It didn’t take long for Los Angeles’ wildfires to turn political.
As a result, two of Los Angeles County’s most prominent names in retail development have emerged: Rick Caruso and Steve Soboroff. The former is of Grove and Americana at Brand fame, while the latter is a multi-hyphenate known for the development of Playa Vista.
While firefighters work to extinguish the last of the two major blazes – the Palisades and Eaton fires – conversation has turned to rebuilding the thousands of homes and commercial structures damaged by the flames. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass turned to Steve Soboroff on Friday to lead those efforts as chief recovery officer.
“Steve knows our communities, he knows how to activate City Hall, he knows how to engage the public, business, non-profit and philanthropic resources needed for this massive effort,” Bass said in a statement.
Elsewhere, former mayoral hopeful Rick Caruso was vocal from the start of the Palisades Fire on a number of missteps and, more recently, told Bill Maher the fires were preventable.
“You’ve got to make good business decisions. Running this city is running a business for the benefit of the residents,” Caruso told Maher.
The headlines following Maher’s show raised new questions around the retail center owner. “Will the LA Fires Reignite Rick Caruso’s Political Ambitions?” The HuffPost asked. Meanwhile, the Orange County Register pondered, “The End of Karen Bass and the Rise of Rick Caruso?”
Here’s a closer look at the two developers who have dominated LA fire coverage over the past few days.
Steve Soboroff’s Resume
Steve Soboroff’s career spans public and private enterprises.
In the development world, he’s known for his adeptness in bridging public and private interests with some big results. His greatest claim to fame is Playa Vista as its president and CEO. Under his leadership the community saw the development of parks, schools, offices, homes and a training center for the Los Angeles Clippers.
His company Soboroff Partners, along with the Gerschel family, also developed The Park at Cross Creek in Malibu, a neighborhood shopping center and community gathering hole, that was sold for $80 million last year.
That’s not all.
Soboroff’s responsible for leading efforts to build the Crypto.com Arena, formerly the Staples Center, in downtown Los Angeles.
The former L.A. police commissioner was a mayoral hopeful in 2001 and was also vice chair of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rick Caruso’s Resume
Caruso’s retail centers have a certain look: well groomed with an upscale sensibility. Nothing is out of order and no one acts out of line.
Under his company Caruso, the developer built Americana at Brand in Glendale, the Grove in Los Angeles, Palisades Village in the Pacific Palisades and entered hospitality with the Miramar Resort in Montecito.
He’s held seats on the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commission, Police Commission and University of Southern California Board of Trustees.
Caruso, like Soboroff, made a bid for mayor in 2022. However, he lost to current Mayor Karen Bass during the general election, nabbing 45.2 percent of votes.
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