SHERMAN OAKS : Demolition of Mall Building Considered

The owner of a Sherman Oaks shopping mall is considering demolishing the building that formerly housed an I. Magnin department store and replacing it with a larger, 175,000-square-foot store, a spokesman for the owner said Friday.

David Sauers, executive vice president for City Freeholds Inc., which owns Fashion Square Mall, said the expansion is one alternative being considered for the vacant store.

“We’re in the very early conceptual stage at this point,” Sauers said. “But expanding is one thing we are looking at.”

He said the company’s primary interest is finding a tenant for the 55,000-square-foot store, left vacant last year when I. Magnin closed its doors as part of companywide consolidation.

Sauers said if the company decided to expand the mall on Riverside Boulevard near Woodman Avenue, plans would also call for a 450-vehicle parking lot to be built in the southwest corner of the mall’s property.

Local homeowners, who have met with company officials on possible expansion plans, are concerned that adding a large department store to the mall would increase traffic congestion in the area.

“Anytime you look at adding a large anchor tenant to a mall that is something you have to think about,” said Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. “We’ll be watching their plans carefully.”