Retail heaven
 

April 2004 is shaping up to be a landmark month in the history of Simi Valley. Groundbreaking is tenatively set for the Simi Valley Town Center, a tour de force lifestyle mall that will boost the Simi Valley’s economy and self-image like nothing before.

What the Cultural Arts Center contributed in the way of community pride in the early ‘90s, the Town Center will provide in dollars and cents, and more.

The 800,000-square-foot regional mall with its collection of anchor stores, retail shops and services will become the county’s largest shopping center ever and, just as importantly, it will include 500 living units to help ease the current housing shortage.

An estimated $400 million a year in sales is being lost to competitor malls outside the city. That’s $2 million in taxes that Simi Valley could be using to pay for roads, services and public safety.

Homes, jobs, businesses—they are the essential elements of a vibrant community, and while Simi Valley has grown to become quite a healthy city in its own right, the new Town Center will put a final piece to the puzzle.

Despite the long stop-and-go process that it took to get to this point—the issues regarding developers, land procurement and the environment seemed endless—city officials persevered and came up with a first-class business and development plan that will make the community proud.

Keeping the tax dollars at home is a challenge that every local government faces in hard budget times, but with the soon-to-arrive Simi Valley Town Center the task will become infinitely easier.

New malls aren’t a panacea for what ails us, but strong economies require them.

Simi Valley will have the best to offer when doors to the new shopping center open in 2005.

Congratulations to the city.