Palisades Protestors Demand Accountability on Fire Anniversary

One year later and people are mad as hell.

Open up a news story from this past Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the Palisades and Eaton fires, and the answer to what, precisely, they’re made about is muddled.

Bloomberg asked its newsletter subscribers “What’s holding LA back?” before trying to peg a decline in property values to climate change and a cooling of investor sentiment, along with $33.9 billion in federal disaster aid being held hostage as possible answers. The New York Post, true to form, characterized the Palisades as a “wasteland.” The Wall Street Journal struck a balance calling the recovery “slow and uneven,” driven by factors such as wealth and red tape reduction.

The lookbacks on everything from the handling of the fires’ containments to insurance and rebuilding costs have flowed freely. It was solutions and calls for accountability that were sought at a hard-hitting demonstration under the banner of “They Let Us Burn,” held on the January 7 anniversary of the infernos. The rally shut down Antioch Street and Swarthmore Avenue in the Palisades, with a crowd of several hundred gathered on the streets, some standing on top of the CVS building to listen for next steps. For some, that involves litigation. For others, it’s calling for policy reform. Still others — more specifically former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who announced his bid for mayor at the protest — want to shake up Los Angeles City Hall.

Nourmand & Associates’ Rochelle Atlas Maize, while not a speaker at the rally, was in attendance, reflecting an interest in the circumstances of multiple clients still dealing with the aftermath of the fires and “effectively frozen” from moving forward. She pointed to long-term problems that have been building well before last year’s wildfires, including permit fees, Measure United to House L.A. (ULA), construction costs and delays. Atlas Maize said policy makers should stop looking at those items in isolation and instead see their points of connection to figure out a way forward.

“We cannot keep rebuilding communities without reforming how insurance, permitting and infrastructure planning work together,” she told The Real Deal. “Homeowners need guidance, predictability and protection — not just during the rebuild, but permanently. If we don’t fix that, this will repeat itself again and again.”

Resi brokerage change afoot?

Speaking of the need for change, that’s exactly what former Compass California president Mark McLaughlin told subscribers in a Friday newsletter weighing in on the Compass-Anywhere deal closing.

The deal included $1.6 billion in stock and Compass buying Anywhere’s $2.6 billion in debt for a combined value of $4.2 billion. The headcount of the merged entity is some 340,000 agents.

McLaughlin’s served as Compass California president between September 2018 and December 2020. He bounced back to the firm in 2023 as chief real estate strategist. After that two-year contract ended, the executive moved to a part-time mergers and acquisitions advisory role at the brokerage.

McLaughlin suggested to his followers the Compass-Anywhere combination has the leverage to reframe who serves who in the ecosystem of MLSs and agents. From McLaughlin’s view, the short answer is portals need to “listen and, in turn, shape a compelling offering” for their customers.

“Our industry has been too tolerant of demands, constrictive rules and, in some instances, fines,” McLaughlin said in his newsletter.

Time will tell if a power shift is realized.

Corona del Mar movement

Change is also happening in coastal Orange County.

The Agency poached John Stanaland and his six-person team from Douglas Elliman, while also bringing on Craig Knizek as managing director in its Corona del Mar office.

The Agency co-founder Mauricio Umansky called Orange County a “cornerstone market” for the brokerage and said the latest additions are aimed at “long-term impact” regionally.

The office additions bring its headcount to 55 — a sizable operation that backs what Umansky’s saying in a market that not all L.A.-based firms have broken into for various reasons.

Even still, some Los Angeles brokerages have made their plays into the coastal enclave. That includes Douglas Elliman’s Altman Brothers Team and the Oppenheim Group. Both have offices in Corona del Mar. Carolwood Estates entered Newport Beach through what is now a former affiliation with the Caruso Group (no relation to developer Rick Caruso).

Remembering Sandra Miller

Many have been spending recent weeks in remembrance of Sandra Miller, the founder of Engel & Völkers Santa Monica.

The brokerage confirmed this past week Miller’s passing during the holidays.

One word that has been repeatedly used by her colleagues to describe Miller: powerhouse.

She was the first California licensee to bring the German-based brokerage to the state and was also heavily involved in the industry. She had a seat on the California Association of Realtors Board of Directors and also held several leadership positions with the National Association of Realtors and Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors.

Miller’s legacy in Santa Monica and beyond will continue with the office now being helmed by her son Steven Walter and brokerage manager Raymond Dominguez.