.] 290 corridor, and we feel that there's a lack of retail there compared to other major freeways," said Scott Gordon, principle with Gordon Partners. "There's been tremendous growth up in Northwest Houston, so we feel it's great real estate, and we think we can improve the shopping center."

There are 35 tenants within Northwest Village Shopping Center and four or five vacancies.

"We are going to repaint the center to a much more upscale color scheme, improve the tenant signage and add architectural features and awnings," Gordon said.

The commercial real estate company also plans to improve landscaping and lighting features in the center.

"Right now it's just a lot of concrete, so we're going to try and soften it up and make it look nicer," Gordon said.

In early April, Houston-based development firm Fidelis Realty acquired the 273,934-square-foot Willowchase Shopping Center from Wheeler Interests at the corner of FM 1960 and Hwy. 249 with several plans to redevelop the property. Located in one of Northwest Houston's densest pockets of commercial development, the shopping center already features a Fiesta Mart, Family Dollar, Jo-Ann Fabrics and a Mattress Firm.

The building's exterior will also be remodeled, which is expected to give the area the feel of a new shopping center. The development company has plans to demolish a 56,000-square-foot portion of the center to make room for several new tenants.

After the redevelopment is complete by mid-2014, there should be space for one or two 15,000 to 30,000-square-foot junior anchors and a large freestanding restaurant.