$100M Palisades Village reopening marks mega-step forward for fire-ravaged community

Nineteen months after a wildfire ripped through Pacific Palisades, residents poured back into the heart of their devastated community Saturday as the Palisades Village retail hub reopened following a $100 million restoration.The luxury shopping and dining hub is 99% leased, with more than 40 businesses returning or opening and roughly one-third of its tenants new.Returning businesses include Erewhon, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Buck Mason and Anine Bing, while local merchants that lost locations in the fire, including K Bakery and Loomey’s Toys, are getting new starts.“I have been waiting 19 months to say, ‘Welcome to Palisades Village,’” developer Rick Caruso, who launched the rebuilding effort almost immediately after the fire, told the cheering crowd.“We are in the middle of a recovery, and this is one chapter.It’s a mega-step, no doubt, but there’s many more mega-steps to come.”The Palisades Fire in January 2025 destroyed more than 6,800 structures, including thousands of homes.

While rebuilding has accelerated to more than 1,000 homes under construction, only a small fraction of families have moved into completed new houses.The Palisades Village complex escaped the worst of the flames but suffered extensive smoke and water damage, prompting a massive overhaul that included rebuilding restaurant kitchens and replacing drywall, appliances and air-conditioning systems.Caruso recalled the Palisades before the fire as “Mayberry by the sea” and “like living inside a Norman Rockwell picture.”“And then a nuclear bomb hit,” he said.Two days after the blaze, Caruso said he gathered his employees and gave them a mission.“Let’s plant a flag.Let’s bring this back bigger and better and more meaningful than ever.”Newcomers include celebrated restaurateur Nancy Silverton’s Italian steakhouse Spacca Tutto and Alphabet Bar & Grill, the h.wood Group’s new neighborhood restaurant led in the kitchen by acclaimed chef Tim Hollingsworth.The roug...