Owners of fire-destroyed Palisades mobile home park seek to displace residents for development deal

For months, erstwhile residents of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates person feared the uncommunicative owners of the spot would question to displace them successful favour of a much lucrative improvement woody aft the Palisades occurrence destroyed the rent-controlled, astir 170-unit mobile location park.

A confidential memorandum listing the Bowl for merchantability indicates the owners mean to bash precisely that.

The memorandum, softly posted connected a website associated with the planetary commercialized existent property institution CBRE, says that the Palisades occurrence created a “blank canvas for redevelopment” astatine a tract “ideally positioned for a transformative residential oregon mixed-use project.”

“I conscionable thought, ohio my god, this is truthful overmuch propaganda and mendacious advertising,” said Lisa Ross, a 33-year nonmigratory of the Bowl and a Realtor. “How tin they adjacent get distant with printing this?”

Neither the existent owners of the Bowl nor the existent property companies listed connected the memorandum responded to requests for comment.

The memorandum describes the existent single-family residential zoning arsenic “favorable” for developers; however, the metropolis and mobile lodging instrumentality experts person painted a antithetic picture.

Fire debris astatine Pacific Palisades Bowl successful January 2026.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“Multifamily and mixed-use improvement connected this tract is not allowed by existing zoning and onshore usage regulations,” Mayor Karen Bass’s bureau said successful a connection Wednesday, adding lone debased density single-family lodging oregon reconstructing the mobile location parkland are presently allowed. “Mayor Bass volition proceed taking enactment and [work] with residents to reconstruct the Palisades community.”

City Councilmember Traci Park besides reiterated her absorption connected getting the mobile location parkland rebuilt and allowing residents to return, with a spokesperson noting she is not entertaining the imaginable for immoderate rezoning efforts from a developer.

Zoning changes typically necessitate a metropolis assembly ballot and are taxable to the mayor’s support oregon veto.

Beyond the zoning laws, the tract is besides presently governed by a authorities instrumentality requiring cities to sphere affordable lodging on the seashore and a metropolis ordinance protecting mobile location residents against abrupt displacement.

Spencer Pratt, a nonmigratory of the Palisades and an outspoken protagonist of the neighborhood’s mobile location community, criticized the politician and the owners successful a connection to The Times. “It’s unfortunate that Karen Bass has not advocated for mobile location residents impacted by the fire,” helium said, “and that the existent proprietor of the Bowl is ignoring bully religion offers from residents to bargain the property.”

The mayor’s bureau disputed this, noting Bass precocious led a delegation of Palisadians, including mobile location owners, to Sacramento to advocator for recovery. “Mayor Bass’ precedence is getting each Palisadian location — single-family homeowners, municipality location owners, renters, mobile location owners.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks during a backstage ceremonial extracurricular City Hall with religion leaders, LAPD officers and metropolis officials to commemorate the one-year day of the Eaton and Palisades fires connected Jan. 7, 2026.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Bass besides advocated for the national authorities to see the Bowl successful its debris cleanup efforts; however, the Federal Emergency Management Agency yet refused to see it, dissimilar different mobile location parks impacted by the Palisades fire. Its reasoning: It could not spot the owners to rebuild the parkland arsenic affordable housing.

Court rulings implicit the years recovered the owners routinely failed to support the infrastructure and worked to regenerate the parkland with an “upscale edifice community.” Residents besides accused the owners of attempting to circumvent rent power regulations.

After the fire, it yet took much than 13 months to statesman cleaning up the debris.

Ross said she approached the owners with autarkic mobile location parkland developers who were funny successful buying the fire-destroyed batch and letting residents rebuild wrong months. She besides approached the owners with a proposition that the erstwhile residents set unneurotic to bargain the park. She heard thing back.

“They don’t communicate,” Ross said. “It’s a feuding family. That’s besides wherefore we had truthful galore problems with attraction and with upgrades successful the park.”

Pratt, who is moving for politician against Bass, besides called connected backstage developers similar Rick Caruso to measurement successful and prevention the Bowl. (Caruso’s squad noted his rebuilding nonprofit is looking into however to assistance residents of the Bowl.)

Ross is simply a instrumentality of Pratt’s proposition. “We request those kinds of radical — we request Rick Caruso. That would beryllium great,” Ross said. To sweeten the deal: “I’ll navigator for him. I would marque him each his favourite dishes.”