1st Store Opens on Former Site of GM Plant
The name of the store is ‘Party City’ and Los Angeles officials, aptly enough, think its opening is something to celebrate.
Party City is to open Monday at the former General Motors site in Panorama City, the first of 35 stores to open on the site of a mothballed manufacturing plant that once symbolized the decline of the San Fernando Valley’s blue-collar middle class.
The rebirth of the General Motors manufacturing site as a shopping center is in part the result of a government-backed redevelopment effort. Mayor Richard Riordan and City Councilman Richard Alarcon have long championed the cause of a retail renaissance on the plant site, and succeeded in netting $4 million in federal subsidies for it.
“The redevelopment of the GM Plant into a revitalized retail center is an important turning point for the economic development of the Valley,” said Dan Margolis, a spokesman for Riordan. “It really makes a difference in the commercial confidence of the area.”
Party City, the first store to open, will shortly be followed by four others in October. A Mann Theatres multiplex movie house will open in December. A Los Angeles Police Department center and industrial complex also are slated for the site.
Party City is a national chain, specializing in party supplies and costumes, said Dan Selleck, president of Selleck Development Group, developer of the site.
“We are excited,” said Selleck. “It’s also exciting to see a lot of the community now visiting the center applying for jobs. You see people going from Home Depot to Ross. It’s nice to see.”
The 11,000-square-foot store is opening earlier than its neighbors to catch the Halloween-season shopping rush, said Selleck. A formal gala opening ceremony for the shopping center may be delayed until early next year, when most shops are open.
For nearly half a century, the GM factory anchored manufacturing industries in the area. Before it closed in 1992, it was among the Valley’s largest employers. When it closed, more than 2,600 people lost their jobs.
Federal grant money, and the enticement of state tax breaks for employers helped Riordan and Alarcon achieve their aim of redeveloping the site. The federal funds were used to extend Arminta Street, widen Van Nuys Boulevard, and for other infrastructure improvements.
The site is expected to become home to more than 2,000 retail and industrial jobs.
Alfonso Salazar, director of Riordan’s L.A. Business Team, a group of mayoral appointees charged with improving the city’s business climate, worked closely with Alarcon’s staff to close the deal. Salazar said the subsidies were necessary to make the deal pencil out financially.
The shopping center, called The Plant, has “really served as a catalyst for development on Van Nuys Boulevard,” said Salazar. “We are talking to banks and supermarkets; people are showing a lot more interest.”
Party City, opening Monday, will be the first store in the renovated, former General Motors plant. It will be followed by Babies R Us, on Oct. 5; Home Depot, on Oct. 10; Ross Dress For Less, on Oct. 17, and Officemax, on Oct. 22. A movie multiplex is scheduled to open in December.
