A cleared development site in Pacific Palisades is the first multifamily lot to hit the market since the January Los Angeles wildfires devastated the affluent coastal enclave, marking a milestone in the neighborhood’s recovery.
KW Commercial’s Soroudi Team is marketing the 1.04-acre parcel at 17250 Sunset Blvd. for just under $20 million. The land was home to a 75-unit apartment building destroyed in the Palisades fire in January.
The site is now approved to accommodate a replacement structure slightly bigger in square footage than the burned property, thanks to a new mayoral executive order supporting fire recovery.
The listing represents more than just a potential transaction: It signals a step forward in the Palisades’ broader effort to recover, four months after one of California's worst wildfires on record tore through Pacific Palisades — destroying nearly 5,500 single-family homes and dozens of apartment buildings, stores and offices.
The site two blocks from the beach "is a jewel,” said listing broker Hamid Soroudi. It's the second time Soroudi is listing the property; he represented the former seller in a $15 million sale 20 years ago. “I’m not getting as many inquiries on my trophy Beverly Hills listing as I am on this one," Saroudi told CoStar News.
The apartment building was developed in 1972 and has been owned by Xenon Investment Corp. — a private firm with 2,000 multifamily units in Southern California — for the past two decades. The cleared land is being offered as a shovel-ready site for luxury multifamily redevelopment, brokers note. The new entitlement allows up to 70,778 square feet of residential construction and does not require Coastal Commission review due to its status as a replacement project.
Soroudi said the seller chose not to rebuild because it specializes in owning and managing income-producing apartments, not ground-up development.
Sales momentum
Ideal prospective buyers, Soroudi noted, are experienced multifamily developers looking for a coastal project in a supply-constrained market. While no architectural plans have been drawn, the property is already garnering strong interest thanks to its entitlement clarity, premium location near the beach and exemption from additional environmental hurdles, he said.
Still, rebuilding will not be easy. Contractors are in high demand, construction costs remain high, and Sunset Boulevard access presents logistical challenges for delivery of materials. Soroudi estimates a three- to four-year timeline for completion.
The Palisades multifamily market has long been limited in size, with only a handful of apartment buildings in the area — three west of the village and a few scattered closer to the coast. Most survived the fire, though some required tenant relocations because of smoke damage. The Sunset Plaza Apartments, just blocks from the shoreline, was not so lucky.
It's not the first burned commercial property to hit the market; a retail strip in the neighborhood sold last month in the first deal for damaged commercial property in the region following the wildfires.
Residential properties are rebounding at a faster pace than commercial ones. Nearly 200 fire-damaged residential lots had been listed as of early April, according to broker Anthony Marguleas, owner of Amalfi Estates, whose own house was destroyed.
Despite the devastation, Soroudi described the mood in Pacific Palisades as resilient and forward-looking.
“The future is going to be great,” he said, noting that many people who lost homes intend to return and rebuild. He envisions a renewed community with brand-new homes and a revitalized village core, though he acknowledged that the rebuilding process will be long and challenging.