Rick Caruso Calls for Turnaround of LA

“LA is not okay,” developer Rick Caruso posted to X on Thursday.

“People are losing hope in their own city and that should concern all of us,” he went on to write. “It’s time to fix this. It’s time to turn LA around.”

They were choice words served just a few days after Caruso was a guest speaker at a weekly Pacific Palisades community Zoom meeting during which he also took aim at some of the city’s operational efficiencies with respect to rebuilding in areas destroyed by January’s wildfires.

As Caruso continues to poke at the problems, it further stokes chatter around whether he makes another go at running for mayor or perhaps goes after the bigger seat of California governor.

He deferred when the subject was brought up this week during the Palisades meeting, shelving an answer for the end of summer.

“Do I love public service? Yes. I obviously wanted to be mayor once and I love helping the city. I love the city. Simple as that and I love the state, and I think we should be the best city in the best state,” Caruso said during the community meeting. “So I’m looking at a lot of different options, but right now my focus is [non-profit] Steadfast [LA] and that’s what I’m going to focus on. And probably sometime after summer, I’ll make a decision on political office, and we’ll go from there.”

Concerns cast on LA County housing head’s resume

When Ryan Johnson’s contract as interim CEO of the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency expires in the fall, he won’t throw his hat in the ring for the permanent position.

Instead, Johnson will bow out on the one-year gig as questions swirl around some of the executive’s resume claims, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper reported Johnson’s decision to not pursue the permanent CEO title is because he needs a schedule that affords him time to help take care of a sick family member.

The report then went on to raise questions around what Johnson reported in his resume, alleging he inflated certain accomplishments. KEES Alford Executive Search, which vetted prospects for the interim and permanent CEO positions, told the outlet it stood by its search process.

Washington Prime to say “bye” to Westminster Mall

Washington Prime’s stake in the Westminster Mall is on the market as one of several properties the retail investor is looking to unload.

A sale of the Westminster Mall could be just the move needed to push the mixed-use redevelopment vision for the tired property forward.

A sale seemed imminent when Morningstar Credit Analytics reported as much last September after an $85 million loan tied to the property went to special servicing earlier that year. Washington Prime then received a six-month extension aimed at working out a sale.

Shopoff Realty Investments is already part owner in a portion of the property, after shelling out nearly $50 million to buy the former Sears site, along with the Macy’s building and neighboring parking lot. In all, the company owns 26 acres of the mall, with plans to develop a mixed-use project called Bolsa Pacific at Westminster.

The development would include apartments, townhomes, a hotel, park, restaurants and retail.

Wedbush Center in downtown heads to special servicing

The owner of one of downtown Los Angeles’ more prominent towers missed out on a deadline to pay off a loan tied to the building in what marks the latest sign of the submarket’s office struggles.

Cerberus Capital Management failed to pay the $128 million commercial mortgage-backed security loan from Goldman Sachs, sending the Wedbush Center at 1000 Wilshire Boulevard into special servicing.

Occupancy of the office building is 75 percent and it’ll fall even more when Wedbush Securities, the tower’s namesake, leaves for a new Pasadena address after its downtown lease ends in December.

Resi comings and goings

This week served up a few big moves in what’s already proven to be a splashy year for agent acquisitions across LA’s residential brokerages.

Paul Salazar left Hilton & Hyland after 16 years at the brokerage. He took his four-person team to Compass’ Beverly Hills office, after a few months weighing his options across several brokerages.

The team includes agents Kyle Amicucci, Christian Hose and Kate Caffrey, along with director of operations Isabella Franciscovich.

News on Salazar was followed by Carolwood Estates’ confirmation that Shana Tavangarian and Emila Tavangarian — daughters to speculative developer Ardie Tavangarian — were joining the Beverly Hills brokerage, along with their marketing and operations manager Harriet Laveau. The group joined from the Beverly Hills Estates.

They bring a whopper of a co-listing to the brokerage in Villa Siena, which was developed by their father and has a $177 million asking price. The listing will continue to be shared with the Beverly Hills Estates’ Branden Williams and Rayni Williams.