Westfield Galleria at Roseville

**Westfield Galleria at Roseville** (formerly known as the **Galleria at Roseville**) is an upscale shopping mall in Roseville, California. Owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, it is located at the corner of Galleria Boulevard and Roseville Parkway near the junction of State Route 65 and Interstate 80.

## History

An early plan considered building a mall in the neighboring city of Rocklin. After a long and tedious process, the Rocklin plans were scrapped and were submitted to Roseville. On July 25, 1995, a phased mall with three anchors was approved. On June 25, 1998, after stronger than anticipated demand, a single phase mall with four anchors was approved after Nordstrom committed to building a store as the fourth anchor. The $100 million Galleria at Roseville was built and opened on August 25, 2000 by Urban Retail Properties, Inc.

In 2000, Urban was acquired by Rodamco North America, N.V, a Netherlands-based real estate investment company. The center was subsequently sold to the Westfield Group in 2002 with the dissolution of Rodamco. At that time, the center was renamed "Westfield Shoppingtown Galleria at Roseville." The Shoppingtown moniker was dropped from all Westfield properties in 2005. In 2018, its management and owner Westfield Corporation got acquired by Unibail-Rodamco, and was rebranded as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

The building will be repurposed to accommodate a Century Theatres cinema complex and a Round One Entertainment center, scheduled to open in 2021.  The former auto center was repurposed for a AAA car care center.

## Expansion

In 2004, Westfield announced plans to expand the Galleria. After several changes, the expansion consisting of 400,000 square feet of new and reconfigured retail space, a new Dining Terrace, and expansions to the two department stores was approved. The mall's original food court and part of its outdoor Promenade area were demolished, and an existing Crate & Barrel store was relocated to accommodate the project. The expansion was completed in 2009 at a final cost of $270 million.

From late 2008 to mid-2009, new retailers began coming to the mall's Promenade and a luxury wing. Upon completion, the expanded property surpassed Arden Fair Mall as the largest mall in the Sacramento metropolitan area both in size and number of stores.

## 2010 fire

Aerial view of damage.
On October 21, 2010, at around 10:30 am, a major fire started in the GameStop store as a result of arson. The suspect had a backpack (filled with unknown items) and claimed to have a handgun when he entered the store. The suspect claimed that his "sister had been kidnapped by aliens", then told employees to exit the GameStop, at which point, he barricaded himself in the GameStop and set fire to the merchandise. SWAT, firemen and the police arrived after a call, and a standoff occurred outside the GameStop while the mall was evacuated. The suspect, Alexander Piggee, 23 years old at the time, was caught and arrested. The bomb squad had tried to search the backpack, but their attempt was stopped when the fire unexpectedly erupted again, after having been quieted down by the sprinklers. The fire caused significant damage to part of the mall, but was brought under control after approximately four hours. It has been reported that the night before he had set a fire at a Walmart in nearby Antelope, California and police were already searching for him. Piggee had also set fire to his grandmother's house the week before the incident at the Galleria. No injuries were reported during these incidents.

Extra firefighters from nearby communities were called in to help fight the fire. A total of 20 stores were destroyed by the fire, including the GameStop, Anchor Blue, FYE, American Eagle Outfitters, and PacSun. A section of the roof also collapsed into the fire area. Damage was estimated by ATF officials at around $55 million. Though the majority of the building was left intact after the fire, the mall was closed for a week. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Placer County the day after the fire. Roseville city officials have said that as many as 40 stores in the undamaged sections of the mall reopened on Thursday, October 28. Another 80 stores, including Macy's were re-opened by Thanksgiving and the 40 stores near the fire area plan to be reopened after the first of the year. On October 28 the undamaged part of the mall re-opened, and two days later a party was held at the mall to celebrate the reopening, as well as Halloween and to get support in the rebuilding of the mall. On October 6, 2011, the mall unveiled a renovation that included new lighting, new ceiling decor, new carpet and railings, and officially reopened the Macy's wing with a mix of new tenants and returning stores.

Alexander Piggee subsequently pleaded guilty to setting the fire, and Federal Judge John Mendez sentenced Piggee to 15 years, after which he will be on probation for 6 years. Both defense and prosecution attorneys had requested a sentence of 10 years, but Mendez issued a substantially longer sentence, calling Piggee a threat to public safety.

## See also

* Westfield Galleria at Roseville/Tenant List