Casa Linda Shopping Center
A historic neighborhood shopping center at the Garland Road and Buckner Boulevard crossroads in East Dallas.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Casa Linda Shopping Center, officially known as Casa Linda Plaza, is a historic neighborhood shopping center in East Dallas, Texas, at the intersection of Garland Road and Buckner Boulevard. It developed from a large tract of East Dallas land assembled by the Brown family and was conceived as both a commercial center and the focal point of a surrounding residential community. The property’s land history reaches back to the nineteenth century. The Brown family acquired more than 600 acres in 1937, although Carl Martin Brown had begun purchasing East Dallas property in the early 1930s and eventually controlled more than 1,000 acres of residential and commercial land in the area. The family’s account of the property includes an ownership chain extending to an original land grant associated with service in the Battle of San Jacinto. The Browns retained the original 1937 abstract and planned to donate it to a Dallas museum for preservation and study. Construction of the shopping center and nearby homes began before the Second World War. Building activity was interrupted by wartime shortages of construction materials and resumed after Howard D. Brown returned from active military service in February 1946. The family’s development effort included not only the plaza but also the residential properties around it. Corinne Brown Walton, Carl Brown’s only daughter, later joined the family office and helped manage the family enterprise with three other women until her death from cancer in 1973. Casa Linda became a broad-based community shopping destination rather than a narrowly specialized retail property. Its early tenant roster included Tom Thumb, Mott’s, C & S Hardware, Skillern’s drugstore, El Fenix, Wyatt’s Cafeteria, Ashburn’s Ice Cream, Vavra’s Bakery, Texas State Optical, Time Jewelers, Jackson’s Sporting Goods, Southern Maid Donuts, and several apparel, furniture, restaurant, gift, optical, and repair businesses. These tenants made the center a convenient retail and dining hub for residents of the surrounding East Dallas neighborhoods. The property changed ownership several times in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Hopkins-Shafer acquired it in the 1980s and repainted the buildings bright pink, a notable visual phase in the center’s history. AmREIT acquired the shopping center in 2008, excluding the theater, and began renovation work in March of that year. AmREIT presented the project as an effort to restore the center’s earlier character while adding updated physical features, new tenants, and a stronger sense of place. Food service has been an important part of Casa Linda’s identity. Casa Linda Cafeteria closed unexpectedly in 2007 soon after the property changed hands and reopened as Highland Park Cafeteria in May of that year. Highland Park Cafeteria ultimately closed permanently in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sale of its furnishings, equipment, and signage ended the last operating location associated with the cafeteria and brought its 95-year history to a close. EDENS, a national retail real-estate developer, purchased the shopping center in 2015. Casa Linda continues to be understood primarily as a neighborhood retail property serving East Dallas rather than as a national consumer brand. Its historical significance comes from the Brown family’s role in developing the surrounding community, its long succession of local and regional tenants, and its evolution through multiple ownership and renovation phases.
History
Casa Linda Shopping Center, also called Casa Linda Plaza, grew out of the Brown family’s development of East Dallas land near Garland Road and Buckner Boulevard. Carl Martin Brown began assembling property in the area during the early 1930s. By 1937, the family had purchased more than 600 acres of former East Dallas farmland, and Brown eventually controlled more than 1,000 acres of residential and commercial property. The shopping center was planned as the commercial core of a larger community-building project that included homes around the plaza. The site’s documented ownership history extends to an original nineteenth-century land grant associated with the Battle of San Jacinto. The Browns preserved the original 1937 abstract for the property and expressed an intention to place it with a Dallas museum so that the document could be protected and made available for research. Construction began before the Second World War but was disrupted by shortages of building materials. Work resumed after Howard D. Brown returned from military service in February 1946. Carl and Howard Brown continued the effort to complete the plaza and the surrounding homes. Corinne Brown Walton, Carl Brown’s only daughter, later became involved in managing the family office. Together with three other women, she helped administer the family’s real-estate interests until her death from cancer in 1973. The completed center attracted a varied tenant base. Early occupants included a Tom Thumb grocery store, Mott’s variety store, C & S Hardware, Skillern’s drugstore, El Fenix restaurant, Wyatt’s Cafeteria, Ashburn’s Ice Cream, Vavra’s Bakery, Texas State Optical, Time Jewelers, Jackson’s Sporting Goods, Southern Maid Donuts, and a range of apparel, furniture, gift, optical, restaurant, and repair businesses. This mixture positioned Casa Linda as a practical neighborhood destination rather than a single-purpose shopping facility. Ownership changed in the 1980s when Hopkins-Shafer purchased the property and painted its buildings bright pink. The center later passed through additional ownership changes. In 2008, AmREIT acquired the shopping center, while the theater remained outside the transaction. AmREIT began renovations in March 2008 and described its objective as restoring the center’s historic appeal while modernizing the property and improving its tenant mix. The center’s food-service history included Casa Linda Cafeteria. That business closed unexpectedly in 2007 after the property was sold but reopened in May of the same year as Highland Park Cafeteria. Highland Park Cafeteria eventually closed permanently in the summer of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The auction of its equipment, furniture, and signage marked the end of its final location and ended a 95-year cafeteria tradition. EDENS purchased Casa Linda Shopping Center in 2015. The property’s importance is primarily local and historical: it represents a long-running East Dallas neighborhood center whose identity has been shaped by the Brown family’s original development, changing real-estate ownership, renovation efforts, and generations of retail and dining tenants.
