LOS ANGELES — Real estate mogul Rick Caruso says we need to have hope and optimism during the coronavirus pandemic, and it's a time for businesses to be innovative.

“We're going to have to change the way we do business. We're going to have to be better,” Caruso said. “We're going to have to engage our guests.”

On this episode of COVID-19: Just the Facts, Spectrum News 1 anchor Giselle Fernandez spoke with Caruso on the effect these difficult times have had on his properties and how he believes it's time for ingenuity.

He is a billionaire developer whose outdoor shopping centers throughout the Southland act as community town squares with parks and dancing fountains for families to come together. The Grove alone welcomes 20 million visitors a year—and today, it’s virtually empty due to the Stay at Home order.

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“We will get through it, and there will be uncomfortable times and there will be suffering and we're all going to be wounded because everybody is going to be affected by this,” Caruso said. “But it will end, and I think when it ends, I believe it with my heart, we're going to be a better community, better people. We're going to learn from it.”

Caruso said he believes this has been an informative time, and businesspeople are at their best in a time of crisis. 

“I get so excited when I see people like that, that are passionate about their community, passionate about protecting their employees and supporting them and just being innovative and how they deliver a service,” he said. “I really believe great things are going to come out of this crisis, a lot of pain, a lot of sorrow, but hopefully at the end also a lot of great things.”

Caruso wrote the following letter to Angelenos: