$300M Loan, Land Deal Keep MXD Project on Track

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GLENDALE, CA-Caruso Affiliated has secured a $300 million construction loan through PNC Bank and completed a complex land transaction with the Glendale Redevelopment Agency that the Los Angeles-based developer describes as keys to keeping its $429 million Americana at Brand project on track. The 475,000-sf retail and residential development, a public-private partnership between Caruso and the City of Glendale, is under way on a 15.5-acre site bounded by Brand Boulevard, Central Avenue and Colorado Street.

The land transaction provides for the city to convey 7.56 acres of the development site to Caruso and for the city to retain title to the remaining acreage. The deal also provides for the redevelopment agency to lease 5.16 acres of the city-owned portion of the development site to Caruso for the construction of a 2,700-space parking garage for the project.

According to CEO Rick Caruso, construction of the Americana at Brand is on schedule for a spring 2008 opening, with demolition and grading work finished and much of the foundation work either completed or in final stages. SVP Rick Moses of Caruso Affiliated and Philip Lanzafame, director of the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, describe the process of conveying the land as lengthy and complex.

The Americana at Brand project will feature retail, restaurants and a movie theater complex, along with 100 luxury condominiums and 238 upscale apartments that will be the first residential development by Caruso. The Americana at Brand is Caruso’s latest project since the Grove, his highly successful retail and entertainment center in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles.

The shops and boutiques at the Americana will include H&M, Juicy Couture, lululemon athletica, Martin + Osa, Kiehl’s, Art of Shaving, A/X Armani Exchange, Lacoste and BCBG Max Azria. Pacific Theatres will operate the 18-plex cinema.

The Americana was previously described as a $320 million project because Caruso had planned to develop the retail portion and line up a separate developer for the residential portion of the project. The new $429 million figure includes both the retail and the residential development costs.