After the Eaton wildfires slowly started to burn out and the debris removal process began its earliest stages, many Altadena residents were grappling with the long and arduous process of rebuilding their homes.
Initially, the prospect of starting fresh was the positivity they sought after so much devastation, but then the financial reality set in, and real estate developers took advantage.
Long gone are the “Altadena Not For Sale” signs that once populated a large swath of the community, as residents face the mounting challenges that come with rebuilding from scratch.
“In a perfect world, my neighbors and I would all rebuild, and five years from now, Altadena would look the same as it did before the fire,” an Altadena resident told the L.A. Times. “But it’s just not realistic.”
Listing her lot in May, she told the outlet that within days, she had already received multiple offers, accepting an offer from the highest bidder, a midsize developer that has already bought other properties in the area.
“I’ll always love Altadena, but I don’t have the resources for a rebuild that could take half a decade,” she said.
Since the Eaton wildfires devastated the community of Altadena, burned lots have sold for as little as $330,000 and as much as $1.865 million, with the majority of properties selling for between $500,000 and $700,000.
“Everybody in Altadena thought they were going to rebuild, but depending on their situation, a lot of the time it just doesn’t make sense,” Altadena resident and local real estate agent, Ann Marie Acheron, told the outlet. “We wanted to keep things local, but unfortunately, Altadena is for sale.”
Ahern shared that real estate developers are so desperate to buy the burned lots in Altadena that they are offering to buy them in bulk. “One agent called me and said he has someone looking to buy 100 lots,” she revealed.
With big-time real estate developers coming in to practically buy up the city of Altadena, residents have a host of worries about what could be the result of that, including gentrification and losing the history of what made Altadena special in favor of shiny new developments.
However, local real estate agent Brock Harris has a very different outlook on big-name developers buying up burned lots, as he sees it as a way for Altadena to return to normalcy.
“If Altadena is going to come back, we need way more developers coming in to help out,” he told the L.A. Times. “Otherwise, a decade from now, it’ll look desolate and unwelcoming with one house for every five lots.”
It appears that the Altadena community is at an impasse: continue to rebuild at an extremely slow pace that is financially and emotionally taxing, or sell to big money real estate developers who can transform the community at rapid speed and strip Altadena of what made it special.
SEE ALSO:
Evidence Of Human Error Grows In Altadena Fire Evacuation Investigation
Former Black California Mayors Supply $1M In Wildfire Relief To Black Altadena Residents
Real Estate Developers Are Buying Altadena’s Burned Lots As Residents Face Harsh Financial Realities Of Rebuilding
was originally published on
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