Westfield Corp. has developed some of the most upscale malls in Los Angeles County, and it is adding the Village at Topanga complex in Woodland Hills to the list. The mall will open next month and consists of a large street of outdoor retail along Victory and Topanga Canyon boulevards that will bring 88 new tenants to Warner Center. While traditional malls consist of two large anchor stores connected by a walkable hall lined with smaller shops, Westfield’s plan is to take the Village to the next level. The outdoor mall will act as a connector between Westfield’s Topanga and Promenade malls, combining the three properties and totaling more than 300 tenants – about twice the number of Westfield’s Century City mall or its Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks. The developer anticipates the three adjacent properties combined will bring in 20 million shopper visits and ring up $1.3 billion in sales every year. The $350 million project will make Woodland Hills one of the top retail hubs in the United States, said Larry Green, Westfield’s senior vice president of U.S. development. “The Village was designed to be a hangout, a great place to come, meet with friends and socialize,” Green explained. “You’ve got this mix of tenants that’s going to make it a real vibrant place at almost all hours.” Westfield has assembled a variety of national retailers, restaurants and specialty shops as tenants for the 550,000-square-foot outdoor Village. They include Costco Wholesale Corp., Crate & Barrel, a three-story 24-Hour Fitness and more than 80 other tenants. The two anchor malls already have plenty of brand-name firepower, including H&M and Macy’s. Overall, the tenant mix is designed to appeal to a breadth of customers from the Neiman Marcus shopper at the Topanga to the Costco crowd at the Village to the Corner Bakery eatery at the Promenade. While the Warner Center 2035 Plan, approved in 2013, attempts to create a walkable city, the neighborhood’s mall is simply too big for many pedestrians to cover. As a result, two trollies will circle the complex with pickup and drop-off locations at the Orange Line station, Westfield Topanga, the Village and the Promenade. Matthew May of L.A. retail brokerage May Realty Advisors said the center may pull some shoppers away from smaller malls within close vicinity such as Westfield’s own Fashion Square and a few of the smaller strip malls in Westlake Village. However, May said the overall economic impact of the Village on the retail sector in the region will be positive. “It’s going to create more opportunity for retailers to come into that marketplace who don’t need to be in a mall but want to be adjacent to a mall,” May said. “The stores around it will become an outparcel to the mall, so everybody will rise as a result of what Westfield is doing.” Destination location The Village is opening at a time when the entire mall industry is shrinking. Smaller, older shopping centers are closing throughout the country under the pressure of larger upscale competitors and e-commerce sales. “On a national basis, I think the answer is customers want an experience. It’s an emotional experience that we’re all looking for,” May explained. “There is no doubt that a traditional enclosed mall with the two anchors and shops in the middle by itself is diminishing and requires a lot of repositioning.” With this in mind, Westfield has included features and tenants at the outdoor mall to make the Village a destination spot. KCSN, an FM radio station licensed to Cal State Northridge, will open a satellite studio to broadcast daily on-air programming from the mall, in addition to hosting weekly live concerts. A stage will be erected and live performances featuring local artists and international stars will take place every Sunday afternoon. Sunday will also feature a farmers market hosted by Raw Inspirations, a market organizer in Calabasas. Jonathan Larsen, principal of Avison Young’s West L.A., Tri-Cities and Ventura County operations, estimates the Village’s rental rates will average between $5 and $6 a square foot a month. That compares with average county rates of $2.44 for similar retail space in the second quarter, according to data from Colliers International. “I think they will be comparable to some of Rick Caruso’s properties like the Lakes in Thousand Oaks or the Americana at Brand (in Glendale),” said Larsen. “They’re going to be at the top end of retail pricing in the Valley just because there is going to be a lot of traffic.” He noted that the traffic generated by the mall will likely drive up property values and rental rates of surrounding retailers. “It’ll bring in residents, businesses and it’ll also strengthen markets around the site,” he said. “Because of the density of the area, the renaissance of residential, and the traffic, it’s going to be a long-term success. It’s