Westfield Valley Fair Mall

Westfield Valley Fair, formerly named and known as Valley Fair, is an upscale indoor shopping mall in Silicon Valley, in the U.S. state ofCalifornia, owned by the Westfield Group. It is located at the corner of Winchester and Stevens Creek Boulevards, straddling the border of San Jose and Santa Clara. The eastern portion of the mall (including Nordstrom and Macy’s women) is located in San Jose, and the western portion (including Macy’s Mens & Home and Sports Authority) is located in Santa Clara.

Stats

Stores : 226
Type : Superregional center
Enclosed : Yes
GLA : 137,087.725 m2 (1,475,600 sq. ft.)
Levels : 2
Developer : Macy’s California/The Capital Company
Architect : Victor Gruen Associates
Owner : Westfield Centres/JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management
Management Company : Westfield Centres
Grand Openings : 1956 (Macy’s and Valley Fair shopping center); 1957 (The Emporium and Stevens Creek Plaza) ; 1964 (I. Magnin); 1986 (new mall); 1987 (Nordstrom); 1996 (Macy’s second location); 2003 (56,000 sq.ft. expansion and new Nordstrom)
Anchor Closures: 1992 (I. Magnin); 1996 (The Emporium)
Renovated: 2001

Westfield Valley Fair is one of the largest malls in Northern California, and is directly across the street from another large upscale retail development, Santana Row. It has the highest-sales volume in the state with $809 per square foot.^[2] The shopping center consists of 194 stores, a seventeen-outlet food court, nine restaurants, and is anchored by two Macy’s stores and Nordstrom.

Westfield Valley Fair is unique in that it replaced two separate 1950s-era shopping centers. The original Valley Fair Shopping Center, opened in 1956, was confined to the eastern side of the property in San Jose. It was developed and anchored by Macy’s and included roughly 40 other stores including Joseph Magnin in an outdoor plaza. At the western side was another outdoor shopping center, Stevens Creek Plaza in Santa Clara. It was anchored by The Emporium and I. Magnin. For that reason, the current mall contributes sales tax revenues to both the cities of San Jose and Santa Clara, and is regulated by both city governments.

In 1986, both centers were acquired and merged into one two-level enclosed mall by The Hahn Company, creating one of the most successful shopping centers in the country, called simply “Valley Fair”. Nordstrom joined later in 1987, with I. Magnin closing its store in 1992. The former Emporium store became a second Macy’s location in 1996, housing Macy’s Men’s & Home Store. The former I. Magnin store now houses Sports Authority.

In 1998, Westfield America, Inc., a predecessor of the Westfield Group and The Rouse Company acquired Valley Fair jointly from Hahn. Westfield bought out Rouse in 1999 and brought in an institutional investment partner to share its investment risk in this high-profile property. In 1998 the property was renamed “Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair”. Nordstrom replaced its location in 2001 during the grand opening of a new $165,000,000, two-phase redevelopment. The former Nordstrom reopened as additional mall retail space in the second phase in 2002. Westfield discontinued the “Shoppingtown” moniker in 2005.

Location : San Jose and Santa Clara, California, USA
Address : 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd Santa Clara, CA 95050
Opening date : 1986
Developer : The Hahn Company
Management : Westfield Group
Owner : Westfield Group
No. of stores and services: 194
No. of anchor tenants : 5
Total retail floor area : 1,477,606 sq ft (137,274.1 m2)
Parking : 7,692
No. of floors : 2
Website : Official Website

Westfield Valley Fair is unique in that it replaced two separate 1950s-era shopping centers. The original Valley Fair Shopping Center, opened in 1956, was confined to the eastern side of the property in San Jose. It was developed and anchored by Macy’s and included roughly 40 other stores including Joseph Magnin in an outdoor plaza. At the western side was another outdoor shopping center, Stevens Creek Plaza in Santa Clara. It was anchored by The Emporium and I. Magnin. For that reason, the current mall contributes sales tax revenues to both the cities of San Jose and Santa Clara, and is regulated by both city governments.

In 1986, both centers were acquired and merged into one two-level enclosed mall by The Hahn Company, creating one of the most successful shopping centers in the country, called simply “Valley Fair”. Nordstrom joined later in 1987, with I. Magnin closing its store in 1992. The former Emporium store became a second Macy’s location in 1996, housing Macy’s Men’s & Home Store. The former I. Magnin store now houses Sports Authority.

In 1998, Westfield America, Inc., a predecessor of the Westfield Group and The Rouse Company acquired Valley Fair jointly from Hahn. Westfield bought out Rouse in 1999 and brought in an institutional investment partner to share its investment risk in this high-profile property. In 1998 the property was renamed “Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair”. Nordstrom replaced its location in 2001 during the grand opening of a new $165,000,000, two-phase redevelopment. The former Nordstrom reopened as additional mall retail space in the second phase in 2002. Westfield discontinued the “Shoppingtown” moniker in 2005.

Future expansion

In 2007 Westfield announced major expansion plans which would increase the gross leaseable area to over 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m²), adding anchor stores Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus, 95 world-class shops, and a 3000 space parking structure. Westfield was granted approval for the expansion by the city of San Jose in November 2007. The expansion was temporarily put on hold due to the global recession. Westfield says it is in the planning stages and expects to go forward with the project.^[1] On October 30, 2013, the city approved the extension of the permit, indicating that Westfield is still moving ahead with the expansion. Construction is expected to start after the 2013 holiday season.

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