EQUITY ONE MAKES SAFETY UPGRADES AT WESTWOOD SHOPPING CENTER, WESTWOOD CENTER II (PHOTOS)

There may be disagreement about what the future of the Westwood Complex along Westbard Avenue and Ridgefield Road should be, but give credit to new landlord Equity One for making several safety-related upgrades to 2 retail properties over the last few weeks.

Bright lights were added to the lower surface parking lot at Westwood Center II, which also helps add some illumination to the dangerously dark corner of Ridgefield and River Roads at night. Several shops at the Westwood Shopping Center are now lit after closing at night, which improves safety along the majority of the strip mall, where many stores close earlier in the evening than Giant or Rite Aid.

Finally, in the last few days, they have repainted the parking spaces and crosswalks. Given the poor job previous owner Capital Properties did maintaining the properties, the upgrades are a welcome change. Longtime readers will recall that, just prior to the sale to Equity One, CP had turned off most of the lighting around the Westwood Shopping Center at night, except for the parking area directly in front of Giant and Rite Aid. After writing about it several times on here, the lights eventually were turned back on. And then there was that wooden "light pole" that was about to collapse...