ULI Panel Highlights Urgent Lessons from Los Angeles Wildfires to Shape Future Resilience Efforts

ULI

At the Urban Land Institute’s 2025 Spring Meeting in Denver, real estate leaders gathered to share critical lessons learned from the catastrophic wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in January. The panel, “Rebuilding Resilience: A Conversation with Leaders on Lessons from the Los Angeles Wildfires,” emphasized the importance of swift disaster response and collaborative approaches, as members unveiled the influential Project Recovery: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the January 2025 Wildfires report, which they hope will serve as a blueprint for other cities facing disasters.

The panelists were Andy Cohen, global co-chair of Gensler; Darcy Coleman, vice president of Alagem Capital Group; Lew Horne, president for advisory services for CBRE’s Greater Los Angeles, Orange County and Inland Empire region; David Waite, partner in the Los Angeles office of Cox, Castle Nicholson LLP; and Kev Zoryan, founder and managing partner of Arselle Investments.

With more than 16,000 buildings destroyed and vast areas charred, ULI Los Angeles took immediate action, moderator Clare De Briere, founding partner of Catalyst Property Company, pointed out. Members joined forces with the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate to produce the Project Recovery report.

The group created “workstreams,” each spearheaded by leaders who oversaw committees, according to panelists and incoming ULI Los Angeles District Council Chair Lew Horne.

The 171-page report exemplifies the importance of public/private partnerships and includes case studies of the best and worst practices for disaster response and environmental issues, self-certification, and how to rebuild infrastructure and accelerate the development process, according to Horne.

Waite, a past chair of ULI Los Angeles, said, “I think we realized fairly quickly that shortening the time frames for permitting new homes and rebuilds was a critical component for success. We built [upon] Governor [Gavin] Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass’ executive orders that were issued in January, which essentially said 30 days is the goal.”

Implementing such an objective was a challenge, Waite said, given that both the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County have “very layered bureaucracies,” including 13 different departments in the city alone.

Waite said that, after investigating other cities with professional self-certification programs, stakeholders compiled a series of recommendations for Los Angeles. As a result, last month, Mayor Bass issued Executive Order 6, which establishes a pilot for the Pacific Palisades—one of the most hard-hit areas—and other communities to adopt self-certification programs of their own. Bass also issued Executive Order 10, a pilot program that directs the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to make and review recommendations regarding AI tools.

“We . . . felt that professional self-certification coupled with emerging AI tools . . . can really shorten the time frames,” Waite said.

The importance of insurance is also key, especially because many Angelenos were uninsured or underinsured and did not realize it, said Coleman, who is also co-chair of the ULI Homelessness Initiative Council and the ULI-LA Housing Innovation Summit. “Issues with risk gap and building code inconsistencies” also came to light, as did ones involving forest management and utilities, according to Coleman.

“The reality is that our infrastructure was not prepared,” Coleman said. “We can’t control the winds. We can’t control the heat of the fire. But we can control the ability to respond better and faster, and that is what this report speaks to: mitigating risk.”

What also became clear is the importance of rebuilding with alacrity, said moderator De Briere, immediate past chair of ULI Americas and a ULI Global Board of Directors member. Statistics show that if rebuilding their homes takes more than three years, 70 percent of Pacific Palisades residents and 63 percent of Altadena residents may choose to live elsewhere, according to a ULI/UCLA/USC L.A. Fires Rebuilding Survey. Costs also increase as time passes.

De Briere also pointed out, per the Project Recovery report, that “the region’s GDP is projected to decline by 0.48 percent in 2025, amounting to a $4.6 billion loss.”

Ascertaining the best way to calculate financing, including infrastructure and mortgage gaps, was vital, said Zoryan, a past chair of ULI Los Angeles.

Cohen credited ULI with making all the difference. “ULI has been the nexus point, [amid] a very political situation, in how to get these projects going,” he said.

The first project is to consist of rebuilding Palisades Park and Recreation Center, the heart of the Pacific Palisades. Cohen said Gensler has “an incredible design” that includes basketball courts and picnic areas. Also involved are Mayor Bass; billionaire developer Rick Caruso’s nonprofit Steadfast LA; Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick, whose family lost its home in the Palisades Fire; and the organization LA Strong Sports. Cohen said that a similar project is being considered for Farnsworth Park in Altadena, which was devastated by January’s Eaton Fire.

Related: L.A. Fires Rebuilding Survey