Simi Acquires Site Option for Regional Mall Project : Retail: The council hopes a developer purchases the 80-acre parcel near 1st Street and the freeway and creates the upscale center the city has been trying to build for more than 20 years.

With the hope of attracting an upscale retailer such as Bloomingdale’s or Nordstrom, the Simi Valley City Council on Monday snapped up the option on an $11-million slice of property set aside for a regional mall.

Under the plan approved 4 to 1, the city will pay $2,000 for a six-month option on 80 acres of hillside property just north of the Simi Valley Freeway near 1st Street.

If all goes well, the option will be passed along to a developer who would purchase the property and create the mall the city has been trying to build for more than 20 years.

Ideally, the mall would be anchored with a mix of high-end and mid-range department stores not already occupying malls nearby. Possible retailers include Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Sears and J.C. Penney, Mayor Greg Stratton said.

“The site is perfect for someone who is not in Northridge or Thousand Oaks,” he said. “For those types of businesses, Simi Valley is a natural.”

Whether such retailers would set up shop in a Simi Valley mall remains the critical question in a quest that has incurred many setbacks. Most recently, the recession forced developer Melvin Simon to pull out of the project in 1987.

In recent years, the city’s thirst for a mall seems only to have grown.

In 1993, the city produced a glossy brochure touting its mall plan as “The Developer’s Dream Come True,” and spent $3.5 million to acquire 32 acres slated for mall parking, roads and a proposed office complex.

That purchase prompted the owners of the 80-acre parcel to offer their property for $8.8 million in cash.

The council rejected that offer. When the landowners came back in January and proposed the six-month option, they received a more receptive response.

The city has asked 18 developers to investigate the property and send in details on previous retail projects and other qualifications. Three responded.

The names of the three developers are being kept confidential until the council considers offering one of them the project next month, Deputy City Manager Don Penman said.

In a town where the major shopping options are limited to Mervyn’s, Target, K mart and Ross Dress for Less, city leaders are eager to expand their retail--and sales tax--horizons.

Unlike most cities, Simi Valley does not levy a property tax, so revenue generated from sales tax is especially important, accounting for about 28% of the city’s general fund.

A regional mall would give Simi Valley a chance to significantly boost its annual sales tax revenue. For the current fiscal year, the city hopes to raise $7.66 million--far less than Thousand Oaks, Ventura and Oxnard, cities that have malls.

Councilwoman Sandi Webb opposed the plan, saying she did not want the city to spend any more money buying land to lure a mall developer.