Life in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley is about to become a little more luxurious.

The Westfield Group is planning to spend $300 million to spiff up its Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga in Canoga Park, Calif., by adding luxury retailing to the center, said David Doll, Westfield’s senior executive vice president of development.

“It’s very comparable to South Coast Plaza. This is North Coast Plaza, if you will,” Doll said.

Renovations in the works include:

bull; A 120,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus store, expected to open in the spring of 2008.

bull; An expanded three-level Nordstrom that will open in the fall of 2006.

bull; An additional anchor store of up to 160,000 square feet.

bull; An estimated 100 new specialty shops.

bull; An atrium walkway called “The Canyon.” Forest and river-like landscaping will give it the feeling of an open-air shopping center.

The demand for luxury shopping is maturing in the West Valley, according to Westfield representatives, who said the median income in the neighborhood is $82,000 a year. Yet West Valley residents have had to travel quite a distance to look for luxury items.

“It’s going to give the luxury shoppers in the West Valley an easier time of it,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “You won’t have to traipse to Beverly Hills if you want to go to Neiman’s.”

Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga is just one part of the company’s attempt to make Canoga Park a shopping destination.

The decades-old shopping mall neighbors sister property Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade, which occupies 28 acres on Victory and Topanga Canyon boulevards. The Promenade will be developed to complement the Topanga mall, Doll said.

Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga will concentrate on fashion retail, while Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade will be more of a lifestyle center with entertainment and room to develop hotels and restaurants.

There is some competition, however. The Oaks, located 20 minutes north in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will be getting a facelift. The mall’s owner, The Macerich Co., based in Santa Monica, Calif., is preparing to submit expansion and renovation plans to the Thousand Oaks City Council, according to Macerich representatives.

Canoga Park shoppers are glad that the Westfield Group, based in Australia, will be sprucing up the area’s shopping center, which has been a community fixture since 1963.

“For Westfield to have a vision for this place is wonderful,” said Laurie Love, who has been shopping at the mall since it opened. “They could have let it go by the wayside. It’s going to be even nicer for the community.”

— Andrew Asch