Glendale's Times Square
Westgate Adds Drama to West Valley

By Scott Blair

The pace of development in Glendale has accelarated with the construction of the Westgate City Center, which despite getting off to a slow start, will open in the fall of 2006.

 

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"The project will ultimately serve as the city center for the entire West Valley," said Jeffrey Hecht, director of public affairs for the Ellman Cos. of Phoenix, Ariz., the developer of the project.

Upon full build-out, the project will provide 6.5 million sq. ft. of space at a total cost of $850 million.

Phase one of Westgate City Center, called "The Village," includes 10 buildings on 223 acres, totaling 500,000 sq. ft. of retail, dining and entertainment space.

"Two of the buildings will be four stories, plus one level of underground parking," said Ken Schacherbauer, vice president of field operations in the Phoenix office of Perini Building Cos., the project's general contractor. "The first floor will be retail with the upper floors providing office space."

Four additional structures will provide more retail space, while restaurants will occupy the two buildings closest to the Glendale Arena entrance just a few steps south of the project. Confirmed tenants include Claim Jumper, Martini Ranch, Salty Senorita and Bloom.

In the center, a large plantation-style building will house the Yardhouse Restaurant.
The final structure is a Loews Cineplex with 20 screens and 4,000 seats, which is being built under a separate contract. "There will only be a 2-in. gap between Loews' south exterior wall, which will be tilt-up concrete, and our two north retail buildings," said Duane Lindstrom, project manager for Perini.

Each structure has its own unique façade, mixing various elements such as white concrete, aluminum storefronts, wood trellis structures, architectural masonry, EIFS, glass and steel.

One of the most unique aspects of Westgate is the signage, including six immense, 100-ft.-tall signs featured prominently throughout the site. "The master planners worked together to develop a Times Square theme to create excitement, lighting and color through the use of static and active signage," Schacherbauer said.

Hecht added: "We tried to create something truly dynamic and unique. The signage, streetscapes and common areas create a destination and a sense of place for the 22 million visitors annually we are expecting."

"It's like a cross between a little piece of the Las Vegas Strip and Times Square," said Kurt Reed, president of project architect Kurt D. Reed Associates, Scottsdale, Ariz.

"There's nothing else here in the Valley that remotely resembles this project." The design architect was Development Design Group, Inc. of Baltimore, Md.

"This is a large structural steel project - there is more steel on this project than there was on the Glendale Arena," Schacherbauer said. Perini was also the contractor on the hockey arena for the Ellman Cos. "The challenge is coordinating the fabrication and erection. We currently have five erection crews working on site on the 10-story signage and the office buildings."

Nearly 6,000 tons of structural steel will be erected by Schuff Steel Inc. "Each sign is supported by a 90- to 100-ft.- long steel pipe columns, made from plate steel and rolled in our shop," said Jim Thompson, project manager for Schuff Steel. Each support will be later filled with concrete and grounded through anchor bolts on rods sticking up from a concrete footing.

"The difficulty is getting them lined up correctly since they're radiused so the rest of the sign structure attaches in its theoretical location." Thompson said. "We spent a long time in 3D modeling and also hands-on with Paul Koehler Structural Engineers on establishing how to build them."

In addition to the six vertical signs, there will be four horizontal signs stretching 80 ft. long and up to 30 ft. high.

Westgate, like other lifestyle centers, pushes parking to the perimeter and allows retail storefronts to face out to into a stylized main street. The central public area will feature a large, tree-filled children's play area and interactive fountain on one end, and a massive, 400-ft.-long water feature on the south entrance next to the Arena.

Designed by WET Design of Sun Valley, Calif., the designers of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, the "dancing" fountain will feature extensive audio and lighting effects.

"The lower level of the office buildings will house the electrical and mechanical systems for the water feature," Lindstrom said. "A total of 14, 20-horsepower pumps are used to run it."

The project was originally slated to open in 2004, six months after the Glendale Arena opened its doors. However, due to its complex nature, the pre-construction phase of the project fell behind, leading to a $500,000 fine paid to Glendale from Ellman Cos.

"You only get one chance to do this right, so if we miss one deadline it affects the whole project," Hecht said. "We understood we'd miss the opening deadline, and we paid the fine. The ultimate goal of the project wasn't to meet deadlines, it was to build the best project that we could for the West Valley, and we are currently achieving our goal."

Key Players
Developer: Ellman Companies
General Contractor: Perini Building Cos.
Architects: Development Design Group, Inc.; Kurt D. Reed Associates
Engineers: Paul Koehler Structural Engineers; WET Design
Electrical: Bergelectric Corporation
Mechanical: Midstate Mechanical, Inc.
Steel: Schuff Steel, Inc.
Concrete: Progressive Concrete Works, Inc.

 
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