MALL SET FOR GRAND RETURN.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

WEST HILLS - After more than two years of plans, many new tenants, many more new vacancies, tons of earth and a threatened class-action lawsuit, the Fallbrook Center will celebrate its grand reopening today.

Owner General Growth Properties had a difficult property on its hands in the three-decade-old Fallbrook Mall at the corner of Fallbrook Avenue and Victory Boulevard.

Bored with an odd assortment of independent tenants holding together a dark, outmoded indoor mall, shoppers fled for the larger Northridge Fashion Center and tonier Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga.

Desperate for a radical change, GGP got rid of its small tenants, razed the mall last year and built anew around larger, airier stores. It kept most of its anchors, brought in Kohl's and a slew of other national name tenants and reinvented itself as a bargain-oriented outdoor shopping center.

``It was a disaster before,'' said Carol Gendler, executive director of the Canoga Park/West Hills Chamber of Commerce. ``It was half-empty and it wasn't attracting anyone. It puts us up a notch competing with Topanga. Anytime you bring something into the area, it helps everyone.''

In recent months, the center has opened its Michaels art supply store, Petco and Linens 'n Things, and construction crews are at work paving the way for the project's final major component, a 140,000-square-foot Home Depot. GGP has slated a Quiznos Sub and Cold Stone Creamery to open on the north side this summer, along with a Yan Can Cook restaurant near the Old Navy. Though Trader Joe's is on the books, its specific location has not been decided yet.

Most significantly, the old Kmart, dark for more than a year since a bankruptcy closure, will become a Wal-Mart. Univest, a separate developer that owns a slice of the property to the south, confirmed long-held speculation Friday that the giant retailer will take over the roughly 95,000-square-foot space.

``What you're seeing today is a result of trying to understand the demand in the community,'' said Linda Smith Frost, GGP's senior marketing manager. ``It's a philosophical change to go from a covered traditional center to an open air with big-box stores and value-oriented retail.''

Not everyone in the community demanded the change, however. The noise of heavy machinery and the dust clouds and grime kicked up during demolition led a group of nearly 40 local homeowners to threaten a class-action lawsuit against GGP, claiming that crews had created a nuisance.

``I have a lawsuit ready to go, and I'll file it soon, because we aren't getting the response we want,'' said Donald R. Ingalls, the Woodland Hills attorney representing residents. ``We're looking for them to do the construction in a normal fashion and not interfere with the neighbors.''

GGP declined to comment on the potential litigation.

Experts said the change would benefit the surrounding retailers and community at large. Bob Scott, executive vice chairman of the Economic Alliance and a West Hills resident, has watched the community grow from a sleepy, mom and pop neighborhood into a destination spot for shoppers in the past decade.

``It's a different look and frankly, it's a good fit for the community,'' he said. ``This community is more disposed to bargains. People in the West Valley like their discount stores, not because they have to patronize them, but because they want to.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 maps

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Fallbrook Center in West Hills will hold its grand reopening today. After more than two years of construction, the center's almost done.

(2 -- color) no caption (Fallbrook Mall sign)

(3) Linens 'n Things employees Desiree Williams and Edwin Murillo set up a display in front of their store.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Map:

(1) Fallbrook center

(2) FALLBROOK MALL

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist