Owner of Northridge Mall to Buy Broadway Store Site

The owners of the Northridge Fashion Center have agreed to buy the mall’s Broadway department store as part of a plan to convert the northwest end of the shopping center into an entertainment complex with a 20- to 24-screen theater, restaurants and possibly an interactive motion-simulator attraction.

The concept, similar to the glitzy Irvine Entertainment Center at the Spectrum that opened last fall, follows the increasing trend of blending entertainment with retailing. Such moves are being driven by department store consolidations and bankruptcies, which have left many malls without anchor tenants and cut into sales.

“It’s a big mall,” said Donn Fuller, senior vice president of MEPC American Properties, the Dallas-based owner of the Northridge Fashion Center, which reopened last July after undergoing extensive earthquake repairs. “Something that large and that dominant needs something more than just fashion. It has the sheer size and draw in the area to be the most dominant center in the Valley.

“I think this will set it apart even more. It will make it even stronger.”