The business of Rick Caruso: How a mayoral candidate amassed his fortune
The business of Rick Caruso: How a mayoral candidate amassed his fortune
Abstract
Rick Caruso, then a real estate rookie, took over the site, derisively nicknamed "Lake Hayvenhurst," and proceeded with a strategy he would deploy many times in the future: wooing the locals, spending lavishly to move the project forward. Caruso's wealthy father helped him start his business by agreeing to lease parking lots for Dollar that the young Caruso, then a fledgling real estate lawyer, was able to acquire by showing lenders that his father's business would be the tenant. Caruso is obsessed with the details of his projects; he even personally selected which types of flowers would be planted at the Grove. Caruso's studied awareness of shoppers' appetites has helped him tailor his projects to local desires, said competitor Joel Mayer, who specializes in converting struggling shopping centers to other uses for Los Angeles developer Lowe. Some of Caruso's retail malls project an exclusionary air, whether through their pricey stores and ritzy feel or the potentially high cost of parking. The most intense opposition Caruso's retail projects receive tends to come from nearby business owners fearful that the new developments will siphon off their customers. To accomplish the tenant coup, Caruso pulled off a move deemed extremely unusual by real estate experts at the time: He bought Nordstrom's Galleria building from the Seattle retailer, making Caruso part owner of the rival Galleria.