Westfield's actions speak louder than their words.
But Westfield seems to believe that no one in Arcadia is paying attention to what the giant Australian-based behemoth is doing outside the boundaries of Arcadia.
For instance, Westfield has spent millions of dollars to campaign against paid parking for out-of-town visitors at the proposed Shops at Santa Anita, claming how irresponsible and burdensome it would be to residential and retail neighbors to add such a large retail center without providing free parking. But Westfield has just done exactly that at their new $460 million addition to Westfield San Francisco Centre. No, in fact, what they have done in San Francisco is even worse; they haven't provided any additional parking at all, at any price! That's how little they care about their retail neighbors there, like the giant Union Square.
But here in Arcadia, they apparently expect neighboring developers to adhere to some sort of code or rules that they do not follow themselves.
And while Westfield likes to support the notion that additional retailers will undermine the vitality of their mall here in Arcadia, a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle (Sept. 28 - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/28/BUGLPLDU571.DTL) about the expansion points out that Westfield's renovation of the megamall shopping center at Fifth and Market streets is expected to draw 25 million more shoppers and $600 million in retail sales. While there will be some overlap and some stores may be forced out of business, most  competitors, local business and civic leaders welcome the Westfield expansion, recognizing that it will surely increase overall revenue for everyone, even Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square, which will compete directly with Westfield's new co-anchor Bloomingdale's.
And remember how Westfield was the first to lead a campaign last year to get Caruso Affiliated to drop the residental element from their proposed Shops at Santa Anita development with condos above the shops? Well, now Westfield is building the exact same kind of residential/retail development in Century City with 260 luxury condos as part of its $500 million retail/office project. And they are boasting about how smart it is. Taking the exact opposite position in Century City, Westfield's head of U.S. operations Peter Lowry defended Westfield against concerns about traffic congestion and reduced quality of life from nearby homeowners there by saying that the strategy will actually reduce traffic during rush hour, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Okay, so maybe you argue that all projects are different because Arcadia is not Century City or San Francisco.
The point is that Westfield is capitalizing on growing trends in various markets and most of their residential and retail neighbors are embracing them. But here in Arcadia, Westfield seems to be using its clout to prevent a potential competitor from trying to do the very same things in Arcadia that Westfield is doing elsewhere.
Maybe Westfield hoped we wouldn't notice. 
Well, we Arcadians are smarter than that.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

 

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