Los Angeles-based developer Caruso Affiliated has reportedly spent $2.5 million to get voters to approve a retail-entertainment center encompassing about 200 acres in Carlsbad on the south shore of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Nordstrom would anchor the development.

Caruso is said to have 20,000 signatures in support of the measure, meaning the Carlsbad City Council could simply approve it, or it could go to a public vote. To help encourage support, the company sponsored weekly bus trips to Caruso’s ‘The Grove’ shopping center in Los Angeles, so residents could get an idea of what the new facility could look like.