SIMI VALLEY : Former Councilman Offers to Sell City 33 Acres Slated for Mall

The owner of 33 acres, to be developed as part of a regional shopping mall and office complex in Simi Valley, has offered to sell the property to the city, officials said Monday.

Bill Baker, a former city councilman, sent an unsolicited proposal to the city about a week ago inquiring if it was interested in buying the land, said Assistant City Manager Bob Hunt. Hunt declined to reveal Baker’s suggested price for the property.

Baker could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Greg Stratton and Councilman Bill Davis said the city might be interested in purchasing the land. The council discussed the issue in closed session Monday.

“It’s something to look at if we can get a really good deal,” Stratton said. “I think we should make some kind of offer and see what happens.”

Baker’s land is located northeast of First Street. Melvin Simon & Associates plans to develop a regional shopping mall and office complex on a 126-acre site, including all of Baker’s 33 acres, between 1st Street and Erringer Road north of the Simi Valley Freeway.

Melvin Simon, which has delayed groundbreaking on the mall until possibly mid-1994 because of the recession and declining retail market, has so far chosen not to exercise its option to purchase Baker’s land.

Meanwhile, Baker is preparing to go to court next month to face off against the relatives of his deceased wife, Lucile Chandler Estes, in a long-running battle over her $12-million estate. This includes the land that Baker wants to sell to the city.

Estes left her husband the bulk of her real estate holdings when she died in 1989 at age 85. But some of her relatives contend that Baker, who was 25 years younger than Estes when they wed in 1986, had duped her into placing all of her assets into a trust with him in sole control.