Fifteen Months In, Millions Promised — Why The Simi Town Center Is Still Stuck
Daniel Jordan 
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — “The current owners, he said, do not want to become the fourth failed owner of the site.”
That statement lands as both a warning and a plea.
It came from Glenn Becerra (January 12), speaking to the City Council as a consultant for the new owners of the Simi Valley Town Center. His message was direct. The project is not stalled for lack of ideas or investment. It is stalled because the process has not moved.
Becerra outlined what has happened since the property changed hands in October 2024. The owners closed escrow 15 months ago. Since then, they conducted community outreach to gather feedback on what residents want the site to become. They completed an economic study that is now under city review. They advanced branding, signage, and architectural design. Phase two of civil and architectural work began the same day he addressed the council. By his account, planning work continues.
What has not happened, he said, is the final step that allows those plans to turn into visible change. The owners are still waiting for a draft development agreement from city staff. According to Becerra, they have been waiting since October. Without that agreement, the project lacks the certainty that tenants, lenders, and investors require.
That uncertainty has consequences. Becerra told the council the mall recently lost Dick’s Sporting Goods as a potential tenant. He said the company cited the lack of progress and a clear development timeline. For a property trying to rebuild momentum, the loss of a national retailer signals risk to other prospective tenants watching closely.
The owners say they are prepared to invest tens of millions of dollars into the Town Center. They have also agreed to reserve a portion of the site for a future entertainment and cultural center that the city wants. Those commitments, Becerra argued, show long-term intent rather than speculation.
Yet intent alone does not lease space or start construction. Retail and restaurant operators ask when improvements begin, what the final configuration looks like, and how the site will function over time. Without a development agreement in place, those answers remain incomplete. Becerra warned that continued delay makes the property less competitive in a crowded retail market.
To break the impasse, he urged the council to take a more active role. His proposal was a two-member council subcommittee focused solely on the Town Center. The goal would be accountability on both sides, with developers held to commitments and city processes moving with urgency.
The question facing Simi Valley is no longer whether the Town Center needs change. That consensus already exists. The question is whether the city and the owners can align quickly enough to prevent another stalled chapter.
Becerra’s closing line made that clear. The owners do not want to repeat the past. What happens next will determine whether the Town Center finally moves forward or remains stuck in planning without progress.
We’ve been through this before. Planning and the City Council have to take an active leadership role in getting and retaining new business in town. The town center may be the only mall in the world where an Apple Store closed up. I have now heard Dick’s Sporting Goods bowed out. I have written in the Acorn previously about a Bass Pro Shop (none within 1-1/2 hours of us). What about Top Golf (Montebello and El Segundo, again 1-1/2 hours)? Even indoor pickleball in the empty Macy’s. Where are our forward looking council members? Define the goal and go after it. We need to strike before Thousand Oaks or Camarillo do. If we keep sitting back and watching the world go by we’ll simply be a population of wall flowers. Personally, I’m tired of “no more taxes” and “help the poor.” I want to hear, “forward we move.”