Permission Sought to Enclose, Expand Sherman Oaks Mall

Sherman Oaks Fashion Square is seeking permission from city zoning authorities to expand and become an enclosed mall, which would leave the San Fernando Valley with only a handful of small, open-air malls.

The Riverside Drive mall, one of the Valley’s first shopping centers when it opened in 1961, would be expanded by 23% under the proposal to be considered Oct. 14 by a Los Angeles city hearing officer.

As was the case when the mall last expanded in 1977, the proposal is likely to be opposed by some of its neighbors.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., predicted that the group’s members would vote to oppose the expansion at an association meeting Oct. 1.

Open-Air Mall Preferred

He termed the center a “very attractive asset to the community as an open-air mall,” but said that, if enlarged and enclosed, it will be “just another oversize, indoor mall.”

“There seems to be a lot of sentiment for keeping it as an open-air center,” he said. “It’s a nice place to stroll and its scale is such that it’s pleasant to look at.”

A spokesman for the owners said that 170,000 square feet would be added to the mall’s existing 727,000 square feet.

Broadway and I. Magnin department stores at the mall’s west end and Bullock’s at the east end would be unchanged, said David Sauers, executive vice president of City Freeholds (U.S.A.) Inc., which bought the facility in December.

A second story containing small shops would be added between the department stores, and the mall would be covered, he said.

More Parking Provided

Parking would be increased 6% by restriping parts of the existing garage and creating a parking lot for employees across the street, Sauers said.

No cost estimates have been prepared for the project, Sauers said, adding that construction will take about one year.

Although the shopping center’s sales remain high contrasted with its competitors, experience indicates that enclosing the mall could increase sales significantly, he said.

City Freeholds recently enclosed the Buena Park Mall and “sales per square foot shot up by about 50%, which indicates why the industry trend is to cover shopping centers,” he said.

According to State Board of Equalization figures for the first nine months of 1985, the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square had sales of $104 a square foot, placing it fourth in the Valley behind the Panorama Mall ($139), the Woodland Hills Promenade Mall ($111) and Northridge Fashion Center ($107).

It finished ahead of Sherman Oaks Galleria ($101) and Topanga Plaza ($92), both of which are enclosed.

Despite outdistancing several enclosed malls, Sauers said that the “fashion square has been steadily losing business to enclosed malls in the area.”

He said that, although open-air shopping is appealing on mild days, shoppers stay away at night and during heat waves and rain.

If the center is enclosed, the largest open-air mall remaining in the Valley will be Valley Plaza in North Hollywood.