Rick Caruso's Los Angeles

July's edition of Los Angeles Magazine reminds us that it's Rick Caruso's world and we're all just shopping in it. Mr. Caruso, prolific real estate developer and political insider, is the subject of a lengthy profile by Ed Leibowitz that posits him as a twenty-first century Southern California power broker who may be the next Mayor of Los Angeles.

Mr. Caruso, a native Angeleno and graduate of the University of Southern California and Pepperdine Law School, launched into the real estate business through sweetheart land leases with Dollar Rent-A-Car, a company controlled by his father. He transitioned into shopping center development, constructing several neighborhood plazas in suburban communities such as Calabasas, Encino, and Westlake before embarking on The Grove at Farmers Market, an ambitious effort to create a regional retail destination in the middle of Los Angeles.

The Grove, which opened in early 2002, is an amazingly successful commercial venture and has become an icon for modern Los Angeles. In a city with few civic spaces, it's a place where everyone can stroll, shop, dine, and people-watch along a street closed to automobiles but traversed by a trolley reminiscent of the Red Cars that once defined the city. This outdoor shopping center, which ties into the historic Farmers Market at Third Street and Fairfax, expresses a nostalgia for a time that never existed but which Angelenos yearn for nonetheless.

"CarusoStyle," pioneered at The Grove and defined by attention to architectural detail, "place-making," and astitute retail leasing and mangement, will soon be deployed at the developer's new projects in Glendale, Arcadia, Playa Vista, Van Nuys, and elsewhere in the region. Mr. Caruso's leadership in the so-called "lifestyle center" segment has drawn the attention of his competitors, especially national titans General Growth Properties and the Westfield Group, as he will be building "CarusoStyle" projects next door to Glendale Galleria and Westfield Santa Anita, traditional indoor malls they respectively own. In both Glendale and Arcadia, the titans have fought Mr. Caruso's plans to no avail.

In Los Angeles, the political scene has long been tied to the business of real estate development, and Mr. Caruso embodies that relationship eloquently. At age 25, he became a Commissioner of the Department of Water and Power, a massive utility company owned by the City of Los Angeles. More recently, he was President of the City's Police Commission, assisting former Mayor James Hahn in the ouster of Police Chief Bernard Parks and his replacement by former New York City top cop William Bratton. While crime has decreased under Mr. Bratton's watch, the ouster of Mr. Parks strained Mr. Hahn's relations with the African-American community and may have cost him re-election.

In Mr. Leibowitz's article, Mr. Caruso admits to being "a great fan of public service" and would consider running for Mayor of Los Angeles. He's already proven his political chops by getting his shopping centers through the rigorous development approval process in several California cities and can rely on his experience on two City Commissions. However, he has at least one emeny in Bernard Parks, now a Councilman who won't forget the men who had him fired as Police Chief. The challenge for a Mayoral run by Mr. Caruso is best expressed by Mr. Parks's son and chief-of-staff's willingness to give Mr. Leibowtiz information on the (eventually dismissed) charges against family patriarch Hank Caruso in his days as a high-flying car dealer in the 1950's.

If there's any city in the nation that could elect a Mayor on the popularity, beauty, and cleanliness of his shopping centers, it's Los Angeles. Regardless of the trajectory of his political career, however, Rick Caruso has proven himself to be a master developer whose reputation will only grow over time. It's cynical but honest for us to admit that consumption is the only communal activity that brings people together in the twenty-first century. In light of that reality, Mr. Caruso's retail environments speak to what we think civic gathering places once were and should be.

"Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You"