Rick Caruso buys Glendale hotel to expand shopping center
Real estate developer Rick Caruso said Tuesday that he has purchased the Golden Key Hotel in Glendale, clearing the way for an expansion of his Americana at Brand shopping center.
Hotelier Ray Patel sold his 55-room inn to Caruso Affiliated for an undisclosed price and will continue to operate it as a tenant for the rest of the year, Caruso said.
The transaction ends a standoff between Caruso and Patel, who previously rejected Caruso’s $6-millon offer for the property.
The hotel on Colorado Street and an adjacent former retail building Caruso bought earlier will be demolished to enlarge the mall. The addition will include about 140,000 square feet of shops, more pedestrian space, a cafe and a fountain, he said.
“This will really round out the original vision of the Americana,” he said.
Caruso expects to spend about $50 million on the Americana addition and to upgrade a small shopping center across Colorado from the mall that he recently acquired. The Americana expansion has yet to be approved by the city, but he hopes to have it completed by late 2012.
Caruso announced last month that his company was embarking on an expansion program designed to double the size of the firm’s real estate portfolio and its revenue over the next five years.
Caruso Affiliated broke ground Tuesday on a $60-million luxury apartment and retail development near Caruso’s Grove shopping center in Los Angeles. The eight-story complex will house 88 apartments over a Trader Joe’s grocery on a site on Burton Way at La Cienega Boulevard.
The company also plans to develop the Miramar Beach Resort & Bungalows in Montecito, Calif., and bid on contracts to operate retail sales in Terminal 2 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport.
