There was a plan to build a massive movie theater complex on the opposite side of Westwood Boulevard from the mall in 1986. The mall quickly became a Westside landmark. The community responded by banning street parking to non-residents and the developers agreed to provide adequate parking within the mall, as well as retain the Vons supermarket that existed in the previous shopping center. The plans to build the mall caused an uproar from the surrounding community over concerns of increased traffic and parking on the street. The first Aéropostale clothing store opened at the mall in 1987. It was constructed at a cost of $90 million, and opened on May 31, 1985. The mall connected an existing May Company department store at Pico and Overland with a brand new Nordstrom anchor store at Pico and Westwood. It was designed by The Jerde Partnership, the coordinating architectural firm of the 1984 Olympic Games, with a bold modern design of orange, lavender and green accent colors in geometrical shapes, evoking a Parisian shop-lined street. The Westside Pavilion was developed by the Australian Westfield Group.

Part of the mall also occupied the site of the Pico Drive-in movie theater - which was located there from 1934 to 1950 - and is considered only the fourth drive-in in the United States, and the first in California. The site was originally occupied by a mini mall known as Westland and a free-standing May Company building (built in 1964) that was later incorporated into the mall. The Interior area of the mall closed in 2019. A 12-screen movie theater owned by the Landmark Theatres company, which opened in 2007 as the flagship location for the company will remain. The former Macy's department store is being converted into a center for tech and entertainment tenants called West End.

It is owned and operated by Hudson Pacific Properties, which is acting as landlord and developer in a joint venture with previous owner The Macerich Company to transform the mall from retail to media and technology company offices. It has been renamed One Westside as it is transformed into offices for Google. The three-story urban-style shopping mall once had 70 shops but was down to 54 retailers when Hudson Pacific announced plans to convert most of the site to offices. The Westside Pavilion is a former shopping mall located in West Los Angeles, California, United States.

Building a mall