Rick Caruso says that Palisades Village is looking to reopen at the beginning of 2026

Rick Caruso announced his objective of reopening the village of Palisades – the luxury shopping and restoration center which he saved from the path of destruction of the fire of Palisades by hiring private firefighters – at the beginning of 2026.

The billionaire real estate developer shared the scheduled calendar in an interview with ABC7 this week.

The 25,000 square foot shopping center and its 42 companies – including Chanel, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta – remained largely unscathed in the fire, mainly suffering from damage caused by smoke. Many structures surrounding him were shaved.

Its reopening calendar at the beginning of 2026 for Palisades Village is probably months or even years, before the recovery calendar for other companies and houses Palisades which have been reduced to rubble. But he said to the station that he hoped that the village has reopened as soon as it is safe and reasonable would give the community a reason to return.

In total, 6,822 structures were destroyed in palisades fires, including more than 5,500 residences and 100 commercial enterprises, according to California Department of Forest and Fire Protection.

Caruso has attributed the survival of the village to hard work of private firefighters, water offers they have brought and fire -resistant materials used in the construction of the shopping center. The $ 200 million shopping center of $ 200 million opened in 2018.

However, he faced criticisms to use private firefighters to defend his shopping center and his home by people concerned about the inequalities that these teams highlight and the possibility that they can remove water resources from public firefighters.

Caruso defended his actions in his interview with ABC7 News, calling on “the smart decision to do”.

“We have protected our goods and we also released Fire de la to go protect from other properties, so we were very independent and we also lent our equipment to the Los Angeles fire service, which was short equipment,” he told the station. “We are really part of the community.”

The members of the State Assembly presented a new bill to ensure that the public fire limits limited to private firefighters in response to the rich people of Caruso and to other rich recent use of private firefighters. Caruso, for his part, said that his crews had used no water from the city.

Caruso, who presented himself for the mayor in 2022, quickly appeared as a key public figure during the Los Angeles forest fires. The real estate magnate has several shopping centers, including The Grove, the Americana at Brand and the Commons at Calabasas. According to Forbes, its estimated net value is $ 5.8 billion.

When the fires broke out on January 7, he quickly castigated Mayor Karen Bass so as not to be on the ground and accused the city of poorly managing water resources.

“There is no water in the palisades. There is no water that comes out of the fire terminals. It is absolute mismanagement of the city,” he told Fox11 News on the first night of the fire. “We have a mayor who is outside the country, and we have a burning city, and there are no resources to turn off the fire.”

In February, he announced the launch of a foundation called SteadFast dedicated to the acceleration of the recovery of palisades and Eaton fires by cutting administrative formalities, taking advantage of the expertise of the private sector and by promoting the use of fire -resistant building materials.

At the time, he said he was ready to put the policy aside and work hand in hand with bass to rebuild the city.

“I will gladly be the hero, because these are thousands and thousands of displaced people,” he told Times in February. “If we are doing a great job, which I think we are going to work very hard – and that helps her do a good job, and she comes out as the great mayor of the city for having advanced this, I will be delighted.”