Caruso Reveals Plans for Palisades Village

Palisadian-Post
Serving the Community Since 1928
Pages 1, 6-7
Thursday, December 4, 2014
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Pacific Palisades, California
Caruso Reveals Plans for Palisades Village
Movie Theater, Specialty Grocer Among Changes Coming to Pacific Palisades
In a nod to Pacific Palisades’ past, developer Rick Caruso is bringing back the Bay Theater with a marquee that is being constructed according to its original design (see inset). The
Courtesy of Caruso Affiliated
movie theater will house five screening rooms with luxury seating for 40 to 50 people per screen.
By REZA GOSTAR
News Editor
eveloper Rick Caruso unveiled plans and renderings
for his 3.17-acre property in
Pacific Palisades, officially dubbed
Palisades Village, in an exclusive
meeting with the Palisadian-Post at
Caruso Affiliated’s headquarters at
The Grove on Monday, Dec. 1.
Caruso’s highly anticipated
project will include the rebirth of
the historic Bay Theater, a specialty grocer, six residential apartments, a park on top of two levels
of underground parking, a community room and the transformation of
Swarthmore into a one-way street
heading toward Monument among
other changes, he told the Post in
the meeting.
D
A Community-Driven
Project
The plans unveiled Monday
are a far cry from what Caruso had
originally intended for the Palisades property.
In January the developer met
with the Post on Swarthmore in
an exclusive lengthy interview and
said he was expecting to do little
more than a minor facelift to the existing facades. But that all changed
after he heard from the 500-plus
residents who attended a town hall
meeting he hosted at Palisades
Charter High School in February
“We went to the first meeting
with the clear intention of taking
this project and renovating what
was there and making it better,”
Caruso said.
The number of requests from
residents at that first community
meeting made him rethink everything.
The strong desire for a neighborhood movie theater, grocery
store, unique shops and restaurants,
as well as green park space, were
all common themes expressed by
those at the meeting, he said.
“We huddled that night, and I
said to my team ‘we have a very
different project,’” Caruso told the
Post. “I challenged the team and
said ‘let’s see what we can do with
this place.’”
The Caruso Affiliated team
went back to the drawing board and
studied the history of the Palisades
in an effort to learn from its past
to create a revitalized future. Rick
Lemmo, senior VP of community relations for Caruso Affiliated
met with a variety of local organizations to gauge the community’s desires. And Palisades Village
project manager Michael Gazzano
met personally with a number of
individual residents to discuss their
wants and concerns.
“In order to satisfy the wonderful requests from the community, we revised our plans and
envisioned something that will be
really amazing for the Palisades,”
Caruso said.
Some Palisadians may not see
it that way and have expressed
fears that Caruso will transform
the Palisades property into a largescale mall similar to some of his
other properties, such as The Grove
or The Americana at Brand.
In response to a post on the
Post’s Facebook page about Caruso Affiliated closing escrow on the
Palisades Village property, Jason
Handy wrote, “Here comes the
Grove West. Oh joy.”
The renderings of Palisades
Village, however, reveal buildings
that are scaled to fit the community,
with nothing exceeding the Pacific
Palisades Commercial Village and
Neighborhoods Specific Plan’s 30foot height limit, except the new
Bay Theater marquee.
Caruso shared his plans and
renderings with the Palisades community at a meeting held on Thursday, Dec. 4 at Pali High
Building From the
Ground Up
“In order to really do it right
and to give the community what
they asked for, instead of rehabbing the existing buildings, we
have to invest the money and take
everything down,” Caruso said. He
explained that all of the existing
structures will eventually be leveled and rebuilt from the ground
up, in part to allow for adequate
parking, which was also requested.
To design the all-new development, Caruso looked to a former
Palisadian.
After interviewing “a ton” of
architects, developer Rick Caruso tapped Appleton & Associates,
Inc., which has offices in Santa
Monica and Santa Barbara, to help
design the Palisades Village property. The firm is one of three architects on the project in addition to
Caruso Affiliated’s in-house team.
Founder Marc Appleton
worked for Frank Gehry among
others before opening his own firm
in 1976.
Since then Appleton has earned
a stellar reputation as the go-to guy
for restoration work, including the
much-lauded renovation of the storied San Ysidro Ranch cottages.
And importantly, “he knows
the Palisades,” Caruso said.
Appleton is a former Palisadian
who lived in the Alphabet Streets
and has worked on projects in the
Palisades, including the facelift of
a 1928 home on Paseo Miramar
that once belonged to Academy
Award-winner Hilary Swank.
