This story has been updated to correct the buyer.
A burned retail strip has sold in Pacific Palisades, marking the first deal for damaged commercial property in the region following January's devastating wildfires.
A Beverly Hills-based private investment firm paid $1.5 million for a fire-ravaged 0.09-acre lot at 15326 Antioch St., previously home to a 1940s-era retail strip tenanted by UPS, a fine art gallery, a hair salon and a boutique.
The deal, working out to $17 million per acre, marks a sign of investor confidence in the future of the wealthy enclave's commercial property since flames scorched more than 40,000 acres across Los Angeles.
“This transaction could be a good signal for the market,” said Ryan Patap, senior director of market analytics for CoStar. “It shows that this buyer has the long-term conviction that the neighborhood will come back.”
The sale comes as commercial activity in the area remains largely at a standstill. While nearly 200 fire-damaged residential lots have been listed or sold, the acquisition is the only completed trade of a commercial site, brokers say. The lot, previously owned by the Lee Family Trust, had been in the family for more than 30 years and was listed for sale just over six weeks ago.
The lot remains undeveloped and uncleared, and rebuilding will require city permitting, environmental approvals and design reviews. Still, the transaction could provide momentum in a neighborhood where 30 apartment buildings, 28 retail properties, 14 offices and one industrial site were destroyed, according to CoStar data, alongside 5,000 homes.
The road to reopening
The Antioch Street parcel is just three blocks from Palisades Village, an upscale open-air shopping center developed by Rick Caruso. That center escaped with only minor damage in the January fires and is expected to reopen early next year with new tenants.
During an online meeting sponsored by community group 1Pali this week, Caruso said his firm is focused on repairing and reopening the Village by January and does not plan to acquire additional fire-damaged parcels.
“We have no plans to buy other properties, but if an adjacent property owner needed to sell, we’d certainly have a conversation,” Caruso told residents.
In the Palisades, the buyer's bet follows $22 billion in estimated real estate losses from the wildfire across Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. projects full recovery could take up to a decade, though that timeline could compress with streamlined permitting and federal assistance.
Property experts say buyer interest in Pacific Palisades has begun to pick up, albeit slowly. Of the 194 fire-damaged single-family lots listed, 154 remain active, 16 are under contract and 21 have sold, according to Amalfi Estates founder Anthony Marguleas, a longtime Palisades resident.