It’s still tough for Rick Caruso to wrap his head around the devastation of January’s Palisades and Eaton fires.
The retail developer, best known for The Grove and Americana at Brand, is in the Palisades a few times a week now as work to prepare Palisades Village ramps up. Caruso’s keeping his eye on the clock with his headline-turning announcement last month that Palisades Village would reopen next year with the flagship Elyse Walker boutique.
Rumors that Walker’s namesake business was considering a Brentwood lease were quashed when the luxury boutique retailer stood with Caruso to reveal the news to the press.
It’s a big win for Caruso, with the developer saying at a conference last week Walker’s former flagship on Antioch Street, which was destroyed by the fire after a 25-year run, was doing about $40 million annually. That equates to about $5,000 per square foot selling labels such as The Row, Khaite, Saint Laurent and Chloé.
Walker is just the kickstart Palisades Village needed to generate buzz.
“I’m calling retailers that I’ve never called before and said, ‘You want to be part of rebuilding a city?’ Not a community because I really believe the way the Palisades go or Altadena goes or Malibu goes affects the whole region,” Caruso said during the Connect Los Angeles conference. “And we’ve got a lineup of people that want to be part of this.”
Palisades Village is a boutique retail center. It’s not a mall and, as such, doesn’t offer the same square footage. So it’s unclear if the “lineup” Caruso referenced is replacing tenants that will not be returning to the Village, or if plans are in the works to somehow expand the center’s footprint.
Caruso also has interest in reviving Altadena saying, “we’re working on that too.”
“We’ve got some really cool ideas for Altadena with retailers that we’re working on,” he said.
Leadership Fail
While Caruso is looking forward, he’s been openly critical of all that’s happened in the past since the fires first erupted.
“The failure of leadership at so many levels was beyond whatever I think anybody could ever believe, and I will say… we’re sitting here almost on the six-month anniversary. July 7 will be the six-month anniversary. Do we have any after-action report?,” he said, calling the lack of accountability “unforgivable.”
Those critiques have continued to ratchet speculation around Caruso’s run for mayor of Los Angeles (he ran and lost to Karen Bass in 2022) or California governor.
The retail developer’s already gone on record several times about his interest in running, but has yet to offer hints of whether he’s leaning one way or the other.
His decision, however, is nearing.
“Whether there’s a path to the governorship, we’re looking at that,” Caruso said. “Whether there’s a path to the mayor, we’re looking at that. And I’ll make a decision at the end of the summer some time.”
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