Empty lots littered with rubble and ash line the street where homes and small businesses once stood. A year after the Palisades Fire ripped through the neighborhood, only a handful of businesses have reopened.
The Starbucks, Bank of America and other companies that used to operate in the century-old Business Block are gone. All that remains of the Spanish Colonial Revival building are some arches surrounding what used to be a busy retail space. The burned-out, rusty remains of a walk-in safe squat in the center of the building.
Nearby, the Shade Store, Free-est clothing store, Skin Local spa, a Hästens mattress store, Sweet Laurel Bakery and the Hydration Room are among the many stores still closed. Local barbershop Gornik & Drucker does not know whether it can open again.
“We’ve been talking back and forth about what it takes to survive,” says co-owner Leslie Gornik. “When we open, we have to start all over again.”
Hundreds gathered around Business Block on the anniversary of the fire on Wednesday to witness a military-style ceremony with white gloves to pay respects to the families who lost loved ones. Photos of the dead from the neighborhood were posted on the adjacent Palisades Village Green.
The Palisades fire burned for 24 days, destroying more than 6,800 structures, damaging countless others and forcing most of the neighborhood’s residents to move elsewhere. About 30 miles northeast, the Eaton Fire burned more than 9,400 buildings. Combined, the fires killed 31 people.
The few businesses back in Palisades serve as a beacon of hope for the community, but owners and managers say business is at a standstill and customers have not returned.
Ruby Nails & Spa, located near the Business Block, was closed for eight months before reopening in September. Now business is half of what it was before the fires, says owner Ruby Hong-Tran.
“People come back to support, but they live far away now,” she said. “All my clients, their houses burned down.”
Ruby Hong-Tran, owner of Ruby Nails & Spa in Pacific Palisades, says her business is half of what it was since reopening.
It took months to clean up all the smoke damage from her store. The front is still being repaired to cover up fire damage.
The firestorms destroyed parts of other neighborhoods, including Malibu, Topanga, Sierra Madre and Altadena, where businesses and homeowners are also struggling to rebuild.
Some wonder if it’s worth rebuilding. Some have given up.
The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation estimated last year that there were more than 1,800 small businesses were in fire zones in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena, impacting more than 11,000 jobs.
Companies indicate that they have often been on their own. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear debris from private homes, some public buildings and places of worship — but not commercial properties.
Business owners had to clean up the charred debris and toxic waste on their properties. Many had to endure complicated insurance claims and apply for emergency loans to stay afloat.
Rosie Maravilla, general manager of Anawalt’s Palisades Hardware, said damage to her store was limited and insurance covered the cleanup so she could reopen quickly. The store reopened just a month after the fire.
Rosie Maravilla, general manager of Anawalt Palisades Hardware, in front of the Pacific Palisades store.
Yet turnover is 35% lower than before.
“It was bad at the beginning. We didn’t make anything,” Maravilla said. “We are fortunate that the company retained us.”
The customer base has changed. Instead of homeowners working on personal projects, the store serves contractors working on reconstruction in the area.
An archival image of the Pacific Palisades area hangs above the aisles of Anawalt Palisades Hardware, where business is stagnant despite a customer base of contractors who are rebuilding.
Across the street from the Business Block, the Palisades Village shopping center was spared the flames and looks pristine, but remains closed. Shop windows are covered with tarpaulin. Low metal gates block access to the luxury shops. The mall is still replacing the drywall to remove airborne contaminants that could have caused the fire to spread.
All the high-end stores are still closed: Erewhon, Lululemon, Bay Theater, Blue Ribbon Sushi, sportswear store Alo, Buck Mason men’s boutiques and Veronica Beard women’s boutiques.
Mall owner and developer Rick Caruso said he is spending $60 million to reopen in August.
The need to bring back businesses affected by the fires is urgent, Caruso said, and not just to support returning residents.
“It is critical to bring back jobs and also for the city to generate tax revenue to support city services,” he said. “Leaders must do more to speed the rebuilding process, such as accelerating the approval of building permits and stationing building inspectors closer to fire areas.”
Pedestrians walk past the Erewhon Market in Palisades Village, which plans to reopen this year.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
On Wednesday, on the anniversary of the fire, Caruso sent three beams of light into the sky above the mall, meeting in one stream to honor the affected communities of Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu.
The nightly display will continue until January 31.
Business Block’s history dates back to 1924, when it served as home to the community’s first businesses. In the 1980s, plans to demolish the neighborhood and build a shopping center sparked a local uprising to save the historic symbol of the neighborhood’s vibrancy. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1984.
Starbucks spokesperson Tiana Noble said the landlord terminated the company’s lease when the building burned. Bank of America said it had signed a new lease to rebuild nearby.
The fate of Business Block is still unclear. Some people want to keep its scale and make it a new shape a memorial.
This week it was surrounded by a fence with the words ‘Making a fresh start possible together’.
Caruso said the ruins should be demolished.
“It needs to be demolished and cleaned up,” he says. “It’s an eyesore and a hazard right now. I would put grass on it and make it attractive to the community.”
Twisted and scorched remains of the Pacific Palisades Business Block still remain a year after the fire.
A short walk from the Business Block and near a burned down Ralphs supermarket is the Palisades Garden Cafe, one of the few places in the area where you can get food and drinks. The small, vibrant cafe was closed for two months after the fire, with employees going without pay.
Manager Lita Rodriguez said business is improving, but misses the regulars.
“We used to have a lot of students and teachers who lived and worked here,” she says. “Our customers are now mainly contractors.”
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