Pacific Palisades Multifamily · City of Los Angeles
Pacific Palisades is inside the City of Los Angeles, so every Palisades apartment building runs on the City's full rulebook: the Rent Stabilization Ordinance on older buildings, LADBS for every permit and Measure ULA whenever a property changes hands. Since the January 2025 Palisades Fire, owners have also had to work through remediation duties, the new SB 610 disaster rules, emergency rent limits, rebuild rules and a ballot measure that could change the transfer tax. This page lays out where each of those stands today, whether you plan to rebuild, hold or eventually sell. The Group CRE has closed more than $488 million in Los Angeles multifamily transactions, and we are glad to walk any Palisades owner through the numbers.
Get Your Free Valuation$488M+
Closed Transactions
4% to 5.5%
Measure ULA Above $5.4M
3%
LA RSO Increase, 7/1/2025 to 6/30/2027
Free Valuation
No Obligation
Pacific Palisades sits on the City of Los Angeles' Westside between Santa Monica and Malibu, in Council District 11. Because it is inside the City, every Palisades apartment sale is subject to Measure ULA and every building built on or before October 1, 1978 to the City's Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the same as Mid-Wilshire or Koreatown.
The Palisades Fire started on January 7, 2025, southeast of Palisades Drive. By containment on January 31 it had burned 23,448 acres, destroyed 6,845 structures and damaged 975 more, according to CAL FIRE, and 12 people died. The Governor declared a state of emergency on January 7, a federal major disaster declaration followed, and the City's own local emergency was still in effect in late September 2026.
Today a Palisades multifamily owner holds one of three things: an intact building with tenants in place, a damaged building waiting on remediation, or a cleared lot with a rebuild envelope attached. They do not share a buyer pool or a pricing method.
We do not publish a Palisades cap rate or price-per-unit range here. The recent sales record mixes lots, damaged buildings and intact property, so a single number would mislead you. We value each property from its own rent roll, its rebuild envelope and the closest true comparables. Our guide to how LA apartment buildings are valued explains the methods.
Measure ULA applies to Palisades sales on the same terms as the rest of the City. For sales closing from July 1, 2026, the tax is 4% of the full price above $5.4 million and 5.5% at or above $10.9 million, on top of the City's 0.45% base transfer tax and the County's $1.10 per $1,000. Because ULA applies to the entire price rather than the amount over the threshold, a sale at $5,400,000 owes no ULA while a sale at $5,500,000 owes $220,000.
On November 3, 2026, City voters decide Measure TE. If approved, it grants a one-time exemption from ULA for residential properties damaged or destroyed in the Palisades Fire and sold within five years of the fire. The ballot ordinance does not define residential property, so whether a damaged apartment building qualifies is a question for counsel before you price around it. Until the result is certified, underwrite with ULA in place.
Our Measure ULA guide for sellers covers the thresholds, the price cliff and how ULA interacts with a 1031 exchange.
The City's Rent Stabilization Ordinance covers rental units in buildings built on or before October 1, 1978. LAHD posts the allowable annual increase as 3% for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027, and the City rewrote the formula effective February 2, 2026, to 90% of CPI within a band of 1% to 4%. Confirm the figure for your building with LAHD before you serve a notice.
Newer buildings generally fall under AB 1482, which caps increases at 5% plus CPI with a 10% ceiling. For the Los Angeles metro, that is 8.7% for August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027.
The fire adds a third layer. The City's local emergency for the January 2025 fires was still in effect in late September 2026, which keeps Penal Code section 396 and the City's price-gouging ordinance (LAMC 47.12) running inside City limits. Together they generally bar raising rent more than 10%, including the asking rent offered to a new tenant. The City ordinance applies regardless of lease length and carries civil penalties of up to $30,000 per violation. Our SB 1365 briefing covers how these rules work and what changes on January 1, 2027.
SB 610 (Chapter 547, Statutes of 2025) took effect January 1, 2026, adding Civil Code sections 1941.8 and 1941.9. It sets what a landlord owes after a disaster declared by the President or the Governor, and it applies to standing, damaged buildings as well as total losses.
The open question for Palisades owners is timing. The fire began almost a year before SB 610 took effect, and the statute does not address damage, evacuations or tenancies that predate January 1, 2026. Until the courts or the Legislature answer that, price remediation status and returning-tenant rights as diligence items and get counsel's read. A new declared disaster in the burn area, such as a storm-driven debris flow, would fall squarely under the statute. Our SB 610 briefing walks through each provision; the table below is the short version.
