Mall in Valencia to Have 6 Major Stores, 100 Shops
Plans to build the Santa Clarita Valley’s first regional shopping center, which ultimately will contain six major department stores, were announced Thursday by Newhall Land & Farming Co.
The $180-million center will be built on 80 acres near the Valencia Civic Center in the city of Santa Clarita. The site is on the east side of McBean Parkway between Magic Mountain Parkway and Valencia Boulevard.
When completed, the two-level, enclosed mall will contain about 1.5-million square feet of retail space, including the six department stores and 100 specialty shops, said Thomas L. Lee, Newhall Land & Farming president.
“The continued growth of Valencia and the Santa Clarita Valley is attracting increased attention from major department stories desiring to enter this marketplace,” Lee said.
Construction of the shopping center’s first phase is expected to begin in 1990. It will consist of up to 800,000 square feet with two or three major department stores. May Co., Broadway and Sears are considering becoming tenants, said Thomas Dierckman, Newhall Land vice president of commercial and industrial real estate. The first phase is expected to be completed in 1991 at the earliest and 1992 at the latest, he said.
Dierckman said the mall’s second phase will attract upscale retail stores such as Robinson’s, Nordstrom and Bullock’s, which typically go into markets that already have a proven trade.
“If there’s anything that’s been much anticipated in the Santa Clarita Valley, it’s the development of a shopping center,” Dierckman said, adding that the development is an indication of the area’s maturity. A regional shopping center is one of the positive outcomes of growth, he said.
Partnership Formed
Lee said that Newhall Land, JMB Federated Realty Associates Ltd., with headquarters in Cincinnati, and May Centers, a subsidiary of May Department Stores Co. of St. Louis, have formed a partnership to build the shopping center.
“Both companies have extensive experience and excellent reputations for developing quality retail centers, and this community will be well-served by the addition of the fashion center,” Lee said.
Newhall Land and JMB Federated are the general partners in the venture. The architectural firm RTKL Associates of Los Angeles is designing the center.
“This retail center is designed to provide the fashion and shopping needs of the rapidly growing Valencia and Santa Clarita Valley area,” said Robert C. Little, development vice president in JMB Federated’s Los Angeles office. “The great location of Valencia Mall within the city of Santa Clarita will make it a vital town center of the area for years to come.”
Throughout the nation, JMB Federated has developed more than 14.5 million square feet of retail projects. The company recently opened MainPlace in Santa Ana, a 1.2-million-square-foot retail center.
May Centers owns or is a partner in 27 shopping centers in 10 states.
Santa Clarita Mayor Pro Tem Jan Heidt said people in the Santa Clarita Valley long have wanted a shopping mall. “If the city can help, it will,” she said. “I think it’s important that the city help the people get what they want.”
