Galleria Sells Council on Plan for Make-Over

SHERMAN OAKS —  The Sherman Oaks Galleria, the shopping mall enshrined in San Fernando Valley lore as the hangout of Valley Girls seeking the perfect miniskirt, is headed for a make-over that will convert most of the flagging retail center into office space.

With the qualified support of a local homeowners’ group and ringing praise from five council members who represent chunks of the Valley, the City Council voted 10 to 0 Tuesday to tentatively approve a developer’s plans for a movie theater, restaurants and up to 630,000 square feet of offices at the landmark mall, which is now more than 60% vacant.

“Everybody is working on the same page, because the Galleria doesn’t work,” said Councilman Mike Feuer, who helped garner community support for the plan by negotiating ways to shield the surrounding neighborhood from increased traffic.

The Galleria’s owner, Douglas, Emmett & Co., plans to open a 4,000-seat movie theater complex, 45,000 square feet of restaurants, up to 390,000 square feet of retail space and between 489,000 and 630,000 square feet of offices. Dan Emmett, a principal with the development company, said Warner Bros. will occupy part of the renovated office space.

“We hope it becomes a great neighborhood amenity,” Emmett said, adding that his firm had incorporated many suggestions offered by Sherman Oaks residents. To make the site more welcoming to neighbors, for example, the developer added a pedestrian-friendly plaza.

“It does appear that the project is on the right track,” said David Rankell, a representative of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. “Really our only concern is that there may be cut-through traffic.”

Two years after it opened, the Galleria enjoyed a profitable boost to the status of pop culture icon when Moon Unit Zappa, daughter of Frank, immortalized the mall in the 1982 song “Valley Girl.” A movie by the same name followed, bringing the shopping center a 30% increase in foot traffic.

As the mall and its youthful clientele aged, however, the shopaholic hub once described as “so bitchen” began to succumb to problems that critics say had always plagued the Galleria. Although the shopping center occupies a prime location at the junction of the San Diego and Ventura freeways, a badly designed parking structure and difficult access to the mall kept shoppers away.

So notorious was the mall’s poor parking that Councilman Joel Wachs’ only question Tuesday was whether the structure he called “a nightmare from Day 1” would be redesigned. It will, Feuer said.

Competition from other stores and malls, such as the nearby Fashion Square, which was renovated in 1990, also hurt the Galleria. Even Councilwoman Laura Chick, who said she lived near the Galleria for years, confessed that she had set foot inside the mall just once.

“If you were a teenager in the ‘80s and you knew all your friends were going to be there, you would go,” said Sharon Mayer, an aide to Feuer. “But if you’re driving by, you would never go.”

Some real estate analysts predicted doom for the mall after a 1993 department store merger between the Robinson’s and May Co. chains left the Galleria in the odd position of having two Robinsons-Mays, one anchoring each end of the mall.

As business declined, Douglas, Emmett & Co. tried to evict the department store this year, charging that Robinsons-May did not adequately staff or stock its two stores and claiming that the prolonged closure of a store damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake violated the company’s lease.

The mall’s owner and Robinsons-May are still in a legal dispute over the lease, but Emmett has said construction could begin as early as next spring. A Robinsons-May spokeswoman said she could not comment because of the pending litigation.

Mee Lee, a Douglas, Emmett & Co. consultant, said the developer envisions family-oriented, upscale eateries and stores for the remaining retail portion of the Galleria that will appeal more to Encino and Sherman Oaks residents than to shoppers from around the region.

And what of the Valley Girls, that fading breed that put the Galleria on the map?

“I’m not sure the Valley Girl is going to want to hang out there,” Lee said. “But I think it’s going to be a very nice environment for families.”

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Galleria Make-over

Highlights of a plan approved by City Council on Tuesday:

* 18 more movie screens

* 45,000 square feet of new restaurants

* Portion of mall will be torn down for a 10,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza

* Construction slated for 1999