All mall: Rick Caruso has placed his stamp on the region's retail landscape with outdoor shopping centers including the Grove. He's also played a significant role in L.A.'s political circles.

Retail mogul Rick Caruso makes waves--from his opening of the wildly successful Grove outdoor mall in 2002 to his $100 million antitrust suit against General Growth Properties, which unsuccessfully opposed a similar mall he is building in Glendale. Before the Grove, he had marked successes in Thousand Oaks and Calabasas. He also served as a commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and as president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, which dismissed Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C Parks and hired successor William Bratton during his tenure. From a spacious office overlooking the Grove, Caruso, 47, discussed his life and business, including his latest battle: building a mall next to the historic Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia. That project has been opposed by Westfield Group, the Australian company that owns a nearby mall. Recently, Caruso lost two ballot measures in Arcadia sponsored by Westfield, which means that paid parking at his development as well as the use of large, Vegas-style signs will be banned--but the project can still go forward. Caruso, who has four children and is of Italian descent, said that a sense of family is his inspiration and he wants his malls to make people feel like they are a part of something special.

Question: What do you think when you look out your window?

Answer: I expected the Grove to be successful; I didn't ever anticipate it to be as successful as it is. Our sales per square foot, if you rate it as a retail center, are huge. It's one of the most productive in the country. It's number two in the state. The other way you'd rate it, the Grove has become a part of the fabric of this town. All of the sudden it's in the vocabulary of this town. The thing I am most proud of is that people feel an ownership. It's their Grove, their community, their downtown. People are desperate, especially in Los Angeles, to feel like they are part of a place.

Q: Did you know in advance it would fill that need?

A: Absolutely, because it goes back to the way I grew up. It was all about family and neighborhood, running into your neighbor, the chance of seeing someone getting a cup of coffee and hanging out. You don't have those gathering places in L.A.

Q: Where did yon grow up?

A: I started as a young kid in the Hollywood Hills. Then my parents moved into the Westside. A lot of it revolved around the lifestyle being Italian and how the family operated. The house was always full of family and friends. It (also) was the ability at the time to be a young kid in this town on a Saturday to say, "See ya mom, see ya dad" and head down the street and meet triends and be back for dinner. I really miss that my kids can't really do that as much. It was a simpler time.

Q: Have yon always wanted to be a developer?

A: Honestly I have always been interested in development for as long as I can remember. I was just wired that way. I have always loved buildings. Even when I practiced law I knew it was not going to be a lifetime career and I wanted to transition into development. I think I was just born that way.

Q: Did your dad's business pursuits influence you?

A: He was in the car business. He was a car dealer for years and started Dollar Rent a Car. He's been a huge positive influence on my life and a great mentor from a business standpoint. I still talk to him about business and get advice from him.

Q: Did you pursue business in college?

A: At USC I was in the business school and I was fascinated with finance and economics and how the financing worked and how deals got structured. The big influence at college is you learn how to learn and you learn how to listen. That's what I took away most from college.

Q: But you decided to go to law school after college?

A: The legal education gave me a great insight into the mechanics of development. I certainly saw it from the other side of the table. I never had any formal training in development. But I frankly think that's a strength. When I was starting doing development I didn't know what the rules were so I wasn't worried about breaking them.

Q: So what were your first projects like?

A: I started out doing industrial land deals. They weren't as sexy or exciting as this. I got my start because my dad allowed me to buy real estate for my business and lease it back to him--they were basically parking lots to park rental cars.

Q: So how do you go from parking lots to the Grove?

A: It was an evolution of an idea at my first retail project (in 1992) Burton Place, where Loehmann's is. It was a very tight site with no real public space and the idea was to build a nice building. Then we went out to Encino (on another project) and incorporated a fountain and a courtyard. The initial idea was based on Europe--going there and being amazed by people coming out in the afternoon in piazzas and hanging out. It was a sense of community, a sense of township. On every project we kept expanding that idea. You go to Glendale and it's the next evolution--a bigger park, more open space, more amenities, and a higher level of design.

Q: Let's talk about your latest project in Arcadia. What is it going to be like?

A: Arcadia feels like a small town. It's got to feel much less urban than the Grove. It's got to have a lower scale. The horse track influence is a lot of it. The track has a very strong, bold architecture we are going to pick up on. It has to be a little more Old World--it has to read the 1930s because that's when the track was built. Actually I am probably the most excited about the architecture.

Q: But there is not a housing element as you had wanted.

A: We had it in the original plan. I think it's the right thing to do to build housing. But Westfield went on a campaign of scare tactics, saying if Caruso builds housing the schools will be overcrowded and your children won't be educated. It was part of their smear campaign. We decided to not make an issue of it and just pull it out and just forget it. It's a competitor spending millions of dollars trying to kill a project.

