The news that Nordstrom would be leaving Glendale Galleria, a General Growth Properties project, to join the line-up of tenants at Caruso Affiliated's Americana at Brand might have been overshadowed by bigger stories in recent weeks, but last night The Wall Street Journal began to look into what's been happening in Glendale.
From the beginning of Caruso's project, General Growth has fought tooth and nail to stop a competing center from being built across the street from its mall.
Nothing was off limits, not even lawsuits over environmental studies and landmark preservation, though Caruso ended up always getting the upper hand in the fight and even received millions of dollars in compensatory damages from General Growth.
Now, the regional mall REIT has been forced to eat crow once again, as anchor tenant Nordstrom has decided to depart the mall for newer digs at the Americana at Brand, which is about to undergo expansion. In the process, Nordstrom sold its existing building at Glendale Galleria to Caruso, which will now be in charge of re-leasing the box. Executives from both firms promise to cooperate to come up with the best possible solution for the properties and for the city of Glendale. It will be interesting to see, however, how successful the former rivals will be in achieving that feat.