At the age of 13, an awkward time to change schools, Corinne Verdery moved from Oahu, Hawaii, to Mission Viejo in Orange County with her parents and younger sister.
It was a different world.
“I’m in a classroom and everybody’s got blonde hair,” Verdery, now CEO of Caruso, said. “I think it shaped me back then to know how to pivot and adapt and embrace the uncomfortable.” As a result, she added, “I love to work on anything new and different that I’ve never done before.”
Verdery’s career has been eclectic. She worked in the theme park division of NBC Universal and at Alagem Capital Group, where she was instrumental in bringing the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills to life, steering the project through 19 public hearings and a citywide ballot measure.
She started at billionaire Rick Caruso’s real estate development and management firm as executive vice president of development in September 2016, then shifted to chief development officer before being tapped as CEO in September 2022. She has overseen the development of the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort and Palisades Village for Caruso, who ran for mayor in 2022 and may mount another bid or aim for governor. The developer has also been front and center in the wildfire recovery, starting the nonprofit Steadfast LA in February to speed rebuilding.
Caruso founded his Los Angeles-based firm in 1987. Its portfolio is predominantly retail and restaurants and includes The Grove in Fairfax (where the firm is based), Palisades Village in the Pacific Palisades (slated to reopen in August), The Americana at Brand in Glendale, Village at Moorpark and The Lakes at Thousand Oaks. More residences are on the way and the firm is also eyeing assets beyond California.
With Verdery at the helm of the 130-employee company, Caruso recorded its best financial results in 2024, with about 7 percent net operating income growth year over year across all asset classes, with the number on pace to tick up this year.
On an overcast day in Los Angeles, The Real Deal chatted with Verdery over tea on the second floor of La Piazza restaurant at The Grove.
The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Born: February 23, 1970
Hometown: Oahu, Hawaii
Lives: Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles
Family: Husband Tyler and twin 20-year-old daughters
In February 2022, Rick Caruso announced a succession plan with you elevated to CEO should he be elected as mayor of Los Angeles. But he wasn’t, and you were still appointed CEO that September. What led to you actually being brought on as CEO?
We have basically organized into two businesses: development, which buys the properties, entitles and builds; and operations. I came on as the head of development. I think a year before he announced he was running, we started talking about me stepping into the CEO role. I really love development and growing the business, but he needed me and I wanted him to become our mayor, both as a resident and as an employee of the company. We were coming out of Covid, we were coming out of riots and a lot of disruption in the city, and I really felt like, as an employee, we needed that kind of leadership to protect our investment and our business in Los Angeles. We agreed that I would step into the CEO role if he became mayor. But during the primary, it was clear that the company needed my leadership on a daily basis, because he was spending so much time on the campaign. I had already started doing the job once he announced, to be honest.
Did you think that role would continue after he lost?
He really wanted me to be in the CEO role. I had already promoted someone to succeed me, and he was doing great.
What’s the greatest challenge in replacing a “personality-driven” founder?
I respect and admire his ability to trust me in my day-to-day decision making. That has to be hard. But we are good partners. I know what he’s brilliant at. He knows where my strengths are. And so three years later, I think we have a great rhythm. It’s been bumpy at times, but overall I think we’ve landed in a great place.
What’s an example of a bumpy time?
We had talked about me being the CEO and what my job was going to be, but we didn’t talk about what it was going to be like with him still in the company. And so we had situations in meetings where the teams would present to us, and they would be looking at both of us, like, who’s going to make this decision?
“[In 2017,] we figured out there are these private firefighting companies that most companies that own real estate have. We’ve had to call upon them almost every year. That day of the Palisades fire, the teams were in place.”
When I interview a woman or someone of color for The Closing, I like to ask what it’s like working in a field dominated by white men. Do you encounter discrimination in the boardroom?
I’ve always been in a male-dominated industry. I guess I’ve never tried to change it. I’ve always just embraced it as “this is what it is. I’m going to focus on my strengths and my contributions, and focus on the work.” I’m sure that I’ve been in situations and places where there’s discrimination going on in the boardroom or in the company. It’s like, “If you guys are going to go golfing and smoke cigars, just call me when you’re done. I’ll be here doing my work.” I’ve never tried to be part of that boys’ club.
How about a girls’ club?
I realized when I became CEO there were a lot of expectations about how I was going to lead. I didn’t focus on changing the company, but I did recognize that there was this need to figure out within this company and within this industry, how do women rise to the top? So I formed a women’s resource group within Caruso. We have outside speakers and programs to give this group of women in the company the support and the encouragement and the coaching that they need. This wasn’t intentional, but since I’ve been CEO, the mix of the company now is 50-50 men and women, from 60-40 before. Women in leadership roles is now over 50 percent.
You’re from Hawaii, right?
I’m from the North Shore of Oahu, born and raised.