- 2020
Highland Park Cafeteria closes
[1]The final Highland Park Cafeteria location closed during the summer pandemic period, ending the cafeteria’s long operating history.
- 2015
EDENS becomes owner
[1]EDENS purchased Casa Linda Shopping Center after several earlier ownership transitions.
- 2008
AmREIT acquires and renovates the center
[1]AmREIT purchased the shopping center, excluding the theater, and began renovations in March.
- 2007
Cafeteria changes identity
[1]Casa Linda Cafeteria closed and reopened as Highland Park Cafeteria in May.
- 1980
Hopkins-Shafer ownership period begins
[1]Hopkins-Shafer acquired the center during the 1980s and repainted the buildings bright pink.
- 1973
Corinne Brown Walton dies
[1]Corinne Brown Walton, who had helped manage the family office and development interests, died from cancer.
- 1946
Postwar construction resumes
[1]Construction restarted after Howard D. Brown returned from active military service in February, following wartime shortages of building materials.
- 1937
Brown family acquires more than 600 acres
[1]The Brown family completed its purchase of a large East Dallas tract that became the foundation for Casa Linda Plaza and the surrounding residential development.
Products and positioning
A community-oriented neighborhood shopping center serving East Dallas, with a long-established mix of everyday retail, restaurants, food businesses, services, and specialty stores.
Shopping center services
Neighborhood retail mix
Casa Linda’s historic offering was a broad convenience-oriented tenant mix. It included grocery retail, variety goods, hardware, pharmacy, apparel, jewelry, gifts, sporting goods, furniture, optical care, bakeries, restaurants, cafeterias, barbecue businesses, ice cream, donuts, and repair services. The combination allowed surrounding East Dallas residents to complete routine shopping and dining trips within a single neighborhood center.
Dining
Casa Linda Cafeteria
Casa Linda Cafeteria was one of the center’s notable food-service businesses. It closed unexpectedly in 2007 after the property changed hands and subsequently reopened under the Highland Park Cafeteria name. The successor business later became the final location in that cafeteria tradition.
Dining · 2007
Highland Park Cafeteria
Highland Park Cafeteria reopened at the site in May 2007 following the closure of Casa Linda Cafeteria. It operated for more than a decade before closing permanently during the summer of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Its closure ended the business’s last remaining location and its stated 95-year legacy.
Brand decisions
2015
EDENS acquires Casa Linda Shopping CenterM&ABackground
The shopping center had passed through multiple owners, including Hopkins-Shafer and AmREIT, before the 2015 transaction.
Action taken
EDENS purchased the shopping center and became its identified owner.
Aftermath
The acquisition placed the East Dallas property under the ownership of a national retail real-estate developer. No transaction value or subsequent performance figures are provided in the reference material.
2008
AmREIT launches a restoration and revitalization programStrategyBackground
After acquiring the shopping center, AmREIT identified the property as a candidate for restoration and modernization in response to its location, surrounding population, traffic, and established neighborhood role.
Action taken
AmREIT began renovation work in March 2008, seeking to update the physical environment, attract new tenants, and restore the center’s earlier character. The theater was not part of the acquisition.
Aftermath
The renovation became one phase in the property’s continuing ownership and redevelopment history. The available reference material does not provide project costs, completion dates, or measured commercial results.
Recent events
- 2020
Highland Park Cafeteria closes permanently during the COVID-19 pandemic[1]
Other
Highland Park Cafeteria shut its final location during the summer of 2020. Its furniture, equipment, and signage were auctioned, ending the cafeteria’s 95-year operating legacy.
- 2015
EDENS purchases Casa Linda Shopping Center[1]
M&A
National retail real-estate developer EDENS acquired the shopping center after a series of ownership changes.
- 2008
AmREIT begins Casa Linda renovation[1]
Other
After acquiring the property, AmREIT started renovation work intended to refresh the center, attract new tenants, and restore its earlier character. The theater was excluded from the acquisition.
- 2007
Casa Linda Cafeteria closes and later reopens as Highland Park Cafeteria[1]
Other
The Casa Linda Cafeteria closed shortly after the property changed hands and reopened in May 2007 under the Highland Park Cafeteria name.
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