- After a home in the Pacific Palisades burned down, the empty charred lot sold for more than $1 million and may be getting a second life through redevelopment by a local investor.
After last month’s California wildfires burned down a pristine Pacific Palisades home, the remaining charred lot still sold for over $1 million.
The home was originally purchased in 2005 for $1.54 million, according to Realtor.com, and what remained of the 9,932 square-foot lot was listed for $990,000 on Jan. 16.
“While the land has been impacted by the recent Palisades fire, it presents a blank canvas for visionary buyers ready to reimagine its potential,” reads the listing.
Richard Schulman of Schulman Team/KW Advisors, who oversaw the deal, told Fortune that the sub-$1 million listing was “a good teaser price that would get people excited about the property.”
He said he was surprised by the demand as the home quickly drew 70 or 80 phone calls.
“We’re closing next week. We had a lot of activity and sold for over a million,” he added.
Because the seller was not going to rebuild, Schulman said selling was an easy decision. The unnamed seller is staying nearby.
The buyer is a local investor who plans to redevelop the property, Schulman told Realtor.com, which didn’t disclose their identity either. It’s unclear when the buyer will be able to redevelop the scorched property.
“We don’t know the timeline for cleanup, and we don’t know the cost for cleanup … and [the] timeline for permitting. There’s still not any access to the properties in this area,” Schulman said. “There are huge question marks about that.”
To ease the rebuilding process, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order last month suspending some environmental laws for those affected by the wildfires. In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass also signed an executive order to help streamline debris removal and establish “a one-stop shop to swiftly issue permits in all impacted areas.”
But thousands of homeowners could try to rebuild all at once. More than 10,000 structures were destroyed by the Eaton and Palisades fires, and a majority of the buildings affected were residential properties, according to the Los Angeles Times.
And not all insurance policies will cover the full cost of rebuilding. Prior to the wildfires in January, State Farm announced it would end coverage for 72,000 homes and apartments in the state, including more than 1,600 in Pacific Palisades.
That forced many homeowners to turn to the FAIR Plan, California’s insurer of last resort, which has a coverage limit of $3 million for a home. Burdened by the increase in claims since the fire, FAIR was allowed this week by regulators to collect $1 billion from private insurance companies active in California to stay afloat.
A report by the UCLA Anderson Forecast claims that the Eaton and Palisades fires may have caused total property and capital losses between $95 billion and $164 billion. Rebuilding the wildfire-affected areas could take between five and 10 years, according to experts.