In addition to its restoration
projects, Appleton’s firm has garnered special recognition for its
work on smaller-scaled residential
properties. Although it may seem
odd to choose an architect known
more for small-scale residences
than for commercial shopping areas, this was actually a major part
of the firm’s appeal, said Caruso,
who added that the architect designed a home in Malibu for him.
The emphasis on residential is
reflected in the Palisades Village
property, which is swathed in a neutral palette. Unlike most shopping
areas, the buildings are individual,
resembling small residences.
“It’s like they’ve been there
forever. They feel authentic and organic,” Caruso said.
Other Palisadians are also involved in the design of the property, including architect David Montalba.
Concrete Jungle
Becomes a Park
One of the biggest changes to the property will center on
parking. The current parking lot,
called an eyesore by many residents, will be transformed into a
park. “The Neighborhood Green”
as it is being dubbed encompasses one-third of an acre and will be
used to host community events.
A two-level fully-subterranean parking structure will be situated beneath the property from
the Mobil Station to Benton’s
to the spot where the alley meets
Monument. Valet parking will
also be available along the alley
behind Pearl Dragon, Caruso explained.
Additional parking benefits
will include diagonal parking
spaces along Swarthmore, said
Matt Middlebrook, Caruso Affiliated’s executive VP of development. This move doubles the
amount of on-street parking.
(Continued on page 6)
Page 6
Palisadian-Post
December 4, 2014
December 4, 2014
Palisadian-Post
Page 7
Caruso Offers First Look at the Future of the Palisades Village Property
Monday, Dec. 8
MAP
Demolition, Remediation and Path to Entitlement Begins
TIMELINE
2014
2015
2016
2017
Barricades will be going up on Swarthmore Avenue on Monday as the demolition
and remediation work begins. All structures on the north side of Swarthmore from
the former Mort’s Deli to the former Prince’s Table at the corner on Monument
Avenue will be demolished as part of the remediation. The path to entitlement
will begin immediately as remediation gets underway and will involve obtaining
all the necessary building permits, doing an environmental impact report, creating
plans, receiving variances/zone changes and other discretionary approvals from
the City of Los Angeles and more. The entitlement process is expected to take
12-18 months.
The areas shaded in yellow show the Palisades Village property currently owned by Caruso Affiliated or under conSource: Google Earth
tract to be acquired. Mid-2015
Remediation Complete
The remediation process is expected to be completed in six to eight months.
2nd Quarter 2016
Ground Breaking
Once all the necessary permits have been obtained, construction of the new development will begin and will be done in a single phase. Construction will be
from the ground up and will involve leveling the remaining existing structures on
Swarthmore as well as Sunset Blvd.
2016
Tenants Announced
As construction on the new development continues, Caruso Affliated will begin
revealing the names of the retailers, restaurants, grocery store and other tenants
that will be part of Palisades Village.
Late 2017
Palisades Village Opens
Palisades Village will open to the public in late 2017 “before the holidays,” Caruso said.
A park being dubbed “The Neighborhood Green” replaces the current parking lot that residents have called an
Courtesy of Caruso Affiliated
“eyesore.” Ample parking will be provided by a two-level subterranean parking structure.
In this rendering, a walkway surrounding a small green area leads to the new Bay Theater. Walkability is one of the key features developer Rick Caruso wants to achieve with the property.
Courtesy of Caruso Affiliated
Architects, including former Palisadian Marc Appleton, have created small individual structures that
Courtesy of Caruso Affiliated
resemble residences using a neutral color palette.
Caruso Reveals Plans for Palisades Village (Continued from page 1)
Caruso said he believes the
additional parking will actually
lessen current impacts of traffic and parking on surrounding
neighborhoods.
The Bay Theater Makes
a Comeback
The property’s tallest architectural element will be the Bay
Theater marquee, which will be
constructed according to its original 1940s design as proposed by
architect S. Charles Lee, project
manager Gazzano said.
Ultimately,
a
different
marquee design was chosen
for the original Bay Theater,
which opened in 1948 in the space
currently occupied by Norris
Hardware and Pharmaca.
Caruso said that the original
marquee was much cooler than the
more contemporary design that
was later adopted for the movie
theater, which shuttered in 1978.
“The theater will also be in a
similar footprint as the one that
was located on Sunset but will
have luxury seating for smaller
audiences,” Caruso said.
The new Bay Theater will
have five screens with luxury seating for audiences of 40 to 50 per
screen, he added.
