Fashion retailer Nordstrom Inc. has signed an agreement to anchor a proposed Carlsbad retail center being developed near Interstate 5 by Caruso Affiliated of Los Angeles.
Caruso officials said Nordstrom plans a full-line, two-level store spanning approximately 123,000 square feet. The store would be part of an open-air, 585,000-square-foot retail center included in a larger plan to develop former agricultural land adjacent to the Agua Hedionda Lagoon off Cannon Road.
Caruso Affiliated is part of a group, which it is also funding, known as Preserving Carlsbad Open Space the Right Way. The group recently began collecting signatures to place before Carlsbad voters its “Agua Hedionda 85/15 Plan.”
The plans calls for developing 85 percent – about 176 acres – of a 203-acre, lagoon-adjacent property as an open-space preserve with trails, picnic areas and lagoon viewing spots. Proponents said the remaining 15 percent, about 26 acres, would be used for a pedestrian-friendly retail center and promenade with recreation and entertainment elements.
Caruso Affliated has an agreement to buy the land from SDG&E if the developer’s project is approved. Caruso is in talks with other merchants, restaurants and movie theater operators to locate at the Carlsbad center.
Seattle-based Nordstrom currently operates full-line department stores in Mission Valley, University Towne Center, Escondido and downtown San Diego, along with four local locations of its Nordstrom Rack off-price store.
The retailer previously announced plans to expand and relocate its current full-line store at UTC, set for a 2017 debut, and also open a new Nordstrom Rack store in La Jolla in 2016.
“We’re grateful for the more than 30 years of support we’ve received from our customers in San Diego County and we’re thrilled at the opportunity to better serve many of those customers with a store closer to their home,” said Nordstrom President Jamie Nordstrom, in a statement from Caruso on the Carlsbad project.
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