Topanga Canyon and Victory Boulevards
Los Angeles, California
Master architect Victor Gruen was involved in the design of the first major enclosed shopping center in Southern California. Developed by Saint Louis-based May Centers, the complex was built on a 58-acre tract in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. The site, once part of the Harry Warner Ranch, was located 25 miles northwest of the center city.
Originally promoted as the WEST VALLEY CENTER, the official name of the shopping hub had been changed to TOPANGA PLAZA by the time ground was broken, in February 1963. The mall would envelop approximately 950,000 leasable square feet, on 2 levels, and house eighty-three retailers.
The first operational tenants were a 3-level (240,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based May Company California and 2-level (161,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward. These stores held grand openings on February 10, 1964. A Food Fair supermarket welcomed first patrons in April 1964. This was followed by the official dedication of a third anchor, a 3-level (160,200 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway, which opened its doors on August 24, 1964.
An Ohrbach's boutique store was installed at TOPANGA PLAZA. It assumed vacant Joseph Magnin space on the mall's Upper Level, as well as Lower Level area previously leased by Thrifty Drug and the Original Cookie Company. The TOPANGA Ohrbach's, which encompassed 36,800 square feet, was dedicated on August 21, 1980.
Charter TOPANGA tenants included Mullen & Bluett, Silverwood's men's & boy's, Hudson's Jewelers, Sutton Brothers Home Decorating and 1-level (18,000 square foot) Joseph Magnin. Grand openings at TOPANGA tended to be star-studded affairs, attended by Hollywood personalities such as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lorne Green, Buster Keaton, Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows and Bea Benedaret ("Kate" on "Petticoat Junction").
The Topanga Plaza Ice Arena opened -to much fanfare- in March 1965. It was located on the mall's Lower Level, at the southeast corner of the structure. A Rain Fountain ("Wonderfall") feature in the adjacent South Court was designed by Torrance's Vic Chaten. The North Court included bird aviaries, planters and a gazebo. The Terrace Restaurant overlooked the area from atop the May Company store.
A cinematic venue, the RKO-Stanley-Warner Topanga Theatre, was built across the boulevard from The Broadway, on the southeast corner of Topanga Canyon and Victory Boulevards. This cinema opened on October 26, 1965.
The Topanga Plaza Ice Arena opened -to much fanfare- in March 1965. It was located on the mall's Lower Level, at the southeast corner of the structure. A Rain Fountain ("Wonderfall") feature in the adjacent South Court was designed by Torrance's Vic Chaten. The North Court included bird aviaries, planters and a gazebo. The Terrace Restaurant overlooked the area from atop the May Company store.
A cinematic venue, the RKO-Stanley-Warner Topanga Theatre, was built across the boulevard from The Broadway, on the southeast corner of Topanga Canyon and Victory Boulevards. This cinema opened on October 26, 1965.
In 1966, TOPANGA PLAZA was used in location shooting for Columbia Pictures' "Divorce American Style." In the film, Debbie Reynolds and Emmaline Henry stroll the North Court, ascend an escalator to the second level, traipse through Florsheim Shoes and then head into Joseph Magnin.
Major shopping centers in the TOPANGA trade area included FALLBROOK SQUARE (1963) {1 mile west, in Los Angeles} and NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER (1971) {4 miles northeast, also in Los Angeles}. The "Topanga Mall" had been conceived as a middle market shopping center, with stores and services geared toward a more working class clientele. In 1973, PROMENADE AT WOODLAND HILLS was dedicated, which was two blocks south. This new complex was positioned as an upscale counterpart to the older shopping venue.
Major shopping centers in the TOPANGA trade area included FALLBROOK SQUARE (1963) {1 mile west, in Los Angeles} and NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER (1971) {4 miles northeast, also in Los Angeles}. The "Topanga Mall" had been conceived as a middle market shopping center, with stores and services geared toward a more working class clientele. In 1973, PROMENADE AT WOODLAND HILLS was dedicated, which was two blocks south. This new complex was positioned as an upscale counterpart to the older shopping venue.
An Ohrbach's boutique store was installed at TOPANGA PLAZA. It assumed vacant Joseph Magnin space on the mall's Upper Level, as well as Lower Level area previously leased by Thrifty Drug and the Original Cookie Company. The TOPANGA Ohrbach's, which encompassed 36,800 square feet, was dedicated on August 21, 1980.
The first mall expansion of got underway in January 1984. A 2-level (154,000 square foot) Nordstrom opened, as a fourth anchor, on April 6, 1984. As part of the 16 million dollar renovation, columns and archways were installed along the shopping concourse. Surfaces were painted with a neutral palette, using subtle accent colors, and the 15-bay Plaza Cafes Food Court was built in existing space. Its area had been utilized for five inline stores after the Ice Arena was removed in the early 1980s.
Stores opening as part of the mid-1980s refurbishment included Edgeware Cutlery, Music Box & Clock Shop, From The Heart and D.J.s Fashion Center For Men. The Montgomery Ward store was also downsized at this time. Upper and Lower Level shops were built in the area bordering Center Court. When construction dust settled in the fall of 1984, Montgomery Ward encompassed approximately 143,000 square feet.
TOPANGA PLAZA now covered approximately 1,104,000 leasable square feet and contained 106 stores and services under its roof. Further renovation work was done between January and November of 1992. This 45 million dollar project included a seismic retrofit of steel and concrete framework.
On January 31, 1993, the TOPANGA PLAZA May Company was rebranded as a Robinsons-May. The mall was one of nineteen CentreMark properties sold to a joint venture in November 1993. The group included Australia's Westfield, Des Moines' General Growth Properties and New York City's Whitehall Street Real Estate Limited Partnership. The joint venture divided up management of the malls, with Westfield's share including the TOPANGA MALL.
