The man responsible for Westfield’s plans to turn the old Promenade mall in Woodland Hills into an urban community complete with a 15,000-seat arena, office studios and apartments, among other things, will lay out his plans tonight at a meeting in Woodland Hills.
Larry Green, senior vice president of Westfield, which owns the aging Promenade site, will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization meeting at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Auditorium B, Entrance B, 5601 De Soto Ave.
Green will present Westfield’s plans for turning the shopping center into a master-planned community in Warner Center’s Downtown District.
• RELATED STORY: The Promenade faces bleak future as more tenants abandon struggling mall
He will answer questions about the company’s plans, including the proposed development’s features, traffic and parking issues.
Much is known about the ambitious plan, it’s $1.5 billion price tag and the 1,400 new apartments it envisions, along with a grocery story and a 470,000-square-foot tower on a large block at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Streets in the shadow of Warner Center office towers.
But there are community concerns.
Among the top concerns are traffic and safety, said John Walker, executive vice president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners’ Organization.
• RELATED STORY: Westfield unveils plan to turn The Promenade into $1.5 billion ‘live, work and play’ complex
The planned arena has prompted worry over how many cars will be driving into the area, and the sheer number of people coming in and out and residents moving in has sparked concern over crime.
“Are they just going to dump that on LAPD and expect LAPD to deal with that?” Walker said.
Similar questions over the plan — titled Westfield Promenade 2035 — are expected, Walker said, from a community that is still absorbing what the project means.
Walker said the public needs to know that it’s planned in phases, with completion not planned until 2035, and it was also notable that businesses remaining at the site still have leases.
Right now, the 43-year-old, 555,000-square-foot Promenade mall is a shell of its old self, as a number of business have left.
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