Canyon club owner welcomes sale of Whizin's Shopping Center
'It was time,' Lance Sterling says
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers ON THE MOVE- Lance Sterling will expand operations and open a new Canyon in Las Vegas.

Lance Sterling, owner of The Canyon club in Agoura Hills, bowed out of the battle to buy the Whizin's Shopping Center, deferring to the real estate expertise- and deeper pockets- of the Tucker Investment Group.

"We basically had the first right of refusal," Sterling said regarding the center's sale and an offer extended to him to match the price submitted by Tucker Investment Group.

"We operate concert venues," Sterling said. "We're not real estate moguls."

Sterling said he believes Bill Tucker, principal of the Tucker Investment Group, will usher in a new chapter of growth and prosperity for the center and the city of Agoura Hills.

"It was time, and from what I understand Bill Tucker will bring the Whizin's center into what it very well can be now," Sterling said. "We wanted to buy the center and do what (Tucker) says he's going to do. We're happy to be a part of that."

Sterling said he likes the idea of the center being revitalized through a private, local developer rather than a cookie-cutter mall funded through the city. "This is all happening au naturel," Sterling said.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers FAMILIAR FACES- The half-century old Whizin's Shopping Center has seen many changes over the years, but the familiar clock tower, above, and Indian carving, below, always remain.

The Canyon club is about as anti-cookie-cutter as they come. Sterling purchased the club eight years ago and transformed it into a funky, atypical hotspot that attracted more than 200,000 people last year.

Sterling's knack for booking rock legends that appeal to the baby boomer set turned the former Cornell Corners grocery store into a popular nightspot. Pat Benatar was the first of many headliners at the club, he said. Other top bands followed, from the Doobie Brothers and Foreigner to B.B. King and the B52s. James Brown was scheduled to perform at the club Feb. 8 but the R&B star died Dec. 25.

"It would have been his first time," Sterling said.

He likened today's Whizin's center to an Agoura Hills version of Old Pasadena, and hopes the area will develop into a smaller, more unique approximation of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

City officials have envisioned the entire area as an eclectic town center evolving over time.

Hopes for the area have been embodied in the Agoura Village Specific Plan, a long range document that encourages distinctive development within established parameters.

"I do hope it has a unique look that people recognize is an Agoura Hills' look," said Mayor Dan Kuperberg. "Whether that entails an old western style or the current design, I hope it's not just the same old shops we see in every mall looking the same."

Whizin's Shopping Center was transformed many times during the 52 years it was owned and operated by Art Whizin and Vance Moran, and later the Whizin Foundation headed by Bruce Whizin, Art's son.

The Canyon club started out as a grocery store, morphed into a party rental venue with four ballrooms, a reception room and eventually an all-you-can-eat buffet, Sterling said. It even operated once as a children's theater.

With a 25-year lease firmly in place, Sterling said he has no intention of moving his business, although he is opening a second Canyon club in downtown Las Vegas.

"We love it where we are," Sterling said. "We think it's kind of cool to be here. It's a diamond in the rough."