SIMI VALLEY : Council Says Mall Is City’s Top Priority

Despite the urgings of development advisors, Simi Valley City Council members said Monday they would rather see a new shopping mall built on a vast hillside site before anything else.

Simi Valley residents made it plain last year, by voting down a proposed Wal-Mart shopping plaza, that they wanted a full-fledged mall instead, said Mayor Greg Stratton. Other council members agreed.

Stratton then ordered city staff to work with members of a Cleveland development company called Forest City Development on plans for a mall, anchored by up to four department stores, as called for in city development plans.

Just moments before Stratton’s remarks, Forest City officials had recommended that the council do the exact opposite: build a 288,000-square-foot shopping plaza anchored with warehouse-style stores known as a power center, to be followed later by a 600,000-square-foot department store mall if shoppers want it.

Power centers built around stores such as Circuit City or CompUSA are hot among consumers now, said market analyst Jerome Oster. “These things are just growing like mad,” he said.

“We recognize that politically this may be something that is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve,” added Victor Grgas, Forest City’s director for development. “But that’s our recommendation.” If the city fails to allow a power center on the 129,000-acre site quickly enough, the anchor stores that would have moved in will find space nearby instead, depriving Simi Valley of the benefits, he said.

Mayor Pro Tem Bill Davis argued that Simi already has other power center sites, but only one good mall site. The city needs a mall because power center stores tend not to sell high-quality clothing, luggage and other goods found mostly in department stores, he said.

Councilwoman Barbara Williamson added, “The power center is hot, but what’s going to happen 10, 15 years from now when there are just a lot of empty boxes up there?”