A massive earthquake hit the San Fernando Valley on the morning of January 17, 1994. The inline store section of TOPANGA PLAZA had been seismically reinforced just 2 years earlier and incurred only modest damage. The mall re-opened on January 28, 1994. The four anchor stores had been severely shaken. Nordstrom resumed business in February, followed by The Broadway in May and Montgomery Ward in September. Robinsons-May remained closed until November 1994.
The Broadway was shuttered in early 1996. It re-opened as a Sears on November 2nd. In November 1998, the shopping hub was bequeathed a new name...WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN TOPANGA. In November 1999, Westfield established 100 percent ownership of the mall.
Montgomery Ward closed in March 2001. A fourth mall renovation, on the drawing board since 1997, got underway in February 2005. The vacant Wards was torn down. A multilevel addition, encompassing 753,500 leasable square feet, was built. In all, over 100 stores and restaurants were added. These included a 3-level (200,000 square foot) Nordstrom and 2-level (100,000 square foot) Target. Three parking garages were also constructed. As an adjunct, the Robinsons-May store was rebranded as a Macy's on September 9, 2006.
Montgomery Ward closed in March 2001. A fourth mall renovation, on the drawing board since 1997, got underway in February 2005. The vacant Wards was torn down. A multilevel addition, encompassing 753,500 leasable square feet, was built. In all, over 100 stores and restaurants were added. These included a 3-level (200,000 square foot) Nordstrom and 2-level (100,000 square foot) Target. Three parking garages were also constructed. As an adjunct, the Robinsons-May store was rebranded as a Macy's on September 9, 2006.
A new WESTFIELD TOPANGA (sans "SHOPPINGTOWN") was dedicated on October 6, 2006. The mall now housed 270 tenant spaces. However, the 500 million dollar renovation was far from being finished. A second phase of construction replaced the circa-1984 Nordstrom with a 2-level (120,000 square foot) Neiman Marcus. This store was dedicated on September 5, 2008. WESTFIELD TOPANGA now encompassed approximately 1,634,600 leasable square feet.
In late 2007, Westfield announced plans to connect WESTFIELD TOPANGA and WESTFIELD PROMENADE (nee' WOODLAND HILLS PROMENADE) with a 750 million dollar VILLAGE AT WESTFIELD TOPANGA. This "urban village" would be built on the 30-acre section lying between the two malls.
Open-air in format, this mixed-use development would have featured 438,500 square feet of retail, 75,000 square feet of restaurants a "boutique hotel" and incorporate 215,000 square feet of existing office space. Moreover, an aerial monorail system, linking the three shopping centers, was mentioned. The Great Recession caused drastic changes to be made in the plan. The residential component and monorail were dropped entirely and the size of the prospective complex reduced. It was now to encompass 447,700 square feet of retail and restaurants.
Costco was signed in mid-2010. Their store was to comprise 1 level and 154,000 square feet. Costco planned on a late 2012 grand opening, but there was a fly in the ointment. The Woodland Hills Homeowners Association filed a suit to block the prospective store in April 2012. The suit was dismissed in July 2013, but this delayed the beginning of construction on the VILLAGE AT WESTFIELD TOPANGA until October 2013. Costco became the first operational tenant on September 11, 2015.
Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
Open-air in format, this mixed-use development would have featured 438,500 square feet of retail, 75,000 square feet of restaurants a "boutique hotel" and incorporate 215,000 square feet of existing office space. Moreover, an aerial monorail system, linking the three shopping centers, was mentioned. The Great Recession caused drastic changes to be made in the plan. The residential component and monorail were dropped entirely and the size of the prospective complex reduced. It was now to encompass 447,700 square feet of retail and restaurants.
Costco was signed in mid-2010. Their store was to comprise 1 level and 154,000 square feet. Costco planned on a late 2012 grand opening, but there was a fly in the ointment. The Woodland Hills Homeowners Association filed a suit to block the prospective store in April 2012. The suit was dismissed in July 2013, but this delayed the beginning of construction on the VILLAGE AT WESTFIELD TOPANGA until October 2013. Costco became the first operational tenant on September 11, 2015.
Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
Sears, a TOPANGA tenant since 1996, shut its doors on May 3, 2015. The building was demolished in July 2020 and replaced by a "vibrant entertainment district." This new mall wing included the 24-bay Topanga Social food hall, AMC Dine-In Topanga 12 megaplex, Pinstripes bowling & entertainment center and a luxury fashion wing. Tenants included Hermes, Dior, Valentino and a (21,000 square foot) Arhaus Furniture.
The AMC megaplex became the first operational entertainment district tenant, on June 2, 2022. As the new food and wing was being built, the existing mall was given a facelift. This included the installation of new flooring. The 250 million dollar renovation and expansion was completed in late 2023.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The San Fernando Valley Times (Roscoe, California)
https://layimby.com
https://valleynewsgroup.com
https://www.gruenassociates.com
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor site
https://web.archive.org/http://www.westfieldamerica.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group
http://www.mta.net/ / press / metro orange line
http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com
www.reuters.com
https://web.archive.org/http://www.westfieldamerica.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group
http://www.mta.net/ / press / metro orange line
http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com
www.reuters.com
https://valleynewsgroup.com
"Westfield Topanga" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF TOPANGA PLAZA IMAGE:
The photograph from The UCLA Library Digital Archive illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is of lower resolution than the original (copies made would be of inferior quality). The image is not replaceable with a free-use or public-domain image. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the image in any way. The image is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
The photograph from The UCLA Library Digital Archive illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is of lower resolution than the original (copies made would be of inferior quality). The image is not replaceable with a free-use or public-domain image. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the image in any way. The image is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
