Westfield UTC, formerly University Towne Centre (UTC), is an open-air shopping mall in the University City community of San Diego, California. It lies just east of La Jolla, near the University of California, San Diego campus. Owned by the Westfield Group, its anchor stores are Macy's, Nordstrom and Sears.
[edit] History
Westfield America, Inc., a precursor to the Westfield Group acquired the shopping center in 1998, and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown UTC", dropping the "Shoppingtown" name in June 2005. Westfield bought both the closed Robinsons-May store and the freehold of the Macy's store in 2006.
Ice Town, one of the few public ice skating rinks in San Diego, is still up and running in the same building as the shopping center's food court. As of today the food court rink now houses Ice Skating, Hockey, Football, Baseball, Soccer, and many other sports.
Westfield UTC's 6 movie Mann Theatres franchise was there from 1979 to 1999, situated where the Sports Chalet is today.
[edit] Redevelopments
[edit] 1984 Revitalization
The centers last major redevelopment concluded in 1984, with the addition of a Nordstrom anchor, a new mezzanine level, as well as two parking structures.
[edit] 2008-2013 Redevelopment
In 2008 a multi-million dollar revitalization plan for the shopping center was approved by the San Diego City Council, but had been delayed due to the recession, later that year. However, on September 7, 2011, it was announced by the developers of Westfield UTC, The Hahn Company, that they would be going ahead with the redevelopment and construction on the redevelopment finally begun. The $1 billion expansion project, which is currently under construction, will include:[1][3]
- An additional 750,000 ft² of space
- 5,000 ft² of office space
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- 3 new anchors
- 150 new stores
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- An extra 3000 car park spaces
- 2,400 new jobs[3]
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- "High Street" (70 stores to be redeveloped with tall facades)
- 300 condominiums in mid-rise to high-rise buildings
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- A 14-screen ArcLight Cinemas complex
- Old stores to be upgraded
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Comparison Table
|
Prior development |
After development |
| Number of shops |
150[2] |
300~[1] |
| Major stores |
Apple
Crate & Barrel
Macy's
Nordstrom
Pottery Barn
Sears[2] |
ArcLight Cinemas complex
Anchor 1
Anchor 2
Anchor 3
Apple
Crate & Barrel
Macy's
Nordstrom
Pottery Barn
Sears[1]
|
| Car park spaces |
4,500[2] |
7,500[1] |
Retail space
(gross lettable area) |
1,066,842 ft²[2] |
1,816,842 ft²[1] |
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[edit] Stores
[edit] Majors
[edit] Anchors
[edit] Former Anchors
[edit] References
[edit] External links
