Rick Caruso

Rick Caruso seems to be everywhere lately — particularly since fires ravaged the Pacific Palisades and Altadena enclaves earlier this year — discussing the rebuilding process, launching a nonprofit to aid it, and fielding questions about his political aspirations. One can almost forget that the billionaire, philanthropist and L.A. mayoral runner-up has built one of the country’s most successful private real estate firms.

Caruso the company focuses on luxury assets in Southern California. It owns some multifamily and office properties in the region, as well as the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort in Montecito (which landed approval for an expansion project in November), but high-end retail is Caruso’s bread and butter. Not only does Caruso claim a compounded growth rate of 17 percent every year since its 1987 founding, it also boasts a near 100 percent occupancy rate for its portfolio.

That includes The Grove, a 575,000-square-foot shopping plaza often cited as one of the country’s highest-grossing malls. It also includes Palisades Village, a 125,000-square-foot retail plaza adjacent to the L.A. neighborhood devastated by the blazes earlier this year. The complex suffered little damage but has been closed off, along with most of the surrounding area, since early January. 

Caruso told CO he wants to reopen Palisades Village as soon as possible — not necessarily because it’s good for business, but because it’s crucial to helping the Palisades feel like a neighborhood again.

“[People] miss all those important things that create a sense of community,” Caruso said. “Palisades Village was a big part of people’s daily lives, and so I’m fully committed to reopening. … It’s going to signal that the Palisades is coming back.”

In February, Caruso, with a coalition of private sector partners, founded Steadfast LA, a nonprofit that aims to expedite the rebuilding process alongside federal, local and state governments. As for his political career, Caruso is still keeping his cards close to his vest.

“I really am focused just on the [Steadfast LA] work, getting these communities rebuilt and people back in their homes,” Caruso said. “There’s going to be a time for me to make a decision about politics, whether it’s the governor, whether it’s the mayor, or whether it’s being a private citizen and just staying engaged. But that’s for down the road.”