SHOPPING CENTERS TODAY

Class of its own : Caruso spares no expense on The Grove in Los Angeles

By: DEBRA HAZEL

A story about Nordstrom sums up the cachet of The Grove, the Los Angeles open-air center that opened in March.

In the shopping center equivalent of the mountain coming to Mohammed, Caruso Affiliated, the Grove’s developer, didn’t go to Nordstrom; Nordstrom came to Caruso. If even offered to pay rent, something anchors are not accustomed to doing. But Caruso Affiliated still turned the fashion retailer down – at least initially, until Nordstrom upped its offer.

But then, this is no ordinary center. The highly designed 575,000-square-foot Grove, built in the style of a 1930s and 40’s Southern California ton center, has drawn not only Nordstrom, but other tenants new to a city that has just about every retailer imaginable. They have combined to create a small neighborhood, complete with a central thoroughfare and small side streets, that is bringing new life to the area adjacent to the locally beloved Farmers Market.
Rick J. Caruso, CEO of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Caruso Affiliated Holdings, has spared no effort or expense on this $160 million project.

“You have to have a great sense of place,” he said. “As people’s lives become more complicated, they want a sense of place.”

Caruso was so attentive to detail that he was not prepared even to leave the design and construction of the complex’s cinema to a theatre chain. His company co-designed the 14-screen cinema with Perkowitz + Ruth Architects, Long Beach, Calif., to re-create the grand movie palaces of the golden age of Hollywood. Art deco and classical styles combine, as a grand, curved façade with steel-framed windows forms a soaring, light-filled entrance. A classic theatre marquee topped by a rotating sign provides instant recognition. The lobby’s original art, club stairs and art deco Venetian glass chandeliers evoke the style of a grand hotel. Mahogany, limestone, onyx, and bronze are used throughout the space, along with marble mosaic floors and carved and cast moldings. A grand staircase rises to the mezzanine level.

The Grove’s other buildings are just as richly designed. Building heights and designs, including art deco, classical and mission, vary to give the impression of a village. The Barnes & Noble, for instance, features a tower with an internally lit lantern finial.

“We put so much detail into them, it was like building 80 different buildings,” said Caruso. The center was designed in-house with the assistance of Elkus/Manfredi Architects, Boston and plenty of input from the tenants.

Limestone, granite and other quality materials are used throughout, down to the weathered brick paving used to evoke an old city street. Enterprises, Simon Property Group and Taubman Centers, encountered stiff resistance from residents.