I believe that the economic impact of the Coyotes on the Westgate Center and vice-versa has been overplayed in the past. Nothing could illustrate this better than the completely unrealistic plans for a Westgate-based CFD to support Coyotes losses. If the City of Glendale wanted to preserve Westgate, they would do better to provide a subsidy to a major retail anchor to locate to Westgate, rather than doing so indirectly with huge subsidies to the Coyotes.
Clearly thats one of if not the biggest problems facing Westgate; lack of an Anchor ('s) Tenant to draw regular visitors 365. Usually developers in contemplating destination shopping malls of this magnitude will have secured at minimum one if not 2 anchors rather than just building & hoping they'll come. The undeveloped vacant land around Westgate, specifically a parcel just west of it was being looked at by Tanger Factory Outlets in May, contemplating a 400,000 square foot adjoining mall with app. 90 stores (Adidas, Abercrombie & Fitch etc discount stores). With Ellman having fallen into Foreclosure, my understanding of the situation is that Credit Suisse seized that parcel of land & plan to hold an auction for it. Its possible Tanger could be awaiting that sale; also possible theyve' decided to continue looking elsewhere in the Phoenix area altogether. Plans for portions of the app. 263 acres comprising Westgate were indeed earmarked for anchors however when the economy went south....
Devry Institute of Technology setup a campus at Westgate proper, leasing what was supposed to have been retail space along with some commercial space specific, steering the initial concept of a "Boutique Shopping / Sports & Entertainment Destination" combining the UofP Stadium & Glendale Arena with mixed commercial somewhat off-track out of desperation. Ellman of course fell way behind schedule in being able to attract further investments from the majors in establishing anchors adjacent to & around Westgate due in large part to the housing meltdown & credit crunch / sluggish retail sector as a result of the reccession however, overall, Glendale in general boasts a pretty good commercial leasing to vacancy ratio in comparison to downtown Phoenix & elsewhere. Its important to remember that Westgate Mall itself was not conceived to house anchors with 10's of 1000's of sq ft. Strictly boutique / restaurant with office space in the immediate areas of the UofP Stadium & Glendale Arena. Foot traffic.
Taken on its own, no, Westgate Mall itself could never have provided enough in CFD revenues to fully subsidize the Coyotes (though even a modest luxury tax bringing $5-10M per annum to do just that would not only be helpful but so too is very doable & not some crazy pipe dream), and that was never the plan. The mall was supposed to be (and is) a conglomeration of small specialty retailers, independents & restaurants (along with AMC Theaters). It was/is the surrounding lands that were/are allocated to the big boxes' & anchors. Just north of Westgate plans exist for a development called Sportsmans Park, single family homes, a golf course, the whole 9 yards. When all of this was laid out, Phoenix was one of the fastest growing muni's in the US. I dont think it very difficult if anyone has even an ounce of empathy to sympathize with Glendale's predicament & wish them well in lucking out, getting this thing back on the rails....