Requirement | What it means for a Palisades owner |
|---|---|
Cleanup | Debris removal and mitigation of mold, smoke, smoke residue, smoke odor, ash, asbestos or water damage, to government cleaning standards, within a reasonable time. |
Presumption | Debris at a unit makes it presumptively untenantable until a local public health agency or official finds no toxic substances. Your own contractor's letter does not clear it. |
Tenancy survives | Unless lawfully terminated, the tenancy continues and the tenant may return when it is safe and practicable, at the pre-disaster rent. On an RSO building the stabilized rent carries through. |
Evacuations | No rent is owed while a mandatory evacuation order keeps the tenant out. Prepaid rent is refunded within 10 calendar days after the order lifts or deducted from the next month. |
Destruction | If the tenancy ends because the unit was destroyed, prepaid rent for the period after termination is returned within 21 days. |
Paperwork | Written notice to tenants when remediation is complete, and tenant access to environmental testing reports. |
Rebuild | Not required. The duty is remediation, not reconstruction. |
There is no single right answer for a fire-affected Palisades building. Most owners start with whether and how to rebuild, and some also weigh a sale of the building or the land. The City's emergency orders shape every one of those paths.
Rebuild and re-lease. The Mayor's Emergency Executive Order No. 1 waives City discretionary review for rebuilding a structure substantially damaged or destroyed by the fire, if the project stays in substantially the same location, keeps the same use and density, and does not exceed 110% of the original floor area, height and bulk. The Governor's Executive Order N-4-25 suspended CEQA review and Coastal Act permitting requirements for rebuilds within 110% of the original footprint and height; confirm with LADBS which local approvals still apply to your parcel. Every unit you lease afterward is a new lease under AB 628, which requires a working stove and refrigerator.
Sell the damaged building. Buyers will price remediation status, the RSO status of each unit and which tenants hold a right to return. Put all of it in writing up front, because a buyer who discovers it in escrow will price it at the worst case.
Sell the land. A lot buyer underwrites the rebuild envelope, the ULA bill and the outcome of Measure TE more than the old rent roll.
If insurance paid for a destroyed building, the gain can be deferred as an involuntary conversion under Internal Revenue Code section 1033, generally by reinvesting within two years after the close of the first tax year in which any gain is realized. Selling a building or lot and buying replacement property is a 1031 exchange instead, with its own 45-day and 180-day deadlines. Your CPA should map both before you decide which path to take.
For property tax, the Assessor can lower a damaged property's assessed value under Revenue and Taxation Code section 170 (claims are normally due within 12 months of the damage), and a rebuild in a like or similar manner keeps the prior base-year value. Section 69 allows an owner whose property was more than 50% damaged in a Governor-declared disaster to move that base-year value to a comparable replacement property in Los Angeles County within five years. It applies to rental property, not only homes.
The remediation scope and completion notice, any public health determination on debris, environmental testing reports, LADBS permit status and the rebuild envelope, a rent roll showing each unit's RSO status and returning-tenant rights, and a trailing twelve months that separates fire-period disruption from normal operations. See our due diligence checklist for what a buyer's team will ask for, and our landlord insurance guide for wildfire coverage and the FAIR Plan.
Both fires started on January 7, 2025, but they burned through different jurisdictions. The Palisades is City of Los Angeles; Altadena is unincorporated County. That difference changes the rules for rebuilding, renting and any future sale, often by real money.
| Metric | Pacific Palisades | Altadena |
|---|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | City of Los Angeles | Unincorporated LA County |
| Measure ULA at sale | 4% above $5.4M; 5.5% at or above $10.9M (from 7/1/2026) | Does not apply |
| Other transfer tax | County $1.10 per $1,000 plus City 0.45% | County: $1.10 per $1,000 |
| Rent stabilization | LA RSO: built on or before 10/1/1978 | County RSTPO: 2+ units, first certificate of occupancy on or before 2/1/1995 |
| Annual increase | 3% for 7/1/2025 to 6/30/2027 per LAHD; confirm before notice | Set by DCBA; confirm before notice |
| Fire (CAL FIRE) | Palisades: 23,448 acres; 6,845 structures destroyed | Eaton: 14,021 acres; 9,419 structures destroyed |
| Like-for-like rebuild | Up to 110% of original floor area, height and bulk | Up to 10% or 200 sq ft larger, whichever is greater |
| Rebuild permits | LADBS | LA County (Planning, Building and Safety, Fire, Public Health) |
| Unsolicited offers | Barred in ZIP 90272 under AB 851 until it repeals 1/1/2027 | Barred in ZIP 91001 under AB 851 until it repeals 1/1/2027 |
| Pending ballot item | Measure TE, November 3, 2026 | None on ULA (ULA does not apply) |
Sources: CAL FIRE incident pages for the Eaton and Palisades fires; City of Los Angeles Office of Finance (Measure ULA); LAHD; LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs; LA County Recovers like-for-like rebuild guidance; City of Los Angeles Emergency Executive Order No. 1; AB 851 (Chapter 535, Statutes of 2025). Figures checked October 2026; confirm before relying on them.
Transaction cost. On a $6,000,000 sale, a Palisades seller pays $273,600 in transfer taxes, including $240,000 of ULA; an Altadena seller pays $6,600. If Measure TE passes and reaches your property, it would remove the ULA portion for a qualifying sale within five years of the fire.
