MEGA-MALL SOUTHLAND'S LARGEST CENTER SLATED FOR VALLEY OUTDOOR RETAIL AREA TO BE LINK.Byline: JULIA M. SCOTT Staff Writer The San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. will soon boast one of Southern California's biggest shopping centers with construction of a $750 million outdoor retail complex connecting the Topanga and Promenade malls, The Westfield Group The Westfield Group is a multinational company that owns shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Westfield shopping centres are typically branded with the name Westfield or Westfield Shoppingtown in their name. said Tuesday. The Village in Warner Center will include a 300-room, four-star hotel, 150 condominiums and apartments, offices, and 550,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. At 3.8 million square feet, the three-mall behemoth behemoth (bē`hĭmŏth, bĭhē`–) [Heb.,=plural of beast], large, fanciful primeval monster, like Leviathan, evoking the hippopotamus mentioned in the Book of Job. -- including its hotel and residences -- will be larger than South Coast Plaza South Coast Plaza is an upscale shopping mall in Costa Mesa, California, USA, in Orange County, and one of the most notable shopping centers in the United States. In 2004, Women's Wear Daily in Orange County and Del Amo Fashion Center Del Amo Fashion Center is a two-level regional shopping mall in Torrance, California, USA. It is currently managed and co-owned by Simon Property Group. With a current gross leasable area (GLA) of 2.5 million ft², it is one of the largest shopping malls in the United States. in Torrance. "It will create a heart for this whole district," said Ken Wong, president of Australia-based Westfield's operations in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Construction is expected to start in two years. When finished, The Village could draw 10 million visitors a year -- in addition to the 15 million who visit Topanga each year and the 9 million who stop by the Promenade. The project is the latest for Westfield, which recently spent $500 million to upgrade its Topanga mall with everything from a new wing and upscale stores to a parking garage. Its new project also will include 4,100 parking spaces above and below ground, but how Westfield will connect the three malls -- by trolley, tram, bridge or tunnel -- has not been decided. Officials are weighing how to deal with the extra drivers the development will draw, but Wong said it's too early to say how traffic patterns might need to be changed. Westfield filed an environmental assessment Tuesday with Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. city officials, a precursor to an environmental impact report. The project has broad support, however, from key local leaders. Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, whose district includes the development, said any concerns about traffic and not infringing on community space will be smoothed out. "All those issues we will resolve," Zine said. "It will work for the benefit of the west San Fernando Valley." A representative from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office said the mayor also supports the plan. Wong said Westfield officials already have met with many community organizers and said the public will have numerous opportunities to comment on the project. Shirley Blessing, a longtime Woodland Hills resident and member of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, said she heard details of the plans last week. Blessing said she would be comfortable with the project as long as lots of trees are provided for shade and Westfield addresses the issue of how to connect its three centers. "They will develop and, I hope with community input, it will be something the community will be very proud of," said Blessing, who said she would like to see a walkway walkway Rehabilitation medicine An instrument used to measure the timing of foot contact and or position of the foot on the ground that would allow shoppers to park their cars once and not use them again until they are ready to leave. August Steurer, a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee to the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. , said he thinks Westfield is "headed
fairly in the right direction. They have been responsive to suggestions
and concerns."
But Steurer cautioned that big-box stores like those at Topanga could attract regional traffic that will be a strain. Retailers for The Village have not been announced, but Wong said there will be no department stores This is a list of department stores. In the case of department store groups the location of the flagship store is given. This list does not include large specialist stores, which sometimes resemble department stores. . He said tenants will include restaurants and national chains that don't depend on department stores for consumer traffic. The Village could become a central district similar to a community Main Street, said Bob Scott
"People can spend the day there, not just stop in to buy a few things," Scott said. "The endlessness of the mega-mall begins to make it more of an adventure." Officials believe the new mall will create 2,500 temporary construction jobs and 7,500 permanent jobs, plus $6 million in sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. revenue. Westfield chose an outdoor design -- despite the Valley's scorching scorch v. scorched, scorch·ing, scorch·es v.tr. 1. To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. summer temperatures -- to try to create an experience different from the adjoining enclosed malls. The development will spare about half of the city block, including the 21st Century building, which Westfield does not own. But managers of at least one restaurant slated to be demolished said Tuesday that they have long-term leases. "Ownership reassures us we have seven years left on our lease," said Marie Leighton, who has been the manager of Yankee Doodles for 18 months. At Stuart Anderson's Black Angus, manager Andy Wojciechowski said the owners are "talking about moving" with Westfield. The Mandarin Wok and Financial Partners Credit Union have already closed. julia.scott(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3735 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box, 2 maps Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) The Village Conceptual drawings, below, show Westfield's plans for "The Village," left, a $750 million outdoor mall that will link the Topanga and Promenade shopping centers in the west San Fernando Valley. A 300-room hotel, condos, offices and retail spaces are planned. SOURCE: All images are conceptual designs provided by Westfield Box: A Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. behemoth Map: (1 -- 2) The Village Gregg Miller/Staff Artist |
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