Q: Were you disappointed with the outcome of ballot measures N and P in Arcadia?

A: Not really. It was silly. Again, it was Westfield's way of trying to destroy the financial aspects of our project and also scare people by saying there are going to be Las Vegas style billboards. We never had Las Vegas style billboards in the project. They said that if we charge for parking, people will start parking in the residential neighborhoods. That never happens. It doesn't matter. It doesn't change the financial wherewithal of the project. We didn't even engage.

Q: But you did engage in Glendale, where a ballot measure sponsored by General Growth Properties would have killed your project but failed to pass last year.

A: They took me on. We fought back and defended ourselves and we won. It sounds corny but it's true: I was raised with a strong sense of right and wrong and I felt from the very beginning that what they were doing was wrong. Just because they are a big company with a lot of money doesn't mean they have the right to stop people from building a business. I don't think they ever expected we had the moral fiber or the financial capability to fight back. It was a bad bet on their part.

Q: You need innovation to stay ahead of the curve, so what's new in Glendale?

A: What we are building out there in Glendale is going to be a great, unique project for the area. It is going to exceed what is happening at the Grove. A lot of it is about continuing to up the level of service on these properties. Just like when we introduced a concierge here at the Grove, nobody had done it before in a big way, akin to a hotel. That's the same way we are going to operate the residential component.

Q: Give me an example of what you mean.

A: We are going to operate rental and condos no different than if you lived in a hotel. You're going to be able to come home after a long day, pick up the phone, call the concierge, order a meal and have it brought up to you. That's just one of the ideas of how we are trying to reinvent these places.

Q: What are the prospects for your antitrust suit against General Growth?

A: I think we win. There is just clear and convincing evidence that they were interfering with our retailers. We will probably be in court in the next couple of months.

Q: Is the traditional indoor mall a thing of the past?

A: I don't think mails go out of business. I don't think the malls go away. Here's the problem with malls: They are run by families--second and third generation now. All they know is how to build an indoor mall. That's all they've done their whole lives, that's they way they were trained. They can't figure out how to do an outdoor format. And they have to show earnings growth on a quarterly basis and they aren't building any more product. The lazy response is to stop competitors and you'll own the market. And that's what these guys are doing.

Q: How do you look back at your time serving on the city's boards and commissions?

A: My experience at the Department of Water and Power was probably the most beneficial real life business experience I could have ever had. I became a commissioner when I was young. I was 25 when I first got appointed by Tom Bradley. You are in a public realm but you are operating a multibillion dollar business. Everything we do at this company revolves around government relations and entitlements so it was really the best learning experience I had. I was there for 13 years.

Q: While you were president of the Police Commission, you voted to fire Bernard Parks and hire Bill Bratton as police chief. How do you think he is doing, especially considering the recent televised coverage of police beatings?

A: If I had to rate Bill I'd rate him as exceptional. If I had a company and wanted to hire a great CEO, I'd hire Bill Bratton.

Q: Have you ever contemplated a career in politics?

A: At the right time under the right circumstances, the answer would be yes. It's not the right time now. My priority now is my business, my family. I've got four young kids. I want to be at home seeing them. I don't want to be at endless dinners every night.

Q: What is a typical day like?

A: It starts around 6.30 or 7 a.m., getting up and taking the kids to school. I do carpool every morning. I work out for an hour and then get into the office. I work until 7 p.m. and get home around a quarter to eight and have dinner and spend time with the family. Once they go to bed and it gets quiet I go back to the den and do work until midnight or one in the morning.

Q: How do you view your time with your kids?

A: It's the number one priority. I take them to school in the morning. And I don't schedule things that interrupt that for the most part. From Friday night to Sunday is family time.

Q: I understand you've memorialized your family in your projects?

A: Oh yes, all the time. There is something for the family on every one of our projects. So if you look at those medallions up there on top of the Grove, each one is a bust of one of my kids and my wife. We don't publicize it. The four kids are up there and my wife is in the middle. So there is always something for the kids.

Q: What's your next homage to them?

A: It's always a surprise. I've got to figure it out for Glendale.

Rick Caruso

Title: Founder and chief executive officer

Company: Caruso Affiliated 

Born: Los Angeles, 1959

Education: B.S., business, USC; J.D., Pepperdine University School of Law 

Career Turning Points: Leaving the practice of law to start developing retail properties

Most Influential People: Wife, Tina Caruso, and four kids. "They never cease to amaze, surprise and inspire me."

Personal: Lives in Brentwood

Hobbies: Spending time with family, boating, tennis

By DANIEL MILLER 

Staff Reporter