Caruso Nonprofit to Provide Free Pre-fab Homes in LA County

A foundation set up by billionaire developer Rick Caruso has planted a stake to rebuild single-family homes within Los Angeles burn zones, rather than change the housing makeup by erecting apartments.

Steadfast LA, the nonprofit founded by the former mayoral candidate to help rebuild burned areas in L.A. County, has partnered with a prefab homebuilding firm to provide new houses for low-income homeowners in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, City News Service reported.

“This initiative is about keeping communities intact,” Caruso declared in a statement. “Many of the people struggling the most right now are those who have lived in these neighborhoods for decades. They built their homes many years ago, they’re underinsured or lack insurance, and now they have lost everything.

“We’re giving these victims a realistic way to stay on their properties and quickly return to their lives at a time when the deck is stacked against them.”

The home-building initiative calls for restoring a historic neighborhood with single-family homes, which contrasts with other approaches that call for rebuilding scarred neighborhoods with a mix of more affordable housing.

The Eaton fire destroyed more than 9,400 homes, businesses, schools, churches and temples in a 22-square-mile region. Some 6,800 structures burned in the Palisades fire. Both fires started on Jan. 7, stoked by 80 m.p.h. winds.

The prefab homes built by Samara, based in Redwood City, will be offered to “low-income homeowners in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades who lost homes in the wildfires and lack the economic resources to rebuild,” according to Steadfast LA.

The homes will be fully funded through Steadfast LA, which will collaborate with an unidentified “outside organization” to oversee the eligibility, building and installation process between property owners and Samara.

It’s not clear how many prefab homes will be provided through the partnership.

Samara and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia will donate $15 million to the effort, including an initial $5 million followed by $10 million in matching donations, according to Steadfast. The Caruso Family Foundation will provide an unspecified amount of “seed funding” for the program.

Samara will build the homes at a factory “for no profit. They could be delivered in five to six months, then installed on a property in “a few weeks of minimal on-site work,” according to Steadfast. Samara will also handle the installation and permitting.

The fire survivors will get their homes for free, according to CNS.

“The construction environment in Los Angeles is going to be tough,” Mike McNamara, co-founder and CEO of Samara, said in a statement. “Labor and material prices are going to increase, and people will face longer rebuild timelines.

“We build these homes in a factory, which will avoid the strain facing the L.A. market and help people get homes on their properties faster,” he said.

— Dana Bartholomew