Westfield Group has vowed not to donate to City Council campaigns in the April 2006 election, joining mall rival Rick Caruso and Caruso Affiliated, who made a similar pledge in September.
The mall war continues as each side publishes public poll results. Westfield conducted a poll showing 57% of 400 respondents opposed to the new mall. Caruso did not release full results of its survey.
Westfield, Santa Anita Shoppingtown, and Santa Anita Fashion Park, are the three plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the City of Arcadia, the City Council, and developer Rick Caruso, aimed at stopping the new mall The Shops at Santa Anita. Plaintiffs allege the environmental study done was flawed. Assistant City Manager Don Penman said the study was the most thorough one he had ever seen.
Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to give the final approval on Rick Caruso's The Shops at Santa Anita mall. The City Council also approved an expansion project for the Westfield mall with one condition.
Rick Caruso writes to the editor in response to the article "Arcadia braces for possible mall wars at Santa Anita." He says it will not be a war but an integrated project that should benefit his property and Westfield Shoppingtown.
Caruso and Westfield are still battling over the proposed Caruso lifestyle center. A decade ago the race track's south parking lot had been rezoned for commercial development. Rick Caruso feels his development will help Westfield while Westfield believes a new mall will cannibalize tenants and harm both companies and the city's sales tax revenues.
Westfield Group, owner of Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita, plans to sue the City of Arcadia and developer Caruso Affiliated to prevent The Shops at Santa Anita, the outdoor mall, from being built.
Two new issues brought up by Westfield Group against the Caruso project may go to Arcadia voters in a special election in November. One issue is to ban paid parking and the other is to prevent Caruso from erecting large billboards at the mall. Any election could cost the city up to $80,000.
Westfield Group is funding a new "grass roots" coalition to oppose the Santa Anita Park race track mall development by Caruso Affiliated. The coalition is called Arcadia First! but includes Westfield representatives, Westfield tenants and downtown businesses, and not only citizens, as the membership in a grass roots organization might suggest.
Westfield Shoppingtown has hired one of the largest law firms in Los Angeles--Latham and Watkins, to slow developer Rick Caruso's proposal to build a mall on he grounds of the adjacent Santa Anita Park race track.
Westfield Shoppingtown has withdrawn its request to expand restaurant space at its new Promenade wing, following a legal challenge by rival mall developer Caruso Affiliated. In August, Caruso sued to stop the expansion, demanding a new environmental impact report. Westfield has decided not to fight this lawsuit.
A judge has disqualified the Los Angeles law firm Latham and Watkins from representing mall owner Westfield Group in its ongoing battle with developer Rick Caruso because Latham and Watkins had represented the Los Angeles Turf Club on an earlier development project in 1999-2000.
Seen as retaliation for Westfield tactics, Caruso Affiliated announced it would ask Arcadia voters to block mall rival Westfield from leasing space to Target Stores or a similar "big box" discounter.
Rouben A. Yardemian owns a retail store at Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita. He writes in response to Rick Caruso's letter that there will not be "mall wars." Yardemian believes Arcadia is not big enough for two malls.
Developer Rick Caruso's $400 million open-air mall at the Santa Anita Park race track may be stiff competition for retailers at Westfield Shoppingtown. City leaders hope the two malls can coexist.
The expansion plan for Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita raises traffic concerns with City Council members. Kenneth Wong, president of Westfield America maintains composure as he answers. The proposed expansion is called The Promenade, an outdoor 100,000 square feet area that would be between Nordstrom and Macys.
Developer Rick Caruso and his company are soliciting the Arcadia community's thoughts on his $400 million mall project slated for the parking lot of Santa Anita Park. A "scoping session" designed to solicit public views on what should be included in the environmental review will take place at City Council chambers at 7pm on April 7, 2005.
A full page-advertisement paid by Westfield is a letter from Westfield president Ken Wong thanking the Arcadia community for signing petitions limiting billboards and for free parking , to be voted on in the November 2006 general election ballot.
A court hearing today will provide clarification on Judge James Chalfant's July ruling that stopped progress on an upscale mall proposed by developer Rick Caruso at the Santa Anita Park parking lot. The proposed mall is known as the Shops at Santa Anita. In July, Judge Chalfant ruled that the environmental impact report (EIR) that Arcadia officials relied upon in approving the mall was faulty in 11 areas and would have to be revised before the project can move forward. Chalfant could modify his ruling today, or allow the existing ruling to become final judgment.