It's Rick Caruso's World, We Only Shop in It

(Pic via L.A. Daily News.)

Forget about the housing bubble. What about the Rick Caruso open-air shopping mall bubble? As the Daily News reported on Saturday, another Grove-like mall is coming to the area, this time in the Valley.

According to the paper, Caruso Affiliated, which is currently building new malls in Glendale and Santa Anita, has signed a deal to build a new one on part of the land currently inhabited by Budweiser in Van Nuys. Unlike the Grove (but more like the Americana at Brand, the new Glendale mall), the center will include residential. Notes the paper:

Caruso officials said the new residential/shopping complex, set to break ground next spring, is expected to open in fall 2009.

Discount clothing retailer H&M, which recently entered the Los Angeles market, has signed up as a charter tenant, as well as supermarket chain Tesco. Caruso said several big-box retailers are also in talks to move in.

Anheuser-Busch plans to relocate much of its Van Nuys operation to a new plant currently under construction in north San Diego county. The company, which has bottled Budweiser and other brands at the factory since the mid-1950s, said it had outgrown its existing operations and believed the land was more valuable as a mixed-use retail/residential development.

"The Van Nuys plant is located on prime real estate, close to both the Van Nuys airport and the freeway," said Joseph W. DeSanto, Anheuser-Busch vice president for corporate development. "With the San Diego facility nearing completion, we approached Caruso late last year to start discussing how to redevelop the property. We're thrilled to be in business with the company, and excited to expand our Southern California portfolio."

Under terms of the deal, Caruso will lease a portion of the Anheuser-Busch property for 50 years. The developer has also agreed to name the new development "Busch Gardens."

Many of you will remember (especially those of you who grew up here) that Busch Gardens was the name of the amusement park once located on the site. Anheuser-Busch shut the park down in 1979, ironically, to make room to expand the Budweiser factory. No word, by the way, if the building with the large "Budweiser" sign -- which can easily be seen from the 405 -- will remain.

UPDATE: More details here.