While the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year primarily impacted residential structures, the rebuilding effort is likely to have broad impacts on the commercial real estate industry, according to a JLL analysis of the disaster’s impact.
With low-end cost estimates of $250 billion, the wildfires will almost certainly exceed Hurricane Katrina’s adjusted cost of $201 billion, making it the costliest disaster in U.S. history. The fires burned nearly 40,000 acres of land, damaged or destroyed nearly 11,000 single-family homes, and displaced 24,000 families. The fires also destroyed 97 schools and 15 churches.
Residential was the primary sector impacted by the fires, with some communities losing half of their housing stock. Less than 400 multifamily structures were destroyed, but more than 40,000 units were in the fire evacuation zones.
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