A Coordinated Path to Rebuilding Heritage Homes
Uplifters Foundation operates a coordinated nonprofit rebuilding program designed to help Pacific Palisades families return home after the January 2025 wildfire.
This is not a traditional real estate development. It is a nonprofit rebuilding model that combines professional execution, disciplined financing, and a charitable purpose: restoring attainable, fire-resilient Heritage Homes for families displaced by the fire.
At its core, the program follows four steps:
The objective is straightforward: help families return to the community at scale, with a clear and responsible path to ownership.
The program is designed to rebuild approximately 60 single-family Heritage Homes within a defined set of streets in Pacific Palisades, supported by approximately $200 million of tax-exempt bond financing.
This financing helps lower the Foundation's cost of capital, allowing more resources to go directly toward rebuilding attainable homes for families displaced by the fire.
The program is designed to repay capital through the transfer of completed Heritage Homes. It is not dependent on long-term rental income, market speculation, or profit extraction.
Instead, the model is intended to convert vacant or fire-damaged lots into completed homes, return families to the community, and recycle proceeds in a way that supports the Foundation's charitable purpose.
The program is limited to a designated set of streets in Pacific Palisades where parcel density, site conditions, rebuild feasibility, and acquisition pricing support a coordinated rebuilding effort.
A map and full list of these streets will be publicly disclosed to provide transparency into the program's scope.
Uplifters Foundation evaluates potential acquisitions carefully. Each site is reviewed based on factors that affect rebuild feasibility, cost, timing, and long-term community benefit.
Key considerations include:
This is a selection-driven process, not a volume-driven one. The Foundation's goal is not simply to acquire lots, but to identify sites where coordinated rebuilding can meaningfully accelerate recovery and help families return home.
Uplifters Foundation's program is designed to make rebuilding more coordinated, more attainable, and more predictable for families displaced by the January 2025 wildfire.
Each Heritage Home℠ is planned to balance cost efficiency, neighborhood character, fire resilience, insurability, and a clear path to ownership.
Uplifters Foundation plans to use a curated range of approximately 6–8 architectural plans, each adaptable to different lot dimensions, site conditions, and neighborhood context.
This approach allows us to lower costs through repeatable design and construction efficiencies; while avoiding a cookie-cutter look - so each Heritage Home feels distinct and each street retains its character.
Heritage Homes are expected to include approximately 2,600 square feet of living space, with 3–4 bedrooms, 3–4 bathrooms, and a two-story configuration.
The goal is to deliver newly constructed, fire-resilient single-family homes that are modern, attainable, insurable, and comparable in size to many of the homes that were lost.
Insurance is one of the major barriers to rebuilding in Pacific Palisades. Heritage Homes are being designed with California insurance needs in mind, including supplemental coverage where appropriate, to help buyers obtain coverage and financing.
Uplifters Foundation will use Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contracts with qualified general contractors to help manage construction costs, reduce budget risk, and support predictable delivery.
Construction will be overseen by an independent Owner's Representative, who will monitor performance, cost, schedule, and quality on behalf of the Foundation.
This structure is designed to bring professional coordination to a rebuilding process that can otherwise be fragmented, costly, and difficult for individual families to manage on their own.
Resilience is not optional. It is built into the design of every Heritage Home.
Heritage Homes are designed to:
Each Heritage Home will initially be leased before transfer. This lease phase is required to comply with the tax-exempt bond financing structure and is a functional part of the program.
The purpose is to provide returning residents with housing sooner, while creating a structured path to ownership.
The lease phase is designed to:
At the time a lease is signed, eligible residents will receive a standardized purchase option.
The purchase option is expected to be:
This gives residents greater certainty from the start, including a clear understanding of the future purchase price and timing.
Eligible Heritage Home buyers may receive approximately 3%–5% of the purchase price as a closing credit.
This assistance is uniform, non-discretionary, and based on objective displacement criteria. It is intended to support disaster recovery and long-term community stability, while remaining incidental to the Foundation's charitable purpose.
Heritage Homes purchased with assistance will be subject to a five-year owner-occupancy requirement. If a home is resold before the end of that period, assistance may be required to be repaid.
These provisions are designed to prevent speculation, preserve program integrity, and ensure the program benefits returning residents and the broader Pacific Palisades community.
The program is financed through approximately $200 million of tax-exempt bonds. To help make Heritage Homes more attainable, Uplifters Foundation uses tax-exempt bond financing to lower its cost of capital, allowing more of each dollar to go toward rebuilding homes for families displaced by the fire.
Tax-exempt bond proceeds are expected to be deployed into land acquisition, construction, carrying costs, and program execution.
The goal is to use capital efficiently and responsibly to accelerate rebuilding within the designated program area.
Program funds will be controlled through a third-party trustee or disbursement agent. This structure provides oversight, accountability, and discipline around how funds are released and used.
No discretionary spending occurs outside the program structure.
The program is expected to reserve approximately 10% of proceeds until early projects validate acquisition costs, construction pricing, delivery timelines, and sale pricing.
This phased approach allows Uplifters Foundation to test, adjust, and strengthen execution before expanding across the full program.
Capital is returned to bond holders through the transfer of completed Heritage Homes.
The program is not dependent on long-term rental income, speculative appreciation, or profit extraction. It is designed to convert vacant or fire-damaged lots into completed homes, return families to the community, and repay capital through home transfers.
Uplifters Foundation's goal is to deliver a coordinated rebuilding program that produces meaningful community recovery.
This program is simple in purpose and disciplined in execution. It replaces fragmented rebuilding, individual risk, and uncertain timelines with coordinated planning, professional oversight, responsible financing, and predictable delivery.
