Most of us can recognize and visualize a professional sports venue (stadium, ballpark, arena) that costs more than a billion dollars (AT&T Stadium, U. S. Bank Field, etc.) But how often do we in the real estate business observe a high-end shopping mall addition that cost over a billion dollars? In an era when “the shopping mall” is being left for dead by the media, those crazy folks at Westfield decided to “pull the trigger” several years ago to create what they described as “a destination unlike anything else in Los Angeles.”
Westfield Century City originally opened in 1964 as the Century Square Shopping Center. It was designed by Welton Becket Associates, a premier Los Angeles architectural firm at that time. (As an aside, McDonald Becket, Welton’s nephew when he ran the firm a decade later, got the firm involved in the design and construction of the Hyatt Regency and Reunion Tower in Dallas). Over its multiple decades in existence, Century City was expanded revised, and added on to several times. During that same time, the property had multiple different owners, with Westfield finally becoming a significant owner in 2002.
Certainly, there are existing malls that are as valuable, and perhaps even more valuable, but those have also largely been created over time in pieces and at significant cost. One could even make the case that the history of Westfield Century City followed the same path.
Between 2002 and 2009, Westfield initiated expansions, modifications, remodels, and renovations. Between 2009 and 2013, a new renovation/addition plan was proposed, protested, revised, and finally approved. This most recent proposed project (the billion-dollar one) began construction in 2015 and was significantly completed in late 2017. The project that was executed was not planned as a mixed-use project because the (local) residents protested the proposed office and housing elements of the plan, and they needed to be removed before the authorities with jurisdiction would allow the project to proceed. In fact, there are many ancillary mixed-use type components that either existed or were developed by others that surround the project today. The result is a wide area of very mixed uses.
It gives the impression today that Westfield Century City is probably 70 to 80 percent occupied, with the majors complete and open, many inline stores and restaurants open and operative, and many more forthcoming.
The expansion increased the square footage to 1.3 million square feet, doubled the parking capacity including “smart” parking and reserved parking, bike racks, and incorporated/ planned for a future link to LA Metro Purple Line subway. There are even an outdoor “lounge” Uber waiting areas! Lime Bikes were not visible.
So, is this project successful?
It’s a little early to make sweeping judgments based on sales numbers and comp sales alone, since the project hasn’t been fully operational even a year, and there are still more shops set to open.
So how are we to judge its success?
Let’s look at some of the ideas and criteria that have been proposed by industry experts to facilitate a successful mall, a shopper’s retail experience, and how this project fared.
Does the center have a sense of place? Does it have great amenities? Is the architecture great, good, or even worth mentioning at all?
And the biggest question is, are there shoppers?
My observations, based on one visit, is that the project has all the features and a few extravagances tailored to current market and consumer trends, especially in that part of Los Angeles.
Six months into a new shopping experience, the place still looks brand new, and I guess it still is. This is a large (obviously) open-air center that has storefronts and restaurants, primarily on two levels above-ground, with two levels of parking below.
The center does not look like any shopping place that I have ever previously visited.
Bruce Carlson is a partner at CMA Architecture.
