Simi Re-Signs Deal With Mall Developer

An Ohio development company will have a second shot at building a shopping mall in Simi Valley after City Council members voted unanimously Monday night to sign a new, exclusive negotiating contract with the firm.

Council members, acting as the board of the city’s Community Development Agency, said Forest City Development represents the city’s best chance for finally bringing to the city a regional mall to rival those in Thousand Oaks and the San Fernando Valley, where many Simi residents currently shop.

“We’re just very excited that they’re here and they’re continuing to move,” Mayor Greg Stratton said after the vote. “It’s a very good step.”

City officials, who have spent the past decade trying to create a mall north of the Simi Valley Freeway at 1st Street, have already worked with Cleveland-based Forest City for more than a year on the project. In June, 1995, the city and the developer signed an exclusive, six-month contract similar to the one approved Monday night.

But the deal lapsed in December after the company failed to drum up interest among the department store chains it needs to anchor the proposed mall. But the company and the city remained in contact to negotiate another deal. The new contract gives Forest City 10 additional months to pursue potential mall tenants.

Finding a department store that would lure customers into a new mall could still prove a problem, because most of the major chains--such as Macy’s and Bullock’s--already have stores near Simi Valley. But some City Council members say they are hopeful that the Arkansas-based Dillard’s department store chain, which recently announced plans to open its first stores in California, could be interested in the project.

Forest City project developer Victor Grgas said his firm has talked with Dillard’s officials about the proposed Simi Valley mall as well as other sites in Southern California.

Council members also voted Monday to establish agreements with the owners of two of the three land parcels needed to build the mall. The city’s development agency already owns the third parcel.

Under the contracts, the city will pay the property owners $12,500 per parcel for the option to buy the land if plans for the mall move forward. Together, the two parcels would cost $10.8 million for a total of about 80 acres, under the agreement.

The $25,000 needed to secure the purchase options on the two parcels will be supplied by Forest City under the terms of its contract with the city.