Responding to allegations made by Westfield-funded Arcadia First! that Caruso representatives met privately with City Council, Caruso Affiliated spokesperson Julie Wong said Arcadia First! should apologize and get their facts straight. Sung Tse, Arcadia First! spokesperson said there is nothing to apologize for.
Opponents of the proposed mall The Shops at Santa Anita have filed a complaint accusing the City Council of breaking open meeting laws. An attorney for Arcadia First! asked the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to investigate whether negotiations between the city and developer Caruso Affiliated violated the Brown Act because they were held outside of public view.
Developer Rick Caruso, whose stalled $500 million, 820,000 square feet retail project "The Shops at Santa Anita," is planned for Santa Anita Park's south parking lot, said he has "no control" over possible bankruptcy at the race track's parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC). Caruso said he was still planning to go ahead with his mall and would "wait and see what happens and deal with it." Any reorganization at Magna Entertainment Corp. may delay the mall plans.
Judge James C. Chalfant stands by his July decision that the environmental impact report (EIR) that Arcadia officials relied upon in approving the mall was faulty in 11 areas and that it would have to be revised before the Caruso mall project, proposed for the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot, known as the Shops at Santa Anita, can move forward.
Developer Rick Caruso of Caruso Affiliated is no longer pursuing a deal with Santa Anita Park owners MI Developments to develop an outdoor mall in the race track's parking lot. The project was known as The Shops at Santa Anita. Caruso said, "We're not pursuing it, because of the (Magna Entertainment Corp.) bankruptcy...and everything else." Arcadia city councilman Mickey Segal said it's a loss of "a projected $2.5 million to $3 million of revenue (each year) to the city" in sales and property tax.
A court hearing today will provide clarification on Judge James Chalfant's July ruling that stopped progress on an upscale mall proposed by developer Rick Caruso at the Santa Anita Park parking lot. The proposed mall is known as the Shops at Santa Anita. In July, Judge Chalfant ruled that the environmental impact report (EIR) that Arcadia officials relied upon in approving the mall was faulty in 11 areas and would have to be revised before the project can move forward. Chalfant could modify his ruling today, or allow the existing ruling to become final judgment.
Developer Rick Caruso and officials of Santa Anita Park met to discuss reviving The Shops at Santa Anita, a proposed upscale retail mall project. MI Developments (MID) had cancelled a 2005 contract with Caruso Affiliated to build the mall after bankruptcy restructuring at Santa Anita Park. Both parties hope to move forward with the mall.
Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita Park race track, which is in bankruptcy reorganization hearings, filed a plan that would cancel its 2005 agreement with Rick Caruso to develop the 830,000 square feet Shops at Santa Anita on the race track's south parking lot. Caruso filed an objection to the move in bankruptcy court, citing "substantial economic harm" to Santa Anita Associates, LLC, the legal entity that was going to develop the project. Santa Anita LLC has so far invested over $25 million to the project's development. Caruso is committed to developing the project in Arcadia. If the contract is indeed terminated between the parties, Magna would have to start from scratch with new plans, new environmental impact reports, and new hearings to propose another development.
A full page advertisement authorized by Arcadia First! speaks out against Caruso Affiliated's plans to build a mall on the parking lot of Santa Anita Park race track.
Caruso Affiliated's proposed mall, The Shops at Santa Anita, may be hit with a second lawsuit. Anti-development group Arcadia First! said it will sue on the grounds that the environmental impacts of the project have not been fully addressed. The suit will make a ballot referendum unnecessary.
Westfield Group has vowed not to donate to City Council campaigns in the April 2006 election, joining mall rival Rick Caruso and Caruso Affiliated, who made a similar pledge in September.
Rick Caruso has agreed to pay for a revision of the environmental impact report for the Shops at Santa Anita, the proposed mall development on the parking lot of the Santa Anita Park race track. The original environmental impact report cost almost $1 million. The new revision will require new studies and new public meetings and could cost another 6-figure amount.
Westfield Group has nominated Santa Anita Park to the National Register of Historic Places, claiming development plans by Caruso Affiliated constitute a threat to the racetrack. Magna Entertainment, owner of the race track, would have to agree to the track being placed on the register. However, placement on the list would not restrict development on the site.
Judge Dzintra I. Janavs said she will likely hold a non-jury trial on the two petitions, one by Westfield, another by Arcadia First!, against Caruso Affiliated next April. The two legal challenges will not be consolidated but will have joint hearings to save time. Plaintiffs allege the environmental study for the proposed The Shops at Santa Anita mall is flawed.
Santa Anita Park's ownership changed hands on April 30 after Frank Stronach's Magna Entertainment Corp. (MEC) transferred many of its assets to Stronach's MI Developments (MID) (one of MEC's creditors), as part of a bankruptcy restructuring plan. Last week MI Developments, a real estate operating company, canceled its 2005 agreement with Caruso Affiliated to develop to the proposed mall known as The Shops at Santa Anita, but this week MI Developments hopes to work out a deal with developer Rick Caruso to build an upscale retail project in the track's parking lot.
Westfield, Santa Anita Shoppingtown, and Santa Anita Fashion Park, are the three plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the City of Arcadia, the City Council, and developer Rick Caruso, aimed at stopping the new mall The Shops at Santa Anita. Plaintiffs allege the environmental study done was flawed. Assistant City Manager Don Penman said the study was the most thorough one he had ever seen.
Frank Stronach, chairman of MI Developments, the owner of Santa Anita Park, says he is optimistic his company can work out a new deal with developer Rick Caruso to build an outdoor mall at Santa Anita Park, even though he voided a 2005 joint-venture agreement with Caruso in April to build the Shops at Santa Anita mall in the race track's parking lot.
Arcadia First!, a group opposing the Caruso mall project, is made up mostly of residents and business owners but bankrolled by Westfield Corporation. Arcadia First's revenues and expenditures are revealed in this article.
Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to give the final approval on Rick Caruso's The Shops at Santa Anita mall. The City Council also approved an expansion project for the Westfield mall with one condition.