How’d you get here?
My parents were high school sweethearts. They got married and had me when they were 18, and I was born and raised on the North Shore, fourth generation on both sides, born on the islands, and they just wanted our lives to be more. They didn’t go to college. My dad went to two-year business school and then took a job in California to get us off the island and hopefully give us a different and brighter future. When we left the North Shore, our names were in the paper.
Why the paper?
People didn’t get up and move to the mainland.
Let’s shift gears to the Palisades. What was the experience like having your complex survive when everything around it was decimated?
It was a devastating time. I still get choked up about it. In our company, we build these centers of town, and in order to get that right, you spend a lot of time, many years and months developing relationships with community members. By the time you open and are operating, you know people by name that come and visit your property and frequent the restaurants and the shops and it was hard to see their homes devastated. I feel like we’re turning a corner now, and everyone is focused on, let’s get Palisades Village reopened. There will be new elements of the design and the property and some new tenants, so that when we reopen in August, it’s fresh.
What work are you doing at Palisades Village?
There was smoke damage and water damage. So we’re gutting a lot of the spaces and the apartments down to the studs because the smoke is in the studs and installation. The park in the center of the property sits on the parking structure. We removed all the dirt and we’re going to put all new grass and landscaping in.
How much will that project cost?
I don’t have a recent estimate, but it’s at least $50 million.
Caruso got criticized for employing private firefighters to save the shopping center while most of the community burned to the ground. How did you deal with that criticism?
We learned about fires in 2017 when there were deadly fires and floods in Montecito. We were under construction in both the Palisades Village and the Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel in Montecito. The Montecito Fire Department said if the fire jumps the freeway, we’re not going to be able to help you. That’s when we figured out there are these private firefighting companies that most companies that own real estate have. Since that Montecito fire, we’ve had to call upon them almost every year. And so that day of the Palisades fire, the teams were in place. They come with their own crew and water trucks filled with water. We fought shoulder to shoulder with the fire department and we saved several of the buildings around Palisades Village that weren’t our buildings. That doesn’t get reported on. The fire department hooked up to our water trucks when they needed water.
Did any employees lose their home in the fires?
Rick’s children lost their homes in the Palisades. I think some employees received smoke damage, but nobody [else] lost their homes.
The kids aren’t employees, though, right?
One of them is. Justin Caruso works for the company. He is in our real estate development group. And the children are board members. We formed the board during Rick’s mayoral campaign. We were getting ready if he was to be mayor, we wanted a board in place. It’s myself and two other executives, as well as his four kids, that sit on the board. Rick’s on it now because he didn’t win. He’s our board chair.
What is your career “Sliding Doors” moment?
Once I knew I was going to start a family, and I was pregnant with my twin girls, I knew that I had to change my career trajectory because if I wanted to be happy in my marriage and be a good mom, then I couldn’t get on a plane anymore. I was doing global real estate around the world for Universal. I was gone two weeks out of every month. I decided that I was going to quit Universal and take a more local job. That’s when I went to work for Alagem Capital and did the Waldorf Astoria. And so as I look back on my career, it bums me out sometimes that I turned down a lot of global work. But it’s not a regret. I’m happily married. My girls are awesome. I got to spend so much time with them. I never missed anything that they did, and I volunteered just like the other moms that don’t work.
What was your last vacation destination?
Japan in early June. This was the first time in a year that we had been on vacation together because the two girls have different schedules.
Let’s do an Oahu, Hawaii, versus California lightning round. Poke bowl or fish taco?
Fish taco.
For breakfast, Spam or avocado toast?
Avocado toast. [Later, Verdery admitted that her answer is really Spam but she was embarrassed to admit it!]
Shave ice or frozen lemonade?
Shaved ice.
They have it in California.
It’s not the same here. There the syrups I feel like are different. In Hawaii they have more tropical flavors, and they put different things in the shaved ice. So you can have adzuki beans, you can have ice cream, you can have condensed milk on the top. Also they perfected the machine that shaves the ice; it’s much more fine. Here it’s like chunks of ice. There, it’s like powder.
And you said “shaved,” but isn’t it actually “shave ice”?
I call it shaved ice.
Waikiki Beach or Malibu Surfrider Beach?
I don’t like Waikiki Beach because there are a lot of tourists, so can I say North Shore beaches?
Hiking Diamond Head or Runyon Canyon?
Diamond Head.
Hot, humid Oahu summer or dry, sunny SoCal summer?
Oahu summer.
Lush rainforest trails or desert hikes in Joshua Tree?
Rainforest trails.
A luau or a beach bonfire?
Luau.
Ukulele jams or guitar sessions?
Ukulele jams. I just like the sound of the ukulele better.
Weekend trip to the North Shore or Big Sur road trip?
North Shore weekend.
Hawaii sunset or California sunset?
Hawaii sunset.