Commercial properties exposed to LA wildfires worth at least $2.6B
CMBS loans tied to more than 150 assets, mostly apartments, as flames continue their march
(Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles wildfires have laid waste to celebrities’ Malibu mansions and Pacific Palisades homes in the thousands.
But there are also $2.6 billion worth of commercial properties in the path of destruction, according to an analysis by data firm Trepp.
The company, which tracks commercial mortgage-backed securities, found 152 properties tied to CMBS loans were within evacuation zones ordered for the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires, all of which were still raging as of Thursday afternoon.
ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: An air tanker drops fire retardant on a ridge behind burned homes at the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. Powerful Santa Ana winds pushed the fire across more than 10,000 acres in less than 24 hours, destroying potentially hundreds of homes and killing five people so far. At least 1,000 structures have burned and 70,000 people are forced from their homes in the Los Angeles area as multiple dangerous wildfires continue to erupt. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 9: The sun rises through wildfire smoke from the Palisades Fire seen from Will Rogers State Park with the City of Los Angeles in the distance, on January 9, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Multiple wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds are burning across Los Angeles County. At least five people have been killed, and over 25,000 acres have burned. Over 2,000 structures have also burned and almost 180,000 people are under orders to evacuate. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES – JANUARY 8: Downtown Altadena on fire from the Eaton Fire that has currently taken the lives of 5 people and burned over 2000 structures, forcing over 100,000 residents to evacuate Altadena, California, United States on January 8, 2025. (Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 08: People walk through wildfire smoke amid poor air qualityfrom the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. Over 1,000 structures have burned, with two people dead, in wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds across L.A. County. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 08: Steel framing is all that remains of a destroyed home, lost in the Palisades Fire, on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles, California. Multiple wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds are burning across Los Angeles County. Five people have been killed, over 25,000 acres have burned, and 30,000 people have been evacuated. (Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/Getty Images)
A firefighter walks passed a burning liquor store during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, California on January 8, 2025. At least five people are now known to have died in wildfires raging around Los Angeles, with more deaths feared, law enforcement said January 8, as terrifying blazes leveled whole streets, torching cars and houses in minutes.More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America’s second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) / ALTERNATE CROP (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Charred vehicles are seen along a road after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said on January 8, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
Structures are seen on fire during the Eaton fire in Altadena, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said on January 8, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
A motorist drives past a destroyed structure during the Eaton fire in Altadena, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
A damaged gas station is seen after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said on January 8, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: An air tanker drops fire retardant on a ridge behind burned homes at the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. Powerful Santa Ana winds pushed the fire across more than 10,000 acres in less than 24 hours, destroying potentially hundreds of homes and killing five people so far. At least 1,000 structures have burned and 70,000 people are forced from their homes in the Los Angeles area as multiple dangerous wildfires continue to erupt. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 9: The sun rises through wildfire smoke from the Palisades Fire seen from Will Rogers State Park with the City of Los Angeles in the distance, on January 9, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Multiple wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds are burning across Los Angeles County. At least five people have been killed, and over 25,000 acres have burned. Over 2,000 structures have also burned and almost 180,000 people are under orders to evacuate. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES – JANUARY 8: Downtown Altadena on fire from the Eaton Fire that has currently taken the lives of 5 people and burned over 2000 structures, forcing over 100,000 residents to evacuate Altadena, California, United States on January 8, 2025. (Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 08: People walk through wildfire smoke amid poor air qualityfrom the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. Over 1,000 structures have burned, with two people dead, in wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds across L.A. County. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 08: Steel framing is all that remains of a destroyed home, lost in the Palisades Fire, on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles, California. Multiple wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds are burning across Los Angeles County. Five people have been killed, over 25,000 acres have burned, and 30,000 people have been evacuated. (Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/Getty Images)
A firefighter walks passed a burning liquor store during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, California on January 8, 2025. At least five people are now known to have died in wildfires raging around Los Angeles, with more deaths feared, law enforcement said January 8, as terrifying blazes leveled whole streets, torching cars and houses in minutes.More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America’s second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) / ALTERNATE CROP (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Charred vehicles are seen along a road after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said on January 8, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
Structures are seen on fire during the Eaton fire in Altadena, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said on January 8, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
A motorist drives past a destroyed structure during the Eaton fire in Altadena, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Photo by Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
A damaged gas station is seen after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said on January 8, with firefighters overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP) (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: An air tanker drops fire retardant on a ridge behind burned homes at the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. Powerful Santa Ana winds pushed the fire across more than 10,000 acres in less than 24 hours, destroying potentially hundreds of homes and killing five people so far. At least 1,000 structures have burned and 70,000 people are forced from their homes in the Los Angeles area as multiple dangerous wildfires continue to erupt. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
The Palisades Fire is the largest of the five blazes that erupted across L.A. As of Thursday, it had scorched 27 square miles, according to NBC News, which called it the most destructive fire in L.A. history.
The commercial properties identified by Trepp collateralize $1.2 billion in loans and are mostly apartment buildings. Sixteen are office buildings.
A building’s exposure to fire does not mean it has burned. Until the smoke clears, it will be difficult to gauge what real estate has been razed and what has been spared.
But video footage shows one of the properties Trepp identified, a mobile home park in the Pacific Palisades, is no more.
The Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, one of the rare affordable housing developments in the affluent neighbourhood, was reduced to wreckage, according to a video posted by photojournalist Fabian Lewkowicz on the YouTube account Santa Monica Closeup.
The footage shows stretches of rubble and ash caking charred foundation under a black hole sun. The mobile home park was valued at $18.6 million, according to Trepp.
The Palisades Fire had scorched 5,000 homes, businesses and other buildings as of Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported. Another 1,000 structures had burned in the Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena.
The hard truth for commercial owners who have been spared thus far is the risk is not over.
Though L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the Eaton Fire’s spread had been “significantly stopped” in a press conference Thursday morning, the Palisades Fire remains uncontained. And the Hurst Fire burning to the north of Downtown in L.A.’s Sylmar neighborhood was only 10 percent contained as of Thursday morning.
The Santa Ana winds that stoked five fires across the city died down Thursday but officials warned fire weather would continue through Friday night. Los Angeles remains under a red flag warning.
