Rick Caruso spoke to residents on a 1Pali Broadcast.
“Palisades is going to come back,” said Rick Caruso, who was featured on the 1Pali webcast on Monday night, April14, that attracted nearly 1,000 virtual attendees.
Caruso emphasized that the Palisades has to bring back places for families to gather. “We believe firmly that we have to bring back areas where people can congregate as a community while they’re rebuilding their homes.”
He said that the enormity of the rebuilding process after the Palisades Fire will need a private/public partnership and this is the plan for the Recreation Center/Park. “We went to the City with a creative idea,” Caruso said about his nonprofit Steadfast LA partnering with LA Strong Sports. “We told them we will raise all the money. As you know the city has more than a billion-dollar deficit. The City agreed to the plan.”
Caruso said he thought the park could be built within a year, “It shouldn’t take longer than that. Let’s get it open. Let’s get families back.” If the community wants to provide input on the park, they can go to the Steadfast site on X or Caruso’s account on X. Steadfast L.A. is a post-disaster recovery coalition led by Caruso click here.
Regarding Palisades Village, Caruso thanked residents “for adopting us into your community, which we are forever grateful – and that’s why its so important for us to be involved in the rebuilding.”
He’s predicting that the stores will be fully operational after the first of the year and that it “will be better than ever.” Caruso also said there will be new tenants, many of which might be a surprise to residents.
Amalfi Founder Anthony Marguleas, who was moderating the webcast with Ben Perlman, tried to get Caruso to speak about who the new tenants might be, but with no luck.
Caruso did say that among those tenants coming in there is an “amazing spirit of wanting to be part of the rebuilding of the Palisades. People get excited about it.”
He was asked if he planned to purchase other commercial properties in the Palisades or if he had purchased them. “No,” he said had not purchased Ralphs, which is one rumor going around, and “no, we haven’t bought anything in the Palisades.”
“If an adjacent property owner wanted to sell or needed to sell, we’d have the conversation,” Caruso said.
“I’m generally excited about the reopening,” he said, and noted that the timing to reopen, will be factored with the clean up around Palisades Village and debris being removed.
He also spoke about undergrounding and how one of Steadfast partners, Parsons, has designed a system. It will be given to the DWP/City, which then could put it out to contractors and “they should be able to do it.”
But, Caruso emphasized that Palisadians would have to be behind the plan and push the underground power lines with the City. “As you know, the government does not necessarily have a sense of urgency,” he said.
Caruso also said that poles carrying telephone wires should go away and that “Starlink is an amazing system, and we should get out of the hardwire business.”
The billionaire also touched on insurance. He said he knows many people have an insurance gap between what insurance is giving them and what it will cost to rebuild. He said his group is working on possible financial solutions to help people bridge that gap.
The businessman was asked about the modular housing that is being offered to 100 people who have been impacted by the Eaton or Palisades fires. There have been more than 600 applications, and the first home will be located in Altadena in the next month. The homes are roughly 1,000 square feet and the foundation and site work will be done. The home will be turnkey for those selected.
About his plans in Pacific Palisades, “I don’t want the Palisades rebuilt any differently than it was,” Caruso said near the end of the broadcast. “That’s not my goal. I want the same charm, the same quaintness, the same scale.”
He was asked if he was considering another run for LA Mayor or maybe for California Governor. “I will make no announcement until the end of the summer,” he said. “My focus is on Steadfast and rebuilding Palisades.”
Caruso also spoke about ULA, the mansion tax, rebuilding the library, the state’s insurance system, waiving building and permit fees and apps that could make entering the Palisades easier and an E-check to speed up building permitting. To hear the broadcast: click here..