Reconstruction has been slow in the Pacific Palisades burn scar. According to Mayor Karen Bass’ office, about 400 homes are being actively built in the Palisades, with plans approved for about 750 addresses.
That’s a small part of the roughly 7,000 buildings burned, but Bass said even the slow progress should provide hope.
“The Palisades community has been through an unimaginable year, and my heart breaks for every family who will not be able to come home this holiday season,” Bass said in a previous statement.
Casa Gateway reopened in the fall, but only about a third of all residents of the 68-unit building have returned, said Rockwell, board president of Casa Gateway’s homeowners association.
Rockwell said that despite the cold winter months, mosquitoes are hovering around his unit due to standing water in the walls.
Sandbags are still placed outside the building and a new lobby hints at the devastation caused by both the flood and the smoke. Rockwell said the mud was so thick in her apartment that she couldn’t open her front door.
The seven-month treatment at Casa Gateway included removing and replacing insulation, installing new flooring in the hallways and lobbies, and painting the halls and community spaces. The city removed about 6 inches of soil from the slides. The process also required irrigation repairs and exterior wall and tile replacement.
Now that she’s back home after waiting nearly seven months for repairs, Rockwell said her beloved neighborhood is terrible. The once bustling Palisades Village has thousands of vacant lots and storefronts that were filled with boutiques, restaurants, schools and a movie theater.
“It’s too dark,” she said.
