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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Developer’s Mall Projects Draw Top Shelf Retailers

There’s no need to ask “Why is this guy smiling?” Rick Caruso is on a roll. His high-profile, $400 million mixed-use Glendale development dubbed Americana at Brand is set to open in mid-April. It’s moving apace and despite the winter weather he’s averaging 1,000 workers on site everyday. The available retail space is 90 percent leased with high-end national and international stores unique to the region or the country, and he has three times as many people who have expressed interest in living there than there is space for. His company, Caruso Affiliated, has “a billion dollars worth of projects begun or set to begin in the next year,” Caruso said including The Shops at Santa Anita next to the race track and The Village at Playa Vista in Marina del Rey. Of the projects for which he’s known throughout the region, The Grove in the Fairfax District stands out. The others aren’t easily dismissed either: the Waterside in Marina del Rey; The Promenade at Westlake, The Lakes and The Village at Moorpark in the Conejo Valley; The Commons at Calabasas and Encino Marketplace. Plus, he went toe-to-toe in court with rival mall developer General Growth Properties Inc. and won $90 million in punitive and compensatory damages when a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found General Growth intimidated the Cheesecake Factory Inc. while it was considering leasing space at Americana at Brand, across the street from General Growth’s Glendale Galleria mall. But that’s not the only way he’s made news. He was past president of the Los Angeles Police Commission and the youngest commissioner in the history of the City of Los Angeles with his appointment to the Department of Water and Power board. Public television station KCET, honored Caruso with its “2006 Visionary Award,” for being dedicated to positive change through philanthropic, business and civic leadership. He was also recently named one of L.A.’s most influential leaders by the Los Angeles Times. His philanthropic activities include his service on the boards of Para Los Ni & #324;os, the National Institute of Transplantation, Saint John’s Health Center Foundation and the California Hospital Medical Center. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of USC and the Board of Visitors of Pepperdine University School of Law. Caruso lives in Los Angeles with his wife Tina, and their three sons and a daughter.

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