Valley dealing.

A stretch of land that surrounds the Northridge Fashion Center has suddenly become the center of attention.

Two national retailers are planning moves into the area, a developer is set to construct an 800-unit condominium community, and smaller strip centers are getting new owners and facelifts.

Porter Ranch continues its expansion with more affluent, single-family homes and even Northridge Fashion Center itself has begun revising its tenant mix as leases, many signed in the wake of the 1994 earthquake, run out.

"A lot of the shopping centers on Tampa (Avenue) went through a renovation, the growth in all the upper end housing in Porter Ranch really added a nice, new demographic boost ... so there's a lot of things happening all at once that are having a global influence on that section of Northridge," said Eric Smyth, a principal with CIP Real Estate in Irvine. He also mentioned the rapid expansion of the Washington Mutual campus and the construction of a courthouse.

CIP is finishing up the renovation of Northridge Promenade at Nordhoff Street and Shirley Avenue, which will soon get a new Guitar Center store. Across the way, at Nordhoff Street and Corbin Avenue, Lowe's Companies Inc. is building a new home improvement store.

Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by phone at [phone], ext. 263, or by email at [e-mail]. San Fernando Valley Business Journal staff reporter Shelly Garcia contributed to this column.