After months of speculation over who bought the vacant Promenade mall in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield confirmed to the Los Angeles Daily News that its new owner is billionaire Stanley Kroenke, owner of the Rams.
The 34-acre Promenade mall was sold in March by Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield for $150 million, but the French mall owner did not reveal the buyer. Media reports have hinted that the Rams were considering the site for a year-round practice facility.
“We know that that (The Kroenke Group) have different interests and they might put a stadium there,” Blumenfield said. “But unless they come to the city to ask for changes of some sort, and we grant them, they still have to do all what’s required in the entitlements” — the city’s agreement approved under the previous owner.
He said it was unclear whether Kroenke would build a stadium or a training facility, or simply adopt the approved plan developed by former mall owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
He added: “I assume one of the reasons they bought it was because of the way it was entitled.”
In 2020, the Los Angeles City Council entitled a plan to transform the aging shopping mall into a $1 billion entertainment, sports, dining and residential complex. To be built in phases by 2035, it was envisioned as a major destination project with 1,432 apartment units, a 28-story office tower, two hotels — and a 10,000-seat entertainment and sports center.
“Nothing is changed on the entitlement,” Blumenfield said. “The only thing that’s changed is that The Kroenke Group bought the property.”
Blumenfield added that he had no reason to think Kroenke’s intent would be “radically different” from the existing Promenade plan.
The Rams currently practice during the season at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, a temporary site that offers the team three practice fields. They have staged a training camp at UC Irvine, and the team’s headquarters is in Agoura Hills.
Spokespeople for the Rams and The Kroenke Group did not respond to requests for comment.
The Promenade in Woodland Hills. ( Daily News file photo)
The original Promenade plan led to concerns from residents that the massive project would worsen traffic in the already congested Woodland Hills area and along gridlock-prone Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
Cal Lutheran University has been home to the team since 2016 after it moved from St. Louis. The team owners have been looking for a permanent training facility. Meanwhile, the Rams have funded two practice fields, a paved parking lot and temporary modular buildings containing offices, training areas and locker rooms, on the Cal Lutheran campus.
About 130 athletes, coaches, trainers and other staff members are based on the campus, according to a 2016 agreement between the university and the team.