Rebuild envelope. The City's order allows up to 110% of the original floor area, height and bulk. Altadena's County standard is 10% or 200 square feet, whichever is greater, so on most apartment buildings the larger envelope sits in the Palisades.
Rent rules. LA RSO stops at buildings built on or before October 1, 1978, while Altadena's County ordinance reaches properties with a first certificate of occupancy through February 1, 1995. A 1985 Palisades building generally falls under AB 1482 instead.
Emergency rent limits. Inside the City, the price-gouging protections tied to the fires were still running in late September 2026. LA County's own wildfire rent order lapsed in May 2026, though state limits return whenever a new emergency declaration covers the area.
The Bottom Line
The Palisades offers the larger rebuild envelope and a pending vote that could remove ULA for qualifying fire-damaged property, while ULA still applies to most apartment sales here today. The right timing for rebuilding, holding or selling depends on your carrying costs and your building, and we are happy to lay the numbers side by side.
Whether you rebuild, hold or sell, decisions in the Palisades right now turn on documents: the remediation record, each unit's RSO and return status, the permit file and a realistic read on Measure TE. Getting them in order early keeps every option open.
The Group CRE sells Los Angeles apartment buildings and nothing else. Our record is more than $488 million closed, a 97.6% list-to-sale ratio, an average of 47 days to close and 55+ five-star owner reviews. We will model the rebuild, the as-is sale and the land sale side by side and tell you which one nets more. Our Los Angeles multifamily hub covers every submarket we work in.
Taylor Avakian will walk you through your building's current value, the rebuild rules that apply to it, its RSO status and the ULA math with and without Measure TE. No obligation and no pressure to sell.
Request Your Free Property ValuationYes. Pacific Palisades is inside the City of Los Angeles. For sales closing from July 1, 2026, ULA is 4% of the full price above $5.4 million and 5.5% at or above $10.9 million, on top of the City's 0.45% base tax and the County's $1.10 per $1,000. Measure TE on the November 3, 2026 ballot would exempt some fire-damaged residential property.
Measure TE is a City of Los Angeles ballot measure on November 3, 2026. If approved, it grants a one-time exemption from Measure ULA for residential properties damaged or destroyed in the Palisades Fire and sold within five years of the fire. The ballot ordinance does not define residential property, so confirm with counsel whether a damaged apartment building qualifies.
Yes, for older buildings. The City of Los Angeles RSO covers rental units in buildings built on or before October 1, 1978. LAHD posts the allowable increase as 3% for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027; confirm it before serving notice. Newer buildings generally fall under AB 1482, capped at 8.7% in the Los Angeles metro for August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027.
Only within limits. The City's local emergency for the January 2025 fires was still in effect in late September 2026, keeping Penal Code section 396 and LAMC 47.12 in force inside City limits. They generally bar increases of more than 10%, including asking rents for new tenants, regardless of lease length, and the City ordinance carries civil penalties of up to $30,000 per violation.
SB 610 took effect January 1, 2026 and covers disasters with a Presidential or Governor's emergency declaration, which the Palisades Fire had. The statute does not say how it applies to damage, evacuations or tenancies from before its effective date, so get counsel's view on any fire-affected building. It applies directly to any future declared disaster in the burn area.
No. SB 610 requires remediation of disaster damage, including debris, smoke, ash, asbestos and water damage, but it expressly does not require reconstruction. Rebuilding is your choice; you can also sell the damaged building as is or sell the cleared lot.
Under the Mayor's Emergency Executive Order No. 1, rebuilding a fire-damaged or destroyed structure skips City discretionary review if it stays in substantially the same location, keeps the same use and density, and stays within 110% of the original floor area, height and bulk. The Governor's Executive Order N-4-25 suspended CEQA and Coastal Act permitting requirements for rebuilds within 110% of the original footprint and height. LADBS issues the permits.
Not legally in ZIP code 90272 for now. AB 851 (Chapter 535, Statutes of 2025) bars unsolicited offers to buy residential real property in listed fire-area ZIP codes, including 90272, until the law repeals on January 1, 2027. Once you publicly signal a willingness to sell, such as an MLS listing or a for-sale sign, offers are no longer unsolicited.
In many cases, yes. Internal Revenue Code section 1033 lets you defer gain on insurance proceeds from an involuntary conversion if you buy qualifying replacement property, generally within two years after the close of the first tax year in which any gain is realized. Selling the building or lot and buying replacement property is a 1031 exchange instead. Confirm the approach with your CPA.
Explore Nearby Markets
These pages show how each neighboring market is taxed and regulated, for owners comparing the Palisades with the areas around it.
General information for property owners, not legal or tax advice. Statutes, ordinances, ballot measures and figures are summarized as of October 2026; confirm how they apply to your property with counsel and your CPA.
