Step through the front doors into an outdoor playground of high-end shopping, farm-to-table dining, and eight-acres of promenading. No cars, no city noise, and no hassle penetrates this Shangri-La. Enjoy a beer after work on the rooftop garden as you bask in the futuristic, elegant glow what Southern California dreams are made of.
These were the prenatal introductions to Westfield Century City’s $800-million re-development Thursday, Aug. 13 as Mayor Eric Garcetti, Westfield Co-CEO Peter Lowy, and Westfield Century City General Manager David Burke toasted to the revitalization of a Los Angeles’s new moneymaking agora, set to open in spring 2017.
The “modernization and beautification” of the mall will generate an estimated $1.4 billion in economic output and create about 10,000 new permanent retail and construction jobs, according to Westfield.
“I’ve seen the evolution of this mall since I was a kid coming here when it was closed, semi-open, and now I see a full re-embrace of the topography and the weather and the beauty that is Los Angeles right here,” Mayor Garcetti told the crowd of city officials, community leaders, and media.
“But side-by-side with that is the incredible investment that Westfield has made: $1 billion in jobs, in investment, in local businesses that will help raise the best mall in the world right here in the heart of our city.”
After that $1 billion, Los Angeles estimates another $1 billion for the county and city just from the economic activity in sales tax, the mayor said.
“[Westfield] represents what Los Angeles is best known for,” Mayor Garcetti said. “We don’t care about what corner of the earth you come from, we don’t care you gender, your age, your ethnic background, your race, who you love – we want to see great creativity. Los Angeles today is the creative crossroads of the world, and I think Westfield Century City is the creative crossroads of the creative crossroads of the world after this today.”
About 30 shops have been closed already. In January, Macy’s and other stores will close so they can be demolished. Opening in phases beginning in late 2016, the new Westfield Century City Will encompass 1.2 million square feet of retail space, double the available parking to more than 4,700 spaces, and create new world-class anchors: a new three-level Nordstrom, completely remodeled three-level Bloomingdale’s, new two-level Macy’s, and the West Coast’s first Eataly.
Eataly, which catered the event, has become a mythical creature of itself in the years leading up to its premier arrival to Los Angeles. The world’s largest Italian market place comprises a variety of restaurants, food and beverage counters, bakery, retail items, and a cooking school.
“It won’t just be an anchor, it’ll be a social hall, it’ll be your grocery store, it will be a place that you spend time. People don’t think about going to the mall to get a pasta lesson, or to have people prepare your vegetables fresh from the farm all the way to the table,” Mayor Garcetti said.
Lowy revealed the multi-milion dollar redesign of Westfield Century City has been over a decade in the making.
“When this project is complete, we will have redefined the very nature of shopping on the Westside of L.A.,” Lowy said. “The mall will be a showcase for 230 shops featuring 55 restaurants and cafes with fresh, local and seasonal dining choices. I’m excited to announce today that the first phase of the project will be open in time for the holidays in 2016. That’s only 15 months away with a balance to be open the following spring.”
L.A. interior designer and tastemaker, Kelly Wearstler will design her first interior of a shopping center.
“Kelly’s creative impact will ensure the center will be like any other shopping destination you have ever experience, and her signature casual elegance will become a hallmark of the new Westfield Century City,” Lowy said.
Westfield will also roll out a suite of customer-focused apps, compatible with all devices, designed to help with shopping, parking, dining, premium services and amenities, tapping into retailer product promotions, and customizing digital walking routes to shoppers’ stores of choice.
“We’re on the cusp of delivering a retail destination that will exceed your expectation,” Lowy said.
And for a place, Mayor Garcetti said, that is now the number one tourist destination in America, has the number one airport in the world for flights that originate and end there, with record breaking visitors last year, number one in manufacturing jobs, number one in green jobs, now number one in tech jobs in the U.S., the vision for Westfield Century City is to showcase L.A.’s ability to house and foster such forces.
“We’ve added 90,000 jobs to our economy in just the last two years. We’ve cut our business tax and at the same time our bond rating has gone up. This is a city that’s investing more in public transportation, and collectively it’s the largest public works program in the United States right now, with five new lines including the Expo Line that will open up all the way to the beach this spring. And then we’re going to bringing that Wilshire line right here.”
“We are so excited that Century City will be the hub, the geographic heart of not just our public transportation system but of the city it well deserves to be once again,” Mayor Garcetti said. “But what this project does that takes advantage of all those number one things, is it turns our old way of thinking literally inside out.”
In Los Angeles County, Westfield also owns and operates major shopping destinations in Century City, Culver City, Fashion Square (Sherman Oaks), Santa Anita (Arcadia), Topanga (San Fernando Valley), and Valencia (Santa Clarita). Currently and cumulatively, these Westfield shopping centers provide more than 26,000 local jobs. And these centers also generate more than $326 million in tax revenues on an annual basis. During the course of the past ten years, Westfield has invested more than $2.6 billion in the redevelopment and revitalization of its Los Angeles shopping centers.
First opened in 1964, the Century City mall has gone through redevelopments in 1980 and again in 1991. After acquiring the property in 2002, Westfield undertook its first redevelopment in 2005, to include the introduction of AMC Theatres and new al fresco dining terrace, popular with professionals working in the adjacent Century City business district and shoppers alike.
For more information visit www.westfield.com/centurycity.
