Mall operator Westfield Group will pick up three Los Angeles County department stores from Federated Department Stores Inc. as part of a 15-store deal.

The three L.A. area stores are Macy’s West Covina, Robinsons-May Fox Hills in Culver City and Robinsons-May Santa Anita Fashion Park in Arcadia. The stores had already been targeted for divesture by Federated as a result of the company’s $11 billion acquisition of May Department Stores Co.

Together, the department stores will give Westfield control of 481,000 square feet of retail space in the L.A. area. The stores are all in malls owned by Australia-based Westfield, the largest mall operator in the world. In total, Westfield has 11 L.A.-area shopping centers.

Federated said it expects to lease back and operate the stores as Macy’s, pending redevelopment of the malls and construction of new stores. Except for the Macy’s West Covina store, clearance sales at the stores began last month prior to the nameplates being switched to Macy’s.

The department store consolidation has given Westfield room to revitalize its malls, many of which are undergoing or will undergo substantial makeovers. For example, at Fox Hills, where the Robinsons-May is slated to close, Westfield is pushing ahead with an about $100 renovation that centers on a mix of restaurants and smaller retailers that converge around a grand entrance.

In addition to the three L.A.-area stores, nine more department stores in California and one store each in Maryland, Ohio and Connecticut are going to Westfield. The deal is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2006.