#470 - PACIFIC PALISADES FIRE REBUILD UPDATES
SUMMARY
This week, David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design share updates on the Pacific Palisades fire rebuild efforts. They discuss the lack of centralized information on the Palisades fire, common questions from fire victims, educating clients to make the right decision, like for like regulation updates, rebuilding without previous house plans, house footprint location & areas calculation, tax implications, finding a contractor for fire rebuilds, construction price discrepancies, and prefab housing. Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Lack of centralized information on the Palisades fire.
(05:36) Common questions from fire victims.
(14:00) Educating clients to make the right decision.
“Construction cost per square foot is a piece of information that is oftentimes easily misleading. As a resident, it's very easy to have a quick conversation with my neighbor, who tells me, “Our construction cost was $550ft².” So now I think, “Well, someone said 550ft².” What's missing from that number is the schedule, design quality, and the type of contractor–are they a spec builder contractor that takes all kinds of shortcuts on the inside of walls?, material quality, and execution level” (14:48)
(18:55) Like-for-like regulation updates.
“In the like-for-like type of project, previously, it meant you could build 110% of the previous square footage. Now, the rules for like-for-like projects have nothing to do directly with the total square footage limitation of the house. The like-for-like parameters only specify a maximum allowable size of the footprint of the building and the height. Within that bubble, you can do whatever you want.” (20:35)
(25:09) Rebuilding without a previous house plan.
(29:51) House footprint location & area calculation.
“In the like-for-like project, the shape [of the house] can be anything you want, which is very freeing. You can also move the location of the house pretty drastically–by up to 20% of the property width and the depth. So, if we have a rectangular lot that's 50 by 100ft. That means wherever your house was previously located, it can move front to back by 20ft and side-to-side by 10ft.” (30:11)
(33:48) Tax implications.
“The permitting approvals timeline difference between like-for-like and new construction in a non-coastal area is basically identical. So then why would you not just do a new construction? My understanding is that when you exceed the previous square footage, you get taxed differently. If you're doing a like-for-like rebuild, the first 100% of the square footage you build back gets taxed the same as before; it doesn't change. The additional 10% you're doing gets taxed at a higher rate, but not the rate of a new construction project. When you go beyond that and you are doing a new construction, the property gets reassessed, and now you're taxed much higher.” (34:21)
(35:39) Finding a contractor for fire rebuild.
“Broadly speaking, if you are under pressure where you have a tight budget, a tight schedule, and those are immovable, there's a good argument that that is not the type of situation for experimentation. Obviously, everyone's concerned with fire resiliency, and there are more fire-resistant methods of fabricating a house that are not common. Of course, if you go and you talk to those businesses, they will tell you all the great things about what they do and how it's more fire resilient. But there's like a hundred other pieces of information that dictate whether it's a good idea, and those methods oftentimes cost more money, even if they are faster in one regard, but often cause slowness in many other ways.” (45:17)
(48:12) Tips to rebuild on a tight budget.
“You're hearing from contractors who say, “I can do a high-end house for $400/ft².” Whereas other contractors who are reputable will say, “No way. It's $1000/ft² minimum for me to do anything of quality.” Why the heck would there be this massive range of costs? I think an interesting way to problem-solve that challenge is to have a few contractors give a ballpark estimate, which we would call a ROM or Rough Order of Magnitude, to rebuild your house exactly as it was before with common sense upgrades.” (49:00)
(51:21) Reason behind the big construction price discrepancy.
“As a developer, the more money I spend on construction, the less money I make. So, if I can build something that sells the same, but I can cut out $200/ft² or $300/ft², I will do that (if I were a sleazy developer). The things they cut out are sometimes things that you don't see on the outside, in the photograph, or in person. But what's behind the drywall? What's behind the wood siding? What did they use to secure the flooring? How's the framing? Oftentimes, it's the things you don't see necessarily, but should care the most about because that's what's going to make the house last, or not, over time. It is unfortunately very common for people to buy a spec house and enter a lawsuit afterward with the previous owner or the developer.” (52:30)
(01:01:17) Prefab house solutions.
