Carlsbad voters reject Caruso Affiliated project

Los Angeles - Carlsbad voters just solidified their final say in the proposed retail center by Caruso Affiliated. In a special election on February 25, the city posted the results of the election which proved that the project was rejected by the city’s voters.

The proposed project was a new retail center that was run by Caruso Affiliated. According to Apparel News, 51.18 percent of voters rejected the project, totaling 18,658 people. The election was somewhat close, as 48.52 percent of Carlsbad voters were for the new retail development. However, there are still more votes to be counted. According to the city’s government website, the election still has 3,500 mail and provisional ballots that have not yet been counted. The official date for the closing of the election is March 2.

In the past, Caruso Affiliated has orchestrated massive retail projects in the SoCal area. Some of founder Rick J. Caruso’s project includes The Grove and The Americana at Brand, which are both largely popular shopping plazas of Los Angeles. The project that Caruso wanted approved for Carlsbad includes a full-line Nordstrom department store for the beach-side city as well as open space for views. Caruso ran a public relations campaign to sway voters that the project would be beneficial to them as well. However, it seems that currently the project is not approved for development just yet.