WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Price Costco Seeking Location for Outlet

After being rebuffed last year by Calabasas residents worried about rapid development, the Price Costco retail chain is seeking land for an outlet in Westlake Village.

“We’re looking at a site, and we’re negotiating,” said Lois Miller, vice president of planning for the newly merged Price Club and Costco chains. “That’s all I can say.”

The retail giant is negotiating with the Resolution Trust Corp. for about 30 acres of land between Valley Oaks Memorial Park and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, where it would build up to 290,000 square feet of retail space, said Westlake Village Director of Planning Robert Theobald. The land was formerly owned by three savings and loan institutions.

Price Costco could apply for building permits within about a month, Miller said.

A proposal for a Price Club outlet in Calabasas fell apart last August after residents objected, saying the 3-year-old city was not ready for such fast growth.

Westlake Village, which incorporated 13 years ago, may be more suitable for such a project, which would boost the city’s sales tax revenue by an undetermined amount, said City Manager Ray Taylor.

“Whether it’s Price Costco or some other retail outlet that goes there, it will have a positive effect on us financially,” Taylor said. “That certainly is a factor as we watch this scenario of other cities having to reduce expenditures and raise taxes.”