Quote:
Originally Posted by mello
Just a quick note Westfield no longer owns the Carlsbad property. They sold it a year and a half ago to New York based Rouse Properties. I am quite familiar with the parcel because I grew up in Encinitas and went to that mall a lot in 80's to mid 90's and still have grandparents who live in Carlsbad Village. It is HUUGE piece of land and perfect for mixing in residential but I have heard no plans for that which is insane to me. It could be because it borders "protected wetlands" and it would be a huge hastle to get anything approved.
As far as I know the mall really died out post 9/11 and is starting to make a comeback. Westfield had BIG plans for it before Caruso proposed his Strawberry Fields sick mall off Cannon road. I just met up with a girl at the Outlet mall next to Carlsbad Auto Park and frankly it is substantial so I'm not sure if the Carlsbad mall can ever be super successful seeing that is is so close to the outlet shops.
Anyway my 2 cents. I do believe the Caruso project would have been a homerun because all the LA and Orange County people sitting in traffic on that part of I-5 which is always congested would go oh wow that's the same guy who did the grove and go shope there lol.
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I was an El Camino mall rat too, haha. It was the local mall to go to when I was in High School in the late 2000's. It definitely cratered into obscurity during the recession, and with Carlsbad having two other major shopping centers (the Outlets and the Forum) it fell to pieces.
Westfield abandoned the property after it looked like Caruso was going to get his way with the strawberry field. But whoa to them, because Caruso's mall tanked at the ballot box and now Rouse Properties is running the show. The Carlsbad mall is now set to open a Cheesecake Factory, Yard House, Zara, and H&M. The entire mall is getting an extensive renovation, mind you, nowhere near what Westfield had proposed, but definitely an upgrade nonetheless. Think Plaza Bonita upgrade, versus UTC. I think it'll be fine in the long run since there aren't any major competitors along the coast, and it seems like major retailers and restaurants are giving their blessing by moving in so quickly.