Los Angeles City Planning officials blessed a stadium planned at the Westfield Promenade site in Warner Center, but only after cutting the number of seats in half.
The zoning administrator approved a 7,500-seat stadium as part of developer Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s $1.5 billion mixed-use redevelopment of the 32-acre property on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, according to the L.A. Daily News.
The developer, a French real estate investment trust that purchased Westfield last year, wanted to build a 15,000-seat “entertainment and sports center.” For comparison, the Forum in Inglewood has 18,000 seats.
A project spokesperson said the developer was “disappointed” in the decision but pleased that a stadium was approved. Zoning officials did not shrink the overall footprint of the stadium — its planned to be 320,000 square feet.
Some locals have opposed the project over concerns about traffic, crowds, and crime. Also, some still oppose the smaller stadium. The decision can be appealed and the project still needs approval from the City Planning Commission and L.A. City Council.
The ambitious redevelopment of the aging Westfield Promenade mall dates from 2016, before Unibail-Rodamco purchased Westfield.
The plan calls for 1,430 residential units, 244,000 square feet of retail space, 629,000 square feet of office space, and 572 hotel rooms. It’s the largest development project planned in the 1.5-square-mile Warner Center Specific Plan area.
The city rezoned the commercial area for mixed-use space with the goal of making a walkable downtown hub for the San Fernando Valley. The city expects 24,000 new residential units and 28 million square feet of office and retail space there over the next 14 years.
Other large proposals in the area include Hanover Company’s 394-unit residential complex filed last year and California Home Builders’ office and residential complex on Califa Street. [LADN] – Dennis Lynch