By GAVIN ALEXANDER | Junior Reporter
On Thursday, June 15, I met up with Rick Caruso and got to walk the Palisades Village construction site.
I was so mesmerized by the construction site because of how big it was. I was really surprised about how deep the parking garage is—it is three stories deep. After the tour of the site, we sat down in their project offices located in the old P2 skate shop and I asked him several questions. I also found out some exclusive information—read below to find out.
Alexander: What do you think of TMZ and paparazzis?
Caruso: I like TMZ and I’m friends with Harvey Levin who runs TMZ. I think paparazzis are OK as long as they respect people’s privacy.
Alexander: What have you completed so far with the Palisades Village?
Caruso: We have finished digging the hole, all the dirt is over at Potrero Canyon, and we’ve finished the first two levels of the parking structure. We are now working on the third level.
Alexander: Have you guys dug up any strange items?
Caruso: I’m not aware that we’ve dug up any strange items. There was a strange item that we dug up at another project, the Miramar Hotel. There we found deep in the soil one of the original plates from the hotel and there wasn’t even a chip on it. This plate was 20 feet underground!
Alexander: Is there going to be security and custodians?
Caruso: Yes.
Alexander: What is your biggest delay?
Caruso: Our biggest delay was the rain. We lost about 40 days but we are working hard to make it up.
Alexander: Do you ever get impatient when you do construction?
Caruso: Yes, I get impatient. I’m impatient every day. I like things happening very quickly. I’m constantly trying to push stuff to make it quicker.
Alexander: What is the most important thing to be successful?
I think there are a couple of important things to be successful. I think you have to do your homework and understand what you are doing. You have to work hard and enjoy what you do. If you love what you do, you do your homework, and you work hard you’ll be successful.
Alexander: What is taking the most time to do at the Palisades Village?
Caruso: What takes the most time to build is the underground parking. The buildings once the parking gets finished will go a lot quicker than the underground parking.
Alexander: What are you going to do about tourists because I know The Grove has a lot of tourists and people may not want tourists to be in the Palisades?
Caruso: We are not designing this project for tourists. I don’t think there will be a lot of tourists that come to the Palisades Village. This project is designed for the residents of the area.
Alexander: What are you going to do about homeless people?
Caruso: Homeless people around all of Los Angeles are a problem. We must deal with them with great respect but we have to make sure they are not creating any problems on the property. The best thing for us to do is to turn it over to the local authorities to take care of.
Alexander: Is smoking going to be allowed in the Palisades Village?
Caruso: No, smoking will not be allowed. It is not allowed on any of our properties.
Alexander: How long until the Palisades Village construction is over?
Caruso: The construction should be all done and open for business next August (so in about a year).
Alexander: Is there anything you want me to put in the article?
Caruso: I’d like you to put in the article how excited I am about building Palisades Village. I’m really excited about opening it up and having people in the Palisades enjoy it.
Alexander: I would like to know if there is any scoop that the public does not know about that I can put in my article?
Caruso: Wow, that’s a good question. We’ve signed a deal with an ice cream company for an ice cream store with McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, which is exclusive—the public does not know. Thanks to Sophie Herron for fighting to get an ice cream shop in the Palisades Village—she was the one who was very passionate about an ice cream shop!
Thank you, Rick Caruso, for letting me walk the site with you. You inspire me a lot. Thank you so much for building the Palisades Village. I was mesmerized me myself seeing the site it is huge. I am just so happy I got this opportunity to see the site. I thought at first it was going to be small and have a one-story parking lot; I was wrong.
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