perfect timing for Westfield to do this in Woodland Hills because there’s a major demand for it.” Architecturally, Westfield has designed the mall to resemble a miniature village. The two-story structure features storefronts made of different materials including brick, plaster and reclaimed wood, giving each building an individual look. “We wanted to give a sense that the project was built over time and we did that through the use of different materials,” said Green. “We mixed it up (and) I think it adds to the comfort.” A play area for kids is at the center of the project, overlooked by second-story tenants YogaWorks and Burke Williams and across from Slaw Dogs, a gourmet hot-dog stand. Green said the company expects the area will be a big attraction for children. Noting consumers’ growing infatuation with their pets, the Village will include drinking fountains for dogs and stations for visitors to tie up their dogs if necessary. The tenant mix will also feature gourmet dog food and grooming shop Healthy Spot. “We’re finding that our customers want an environment they can bring their pets to and we’ve designed the Village to accommodate them,” Green said. Landscaping will include sycamores, olive trees, benches, canopies, a koi pond, a clock tower, trellises, outdoor fire pits and even a bocce ball court. Il Fornaio, which has been searching for a location in the Valley for nearly 20 years, jumped at the opportunity to get space at the Village. “There are a lot of things we look for in an ideal site – visibility, foot traffic, parking, among other factors. We feel that Westfield is that ideal partner,” said Michael Mindel, senior vice president at the restaurant. “They certainly have the experience and track record we look for in landlord partners.” Mindel said his restaurants average more than $5 million in revenue annually, and he hopes the Village location will do equally well, if not better. Some concerns However, plans for the Promenade, the smaller mall on the south end of the complex, are still uncertain. Earlier this year, the mall lost two anchors – its main Macy’s store and a Macy’s furniture gallery – which together represented about 270,000 square feet of leased space. The 40-year-old mall is now largely vacant, with only a handful of tenants drawing traffic to the center including AMC Theaters, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and a few restaurants along the perimeter. Westfield would not disclose whether it plans to repurpose or remodel the mall, though the developer considers the Promenade part of the overall project, even going as far as making it a pickup location for the trolley. Meanwhile, traffic is always an issue in Los Angeles – and it is expected to be an issue at the mall complex. While tenants crave traffic, it makes residents and politicians cringe. To alleviate such concerns, Westfield has paid for $15 million worth of traffic infrastructure improvements, adding lanes on Topanga and Victory boulevards, Owensmouth Avenue and Erwin Street in hopes of minimizing congestion at the main entrances to the complex. “Just reflecting what most people say, they’re all looking forward to having the Village here, but everyone is concerned about the parking and traffic that is going to be generated by the complex,” said Scott Silverstein, chairman of the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council. “We’re hoping that Westfield works with the Department of Transportation and everybody else that is part of that particular issue to mitigate the traffic as much as possible.” The project has 2,600 parking spaces in all, 1,600 of which are in a four-story parking structure that Westfield built. The entrance of the structure on Topanga travels underneath the project before going up to the structure on Owensmouth, keeping vehicles out of the way of pedestrians. In an effort to encourage people to leave their vehicles at home, Westfield will have two trollies that can each accommodate 40 riders, and an available app will note their schedules and allow customers to see where the trollies are and how long it’ll take to reach their destination. “If you’re working and you have a limited amount of time for your lunch break, you want to know when that trolley is coming so you can maximize your time,” said Green. Silverstein believes the Village at Topanga project is in direct alignment with the Warner Center’s 2035 Plan to increase residential density and bring in more businesses near the transit district. “We’re hoping that this opportunity will bring other people in from L.A. to realize that Woodland Hills is the destination,” he said. “From the Neighborhood Council’s point of view the Village is a well-built project that we hope is extremely successful. We believe that as successful as that project is, is how successful Warner Center will be going forward.”