The movie theater entryway
will be located on Swarthmore in
the space formerly occupied by
Mort’s Deli and the Oak Room
and will be a focal point of a walkway that traverses the Palisades
Village property. The actual screening rooms
will be located behind the former
Mort’s Deli where a parking lot is
currently located. The parking lot
will be replaced by the backside of
the theater, which will follow an
existing slope to maintain a low
profile.
Dense landscaping will be
added to shroud the rear of the theater so residents on Albright Street
will see only greenery.
A Specialty Grocer
on Sunset
An unscientific poll conducted in a 2013 issue of the Palisadian-Post showed that 74 percent
of readers were in favor of a Trader Joe’s in the Palisades. Since
then, Palisadians have expressed
to Caruso their desire for a new
grocery store in the Palisades Village development, and he’s promised to deliver one that is 11,00012,000 square feet. That’s small in
comparison to nearby Ralphs and
Gelson’s, which are both more
than twice that size.
Markets that have expressed
interest in being in Palisades Village include Trader Joe’s, Whole
Foods and Erewhon, Caruso said.
Which one is most likely to
move in? The developer won’t
say, but a look at Caruso Affiliated’s other properties may offer a
clue. The Promenade at Westlake
houses a Bristol Farms, but Caruso told the Post this grocer was not
an option for the Palisades property. In Caruso Affiliated’s luxury
apartment project at 8500 Burton
Way in Beverly Hills there’s a
Trader Joe’s.
Tenants of the
Residential and
Commercial Variety
Caruso’s plans will also in-
clude an element of mixed-use,
where the ground floor is dedicated to commercial and the second
floor to residential, he said.
A total of six apartment units
will be located at the top of a
structure being planned for the
current site of the Mobil station at
Sunset and Swarthmore, Caruso
said, adding that he is anticipating
escrow to close on that particular
parcel in mid-2016.
As for incoming tenants, no
announcements will be made until sometime in 2016.
However, Caruso said there
will also be a lot of smaller
restaurants and unique specialty
shops to offer greater variety in
the area.
As for retailers currently
located at the site, ones being
impacted by the clean-up will
have their rents cut in half as the
remediation process continues,
Caruso said.
Business owners will also
be given access to low-interest
loans that they can use to return
to the future development, he explained.
However, almost all of the
leases will be up by 2016, according to documents reviewed
by the Post. The only exceptions
are City National Bank and
Maison Giraud, but Caruso said
he doesn’t expect those to hold
up the project.
Caruso Affiliated did not
release leasing rates for spaces in
the new development. Caruso did
tell the Post that the tenants in the
new development will pay what
is typically referred to as percentage rent. This means tenants pay
rent plus a percentage of sales or
profits. No Time to Waste
After announcing on Nov. 25
that Caruso Affiliated closed escrow on the property, the developer
isn’t hesitating to get the project
underway.
Caruso said 24-hour security
is already on the property, sidewalks are being cleaned and flowers are being added in addition to
other improvements to help current tenants.
On Monday, Dec. 8, barricades
will go up around the buildings
northeast of the former Mort’s Deli
so demolition of some buildings
can begin as part of the environmental clean-up, he said.
The clean-up plan addresses
soil, soil vapor and groundwater
contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE. Previous investiga-
tions revealed a historic release of
PCE, most likely attributable to a
dry cleaning business that operated
at 1045 Swarthmore Avenue from
about 1968 to 2000.
Every structure on the north
side of Swarthmore from the former
Mort’s Deli to the former Prince’s
Table at the corner on Monument
will be demolished as part of the
remediation, Middlebrook said.
The remediation process is
expected to be completed in six to
eight months after the buildings are
demolished.
During this time, the entitlement process will also begin.
The path to entitlement will
involve obtaining all the necessary building permits, doing an
environmental impact report, creating plans, receiving variances/
zone changes and other discretionary approvals from the City of
Los Angeles and more.
The entitlement process is expected to take 12-18 months.
Once all permits have been
obtained, construction on the new
development can take place. Caruso expects to break ground in the
second quarter of 2016. This is also
when tenants are likely to be announced.
Palisades Village is expected
to be complete and open to the public by the end of 2017 – just in time
for the holidays, Caruso said.
Caruso’s Palisades acquisitions may not be complete. When
asked if he has his eye on any other
properties in the Palisades, he said
he is interested in acquiring other
properties even if they are on the
other side of Sunset or not contiguous to his current development.
Frances Sharpe contributed
to this article.
Rick Caruso, founder and CEO of Caruso Affiliated, reveals plans to a team of Palisadian-Post editors.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer