Rick Caruso Talks CRE, Creating Value and Controlling Your Environment With Jeffrey Sherman

DoubleLine’s Jeffrey Sherman welcomes Rick Caruso, founder and executive chairman of real estate developer Caruso Co. and 2022 mayoral candidate, to the firm’s downtown L.A. office on May 9, 2024, for a discussion on the state of commercial real estate (CRE), how to revive downtown, and Mr. Caruso’s philanthropy and work for city government, among other topics. Mr. Caruso kicks things off by recounting how a pause in his legal career led to him launching a real estate career, one that he says was buoyed by him not knowing the rules, giving him a “different point of view of what I thought the consumer wanted in terms of a shopping experience.” They then get into developing CRE with today’s interest rates (4:27) and what it would take to revive downtown L.A. (6:39). On the latter issue, Mr. Caruso stresses that it’s a matter of leadership, and the area has not been a priority for city leaders for some time. “How the hell could we lose SoFi Stadium to Inglewood?” he asks.
Messrs. Sherman and Caruso also discuss how Mr. Caruso’s approach to developing and managing retail destinations would translate to the office market (13:44); Mr. Caruso’s philanthropic endeavors, including support of Para Los Niños and Verbum Dei Jesuit High School (19:15); and his work for the city of Los Angeles (22:29), including stints at the DWP and on the Police Commission, and run for the mayor’s office. “What I learned from that is,” Mr. Caruso says of his time in public service, “if you’re not worried about getting reelected or reappointed, you get to make really good decisions.”