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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Westfield to Caruso: Boo-Ya!



Remember my April Fool's joke about Rick Caruso taking over the Budweiser plant in Van Nuys to build a new open air mall? (Yes, it was a joke.)

Well, this one isn't: The Daily News reports that Westfield will construct a new $750 million outdoor retail complex that will connect the close-by-but-not-quite-connected Topanga and Promenade malls in the Valley.

The new mega center could be Southern California's largest, as the paper writes:

The Village in Warner Center will include a 300-room, four-star hotel, 150 condominiums and apartments, offices, and 550,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

At 3.8 million square feet, the three-mall behemoth - including its hotel and residences - will be larger than South Coast Plaza in Orange County and Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance.

"It will create a heart for this whole district," said Ken Wong, president of Australia-based Westfield's operations in the United States.

Construction is expected to start in two years. When finished, The Village could draw 10 million visitors a year - in addition to the 15 million who visit Topanga each year and the 9 million who stop by the Promenade.

Somewhere, Rick Caruso is plotting his revenge.

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