Ten months after wildfires scorched parts of Los Angeles and its suburbs, the city announced what it called a “major milestone”: The first home to be rebuilt in the hard-hit Pacific Palisades neighborhood has received its certificate of occupancy.
However, there’s a catch: The home in question, a four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom property located at 915 North Kagawa St., was not rebuilt by a displaced family, but rather by a developer.
The L.A. Department of Building and Safety issued the certificate on Friday morning, signaling that the home has been inspected and deemed safe to live in.
“The Palisades community has been through an unimaginable year, and my heart breaks for every family that won’t be able to be home this holiday season. But today is an important moment of hope,” L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “With more and more projects nearing completion across Pacific Palisades, the City of Los Angeles remains committed to expediting every aspect of the rebuilding process, until every family is back home.”
The two-story house in the Palisades was constructed by developer Thomas James Homes as a “showcase home,” intended to symbolize the progress of postfire recovery, according to the company’s website.
Real estate records reviewed by Realtor.com® show that a limited liability company connected to Thomas James Homes bought the property on Kagawa Street for $3.4 million in November 2024, roughly two months before the fires.
The purchased home was a 1963-built, 1,652-square-foot, ranch-style dwelling with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Before any work could begin on its demolition, the empty house was incinerated by the Palisades inferno.
In early April, Thomas James Homes was among the first to obtain a postfire building permit. Two months later, the foundation was poured at the site, and six months to the day after that, the completed home passed its final building inspection.
“Completing this first ground-up rebuild in approximately six months shows what is possible when public and private partners work with urgency and purpose,” stated Thomas James Homes CEO Jamie Mead. “For Thomas James Homes, this is about one thing: helping families return home as quickly and safely as possible.”
The nearly 4,000-square-foot “showcase home” comes with interior fire sprinklers and an automated exterior wildfire defense system featuring eave sprayers and roof rotors that release biodegradable foam in the event of a blaze.
The developer will open the home to the community on Dec. 6, allowing residents to tour the property, examine its fire-resilient design features, and learn about the permitting and construction process.
“This event is about more than one home,” Thomas James Homes’ website declares. “It represents a turning point in the community’s path forward.”
Rebuilding progress
The January Palisades fire destroyed approximately 7,000 structures in the wealthy enclave inhabited by a host of celebrities, among them Tom Hanks, Ben Affleck, and Reese Witherspoon.
At the same time, the Eaton fire slashed a path of destruction through working-class Altadena, CA, annihilating over 9,400 structures.
Together, the two infernos caused total property and capital losses ranging between $76 billion and $131 billion, with insured losses estimated at up to $45 billion, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast last updated in March.
To date, more than 1,070 rebuilding permits have been issued in the Palisades and 340 projects have started construction.
Bass’ office boasted that rebuilding permits were being approved nearly three times faster than typical single-family home projects before the fire due in part to her executive actions aimed at cutting through red tape.
In the area devastated by the Eaton fire, 848 permits have been issued so far, according to the Los Angeles County’s permitting progress dashboard.
Last week, a two-bedroom accessory dwelling unit (ADU) became the first residential structure to receive a certificate of occupancy in Altadena, Politico reported.
The ADU replaced a garage that was destroyed in the fire. The main residence on the property was left untouched by flames in January.