Major Warner Center Developments Move Forward
- Uzo Ehi
- Aug 31, 2020
- 6 min read
In 2002, civic leaders in the San Fernando Valley famously sought to secede, via ballot measure, from the City of Los Angeles. Had they succeeded, they would have created one of the top-ten most populous cities in the United States—and the only one without a downtown.
That effort has long since been shelved, but a contender for the Valley’s downtown has slowly emerged in the form of Warner Center, a 1.5-square-mile edge city in the west Valley, about 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Warner Center has long been a dense – for the Valley, at least – center of office and retail development. But the adoption of a specific plan, called Warner Center 2035, in 2013 set Warner Center on a course for additional growth. The overall plan permits up to 19,000 residential units spread over eight sub-districts, six of which allow for unlimited building heights.
It did so in part by lifting development restrictions that prevail elsewhere in the city.
“If you want to come build in Warner Center... you don't have to deal with many of the building requirements that you do in other parts of the city,” said Jake Flynn, spokesperson for City Council Member Bob Blumenfeld, who represents the west Valley. “That’s a big selling point.”
The recent approval of a sub-plan called Promenade 2035 and the impending approval of a sports arena—the first such civic institution of its kind in the Valley—signal that the region’s downtown dreams may yet come to fruition.
French developer Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, known for its extensive portfolio of retail and office units, convention centers, and airports in North America and Europe, is now at the helm of the Promenade 2035 project, which would redevelop the Westfield Promenade shopping site at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street. The global developer has since taken on the burden of bringing the anticipated center to completion, despite a global pandemic creating new challenges for stadiums and entertainment venues, striving to create a sports and entertainment arena.
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission unanimously recommended the Promenade 2035 project on May 28. The plan offers flexibility for its centerpiece: either a 7,500-seat sports and entertainment arena with a partial roof or a fully enclosed 10,000-seat venue. City planners adjusted the original proposal calling for a 15,000-seat stadium. The previous proposal resulted in several appeals, citing lack of affordable housing, a large stadium size, and compromised air quality as major issues.
The project, expected to cost upwards of $1 billion, will span a 34-acre site. Promenade 2035 calls for the construction of a mixed-use destination, including 280,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, 731,500 square feet of office space and 572 hotel rooms, and an urban sector with approximately 1,400 residential units.
