Mall owner to pay Caruso - Los Angeles Times
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Mall owner to pay Caruso

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The owner of the Glendale Galleria shopping mall has agreed to pay a $48-million legal settlement to developer Rick Caruso, owner of the competing Americana at Brand shopping complex.

The settlement ends an appeal by Galleria owner General Growth Properties of a 2007 court decision ordering the company to pay Caruso’s firm $89 million for trying to prevent a restaurant chain from locating in the Americana.

The jury found that the Galleria’s Chicago-based owner engaged in “fraud, malice and oppression” by trying to stop the addition of a Cheesecake Factory restaurant to the Americana mall.

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General Growth had allegedly threatened the restaurant chain’s leases in its other malls throughout the U.S.

Adam Metz, interim chief executive of General Growth, said in a statement that the “settlement allows us to put this matter behind us and focus on the company’s ongoing operations and strategic evaluations.”

Caruso, a former Los Angeles Police Commission president, said in a statement: “I am very pleased with this settlement and having this matter resolved in our favor. The jury verdict sent a clear message that proper business ethics will always prevail.”

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