Who decides what Westwood Village looks like by 2028? On Broxton Avenue, the two movie palaces already have their answers. The Bruin Theater has a ten-year operator who reopened it last Friday. The Directors Village across the street has new filmmaker owners and a 2027 reopening date. The storefronts between and around them are less settled. Since July, most of those buildings have belonged to one buyer, the University of California's investment office. Beyond classrooms and graduate housing, it has not said what comes next.
For Holmby Hills, Westwood Village is the nearest commercial street over the western edge.
Broxton Avenue Has Its Answers
The Bruin Theater reopened on Friday, October 23 with Wildwood, Laika's new stop-motion feature. The building is a 1937 Streamline Moderne design by S. Charles Lee. Los Angeles Magazine reported that Toronto operator Rui Pereira holds a ten-year lease. He runs the Kingsway in Toronto and says he cold-called about the Bruin after Regency Theaters left the neighborhood.
Across Broxton, the former Westwood Village Theater, now called the Directors Village, is on a different schedule. The Daily Bruin reported that a group of filmmakers including Jason Reitman, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Guillermo del Toro bought it. The nonprofit American Cinematheque opened it this summer to show The Odyssey before a $25 million renovation. Those screenings ran three times a day through August 6 at $23 general admission. The theater then closed, with a planned 2027 reopening.
| Bruin Theater | Directors Village | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 948 Broxton Ave. | Broxton Ave., across from the Bruin |
| Dark since | July 2024 | July 2024, reopened briefly summer 2026 |
| Who controls it | Operator Rui Pereira, ten-year lease | Owned by a filmmaker group; American Cinematheque ran the summer screenings |
| Status | Open since Oct. 23, 2026 | Closed for a $25 million renovation |
| Next milestone | Rotating first-run and revival bookings | Planned 2027 reopening |
Both theaters closed in July 2024 when their leases expired, after more than 80 years under joint ownership. Theater historian Bill Counter told the Daily Bruin that the reopening is the first time the Bruin will run independently of its neighbor. In his words, the Bruin had "always been the stepchild." Counter also told the paper that when both theaters were running, crowds of "hundreds of people, if not thousands" left after shows and walked through the Village. Until the Directors Village reopens in 2027, the Bruin will be trying to draw those crowds alone.
What the Bruin Is Like Now
The Bruin sells tickets at the box office only. According to the theater's own site, general admission for ages 14 to 59 is $20. Seniors pay $18. Students and active-duty service members or veterans with ID pay $15, and children 13 and under pay $10. It accepts cards, Apple Pay and cash, and no outside food or drink is allowed. In opening week, Wildwood played Fridays at 7:00 and 9:30 p.m., with an 11:45 p.m. show added on Fridays and Saturdays. Showtimes change week to week, so check the listings at bruinwestwood.com before you go.
The programming looks like that of a revival house. The theater's coming-soon page lists Godzilla Minus Zero, The Hunger Games, Wild Horses Nine, Paper Tiger and Werwulf, plus 35mm prints of Blade Runner and In the Mouth of Madness. Los Angeles Magazine reported that new digital projectors have been installed alongside vintage 35mm and 70mm machines. During the work, original murals were uncovered inside, and Counter photographed them this month. Pereira told the Daily Bruin in August that he would keep the existing seats instead of installing recliners.
Pereira also told the paper why he wanted the theater. "That's the epicenter between the Village and the Bruin," he said. "It's not one theater, not the other. It's the whole space." That "whole space" around the theaters is now mostly owned by someone else.
One Buyer, Most of Westwood Boulevard
In July, UC Investments, the office of the UC Regents' chief investment officer, bought a large share of the Village's commercial property. Commercial Observer reported a $49.8 million purchase of 16 properties. They total 181,855 square feet on about 2.6 acres, mostly on Westwood Boulevard, with more on Kinross Avenue, Gayley Avenue and Lindbrook Drive. The largest property the outlet named is 1000–1010 Westwood Boulevard, at 64,491 square feet. It also named the historic Kinross Cornerstone. Atlas Brief gives the Cornerstone's addresses as 10912–10920 Kinross Avenue and 1108–1114 Gayley Avenue, and says the sale was recorded July 10.
