2024 Top Retail Center Experiences: No. 3 Westfield Century City

For decades, Westfield Century City had been one of the most highly trafficked retail centers in a city with one of most widespread and variegated shopping options in the nation. But in 2017, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield sensed a corner had turned in retail real estate and invested more than a billion dollars on a wholesale renovation of one of its most valuable properties. 

“It was dramatic. We wiped the space almost completely clean,” said Century City’s general manager Louis Schillace, who has worked at the center for 12 years. “The renovation was our answer to the question, ‘What is the future of retail going to look like?’” 

“Entertaining” was one of the things they envisioned. 

The center has 18,000 sq. ft. of entertainment & event venues with professional production amenities. Last summer, the 1.3 million-sq.-ft. center hosted R&B singer John Legend for a concert. It also served as the headquarters for the Los Angeles Chargers’ official 2023 NFL Draft Party.

“Top-level dining” was another priority. In 2017, food-and-beverage tenants made up 15% of its tenant mix. Today, it’s closer to 25%.

“We have the only Eataly in Southern California. We had the first Javier’s in L.A., and under construction we have Super Peach, a new Momofuku concept,” said Colin Shaughnessy, executive VP of sales at URW. “We have to have the best din-ing concepts in L.A., and that is hard to do when you’re talking about very discerning customers whose tastes change every three to five years.”

URW reports that the center’s trade area size has increased by 17% since 2020, and that its sales-per-square-foot is up 22% over 2019. Its current annual traffic is 19 million people; the tally was 16 million pre-pandemic.

Century City has opened 109 new stores over the past five years, though some old fixtures remain. One of them is Gelson’s, SoCal’s renowned gourmet supermarket.

“Gelson’s has been at Century City for its entire run,” noted Schillace. “We continue to hold on to the folks that are relevant.