Plans underway could double the size of the Valencia Town Center, Santa Clarita’s largest shopping center. The owners of the Valencia Town Center, LNR Property and Westfield Group, a shopping center operator with headquarters in Australia, are working with the city of Santa Clarita to develop a proposal for a lifestyle center that would add entertainment and restaurant venues among other things to the 1.2 million-square-foot town center. The Valencia Town Center is anchored by a Robinsons-May (due to be renamed Macy’s as a result of the retailer’s acquisition by Federated Department Stores), and Sears. While the department store arena is shrinking, there are many other retailers and restaurants that are not represented in the region. “We have seen a couple of different designs and they’re trying to incorporate three different philosophies and address all the needs of the city,” said Carrie Rogers, economic development manager for the city of Santa Clarita. Rogers said that, in addition to the retail needs of the growing city, the developers are considering the addition of more office space in the complex. Santa Clarita, which had labored under double-digit vacancies in its office stock for some time, is lately seeing brisk leasing activity, and the city planners expect that more space will be needed. Several plans have already been scrapped as a result of the changing business environment and changes in the retail landscape. “There’s a lot of need and there’s a lot of demand, which has driven them back to the drawing board,” Rogers said.