The property count depends on who is counting. The Daily Bruin describes 14 properties in what it calls the Westwood Village Collection, plus separate purchases. Commercial Observer's total is 16. The outlets also name the seller differently. Commercial Observer says Anderson Real Estate, the family company tied to the late John E. Anderson. Atlas Brief says Anderson Holdings. By any count, one institution now controls most of the storefronts on the Village's main north-south street.
The Closures Since July
Several long-running businesses have closed since the sale:
- Urban Outfitters, 1028 and 1038 Westwood Blvd., closed on Thursday, August 20, after more than 22 years. The Daily Bruin reported that the site was part of the July purchase.
- Corner Bakery Cafe, 1019 Westwood Blvd., closed in September. Its property was among the 14 in the collection.
- Espresso Profeta, 1129 Glendon Ave., was set to close September 25 after 20 years in Westwood.
- Aahs! The Ultimate Gift Store, at Kinross Avenue and Westwood Boulevard since 1981, closes November 3. Its 30 to 80 percent closing discounts run until then. Owner Jack Bhasin said he sold the building to UC Investments in September in a deal separate from the July collection.
Bhasin told the Daily Bruin that falling foot traffic, other recent closures and a lack of accessible parking all contributed to his decision. "One business feeds off the other," he said. The same article listed Broxton Brewery and Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers among the Village businesses that have closed in the past year.
What the University Has Said
So far, the university has said very little. According to the Daily Bruin's October 13 report, Chancellor Julio Frenk said the new spaces would be used for classrooms and graduate student housing. UC Investments and UCLA Media Relations declined repeated requests for specifics. At that week's North Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting, a UCLA community relations official said no further details had been released.
The people who represent the Village are cautiously hopeful. Michael Russell, executive director of the Westwood Village Improvement Association, told the paper that many of the purchased properties are vacant and that he is optimistic about what could be built. "Having workforce housing, student faculty housing, where people can live, work and shop," he said. "A true urban village is always an ideal setting." Steven Sann, chairman of the Westwood Community Council, also called the purchases positive. He pointed to the Geffen Playhouse and the Hammer Museum, which UCLA already owns or leases, as buildings he believes the university has managed well. His one condition was about preserving the Village's character:
"It's a jewel box of an environment. It's completely irreplaceable, and so we just hope that what UC Investments chooses to do in connection with UCLA will respect the scale, the character, the history and the architectural significance of Westwood Village."
Sann's comparison matters because UCLA already runs two of the Village's main cultural venues, the Geffen Playhouse and the Hammer Museum. Both are open, and the Hammer is free.
What's Open Between the Marquees
Most of the Village's new openings are small food businesses on the side streets, away from the Westwood Boulevard frontage the university bought.
Sana'a Cafe opened on Broxton Avenue on October 5. It sits between the Directors Village and Falafel Inc. and serves Yemeni-inspired drinks and pastries. According to the Daily Bruin, it seats 70 and held its grand opening October 15. It is the closest new place to the Bruin's box office.
26 Pho Cafe opened October 4 at 1067 Glendon Ave. and plans a grand opening in November. In the Daily Bruin's review, the beef ball and brisket pho was $16.99, less than one general admission ticket at the Bruin.
The Hammer Museum, at 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, has free admission and a strong fall schedule. Huguette Caland: A Life in a Few Lines opened September 27, and Mavis Pusey: Mobile Images opened October 11. Both run through February 28, 2027. The museum's free Mindful Awareness Meditation is a drop-in session every Thursday from 12:30 to 1 p.m., and the October listing includes a session on Thursday, October 29.
On the north side of the Village, near campus, sidewalk repairs on Landfair Avenue, Midvale Avenue and Strathmore Drive are scheduled from October 2026 through February 2028 to fix uneven pavement and add missing curb ramps. For now, the Bruin is open at 948 Broxton, tickets are sold at the box office, and Aahs! has its last day on November 3.
If you own near Westwood and want to understand what the UC purchase could mean for your corner of the Westside, Aaron Kirman follows these changes block by block. Let's Connect.
