The San Fernando Valley, once an endless ramble of orange groves in Southern California that evolved into the porn capital of the world in the 1970s and later gave way to big-box retailers and strip malls, will now become the home of the 2021 season’s Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams. In a $650 million land deal by the team’s owner, Stan Kroenke, Rams executives laid out their vision last week for revitalizing nearly 100 acres in the valley’s Woodland Hills neighborhood into a sports-centric, live-work-play development, including a practice facility and team headquarters. The deal includes two properties owned by Westfield, a shopping center developer that is pulling out of the U.S. market, as well as an abandoned 13-story building and parking lot that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield owned. After the coronavirus pandemic hastened the embrace of online retail and remote work, blighted malls and office buildings have closed their doors. The vacant properties and their adjoining parking lots now offer a chance to redevelop valuable square footage in neighborhoods like Woodland Hills.

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Persons: Stan Kroenke Organizations: Bowl, Los Angeles Rams, Rams, Westfield Locations: San Fernando Valley, Southern California, Woodland, U.S