The groundbreaking for Los Angeles County's first super-sized shopping mall took place on July 28, 1970. A 2-level, 60 million dollar complex was built on a 72-acre plot, located 25 miles northwest of the center city, in the northwestern environs of the San Fernando Valley.
NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER was developed by Jack David Gladstone, under the auspices of Northridge Fashion Center, Incorporated. The fully-enclosed complex was designed by the firm of Burke, Kober, Nicolais & Archuleta, of Los Angeles. The mall was implemented in four phases. The first, including a 3-level (175,000 square foot) Bullock's, was dedicated on September 17, 1971. A 3-level (181,400 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway welcomed first shoppers on October 18th.
The third phase of the mall, including a 3-level (220,600 square foot) Sears, was dedicated on November 3, 1971. A 4-level (181,600 square foot) J.C. Penney, which was the largest Penney's in Greater Los Angeles, opened its doors on April 12, 1972.
Encompassing 120 stores and services and two parking garages, NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER spanned approximately 1,373,000 leasable square feet and was the largest interior mall in Southern California for several years. Original inline stores included PayLess Drug, Hartfield's, House of Fabrics, Hickory Farms of Ohio and Disc Records. The
Lower Mall featured the General Cinema Corporation
Northridge Cinemas I-II-III, which showed its first features on December 12, 1972.
Retail rivals in and around "The Valley" included BULLOCK'S FASHION SQUARE (SHERMAN OAKS) (1962) {8.5 miles southeast, in Los Angeles}, TOPANGA PLAZA (1964) {4 miles southwest, in Los Angeles} and SHERMAN OAKS GALLERIA (1980) {7.3 miles southeast, in Los Angeles}.
Work got underway on a 20 million dollar expansion of NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER in April 1987. The project entailed the addition of a 3-level (143,300 square foot) J.W. Robinson's and
Northwest Wing of Upper Level stores. The new Robinson's was dedicated September 8, 1988.
A 3-level (139,000 square foot) May Company California, and Lower Level
Southwest Wing, was completed in late 1989. Two new parking garages were also built; one at the northwest corner of the property (adjacent to Robinson's) and the other at the southwest corner (adjacent to the new May Company). The May Company and Robinson's stores were rebranded on January 31, 1993. May Company was converted to
Robinsons-May South; Robinson's became
Robinsons-May North.
NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER had been in the early stages of construction when the Sylmar earthquake hit, on February 9, 1971. There was damage to structures being built, such as the Bullock's store. However, all compromised construction was soon rebuilt, with work proceeding as planned.
Unfortunately, the Northridge temblor of January 17, 1994 caused severe damage to the mall. The Bullock's and Penney's stores collapsed, The Broadway and Sears suffered significant structural damage and two parking garages were leveled. However, the bulk of the mall proper was left fairly intact.
NORTHRIDGE was closed for well over a year while repairs were made. Bullock's was rebuilt from the ground up and expanded to 200,000 square feet. The Broadway, Penney's and Sears were gutted and reconstructed.
The Broadway became the first of the damaged anchor stores to re-open, on November 4, 1994. Sears returned on November 17th. Penney's rededicated their store on June 14, 1995. A soft re-opening of the mall proper, with a third of its stores back in business, was held on July 17, 1995. Bullock's, the store most devastated by the disaster, resumed business on August 10, 1995.
Robinsons-May North and
Robinsons-May South re-opened on August 30 of the same year.
During the reconstruction, the mall was updated with new barrel vaulted skylights, elevators, escalators, marble walls and flooring. In addition, a 15-bay Food Court was installed on the Upper Level. One of the decimated parking garages was rebuilt. The remains of the second damaged deck, which had been at the northwest corner of the site, were removed. This structure was not replaced. Before the earthquake, the mall had housed 200 stores. This number was reduced to 180.
Anchor store rebrandings at NORTHRIDGE had commenced with the Robinsons-May conversion of 1993. The next anchor change at the mall involved The Broadway, which closed in early 1996. The Bullock's store received a Macy's nameplate in April of the same year.
Robinsons-May North was shuttered when the two stores were consolidated into the
South location in 1996. The building had been expanded to 181,600 square feet, taking a portion of land occupied by the southwest parking garage. The consolidated NORTHRIDGE Robinsons-May was rebranded as a Macy's Men's & Home Store on September 3, 2007.
Meanwhile, a mall renovation had been undertaken in 1997, with the north end of the structure completely reconfigured. The vacant
Robinsons-May North was demolished and the empty Broadway building opened to the elements and made part of an
Outdoor Promenade. New stores in this "Entertainment Expansion" included Borders Books, Cost Plus World Market, Bally's Health Club and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina. The addition was formally dedicated in November 1998.
The primary segment of the expansion was the Pacific Theatres
Northridge Fashion Center All-Stadium 10, which was built on the site of the old Robinson's. The megaplex showed its first features on December 18, 1998. With its completion, the gross leasable area of the mall had been increased to 1,512,700 square feet. The retail roster now listed over 170 stores and services.
Dallas-based MEPC American Properties had the misfortune of acquiring NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER just one month before it was nearly leveled by the 1994 earthquake. After investing over 100 million dollars into its reconstruction and renovation, they sold the mall to Chicago-based General Growth Properties, in April 1998.
Fourteen years later, an interior and exterior renovation was completed. This added new flooring, an updated Food Court and an amphitheater to the north mall
Outdoor Promenade. Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation. Hence, NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio.
The Pacific Theatres 10-plex closed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Final features were shown on March 17, 2020. The American Multi-Cinema chain acquired the venue and re-opened it on July 15, 2022. Meanwhile, Sears had shuttered their NORTHRIDGE store on January 5, 2020. The building was extensively renovated, with six tenant spaces created.
A 1-level (50,100 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods occupied the majority of Level 1 space. This store was dedicated on May 21, 2021. Level 2 was tenanted by a 1-level (86,700 square foot), Los Angeles-based Curacao, which sold home furnishings and electronics. A 2-level (39,200 square foot) Gold's Gym, installed in basement area, commenced operation in December 2021.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.northridgefashion.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.northridgefashioncenter.com
http"//www.mitchglaser.com
https://assessor.lacounty.gov / Los Angeles County, California
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.mortenson.com / Mortenson Construction
