After Losing Four Family Homes in the Palisades Fire, Mike Sitrick Helps Launch Rebuild Organization
By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
For Mike Sitrick—a Palisadian of more than 40 years—rebuilding the community is personal.
His family lost four homes in the Palisades fire: his home, the homes of two of his daughters, Sheri Sitrick in Marquez Knolls and Jewlz Fahn in the Alphabet Streets, and a rental property on Haverford (previously the home of his third daughter, who moved to Hawaii to teach).
“It’s a generational collective trauma here,” Sheri shared about the community since the fire. “It wasn’t just our homes, it was our hometown … to lose everything myself, and then my kids losing everything and my sister … I think seeing my parents really broke me the hardest. They’ve been married 56 years … it was our family home.”
Mike’s personal losses, as well as his longtime connection to architect and builder John Kilbane, inspired him to launch Save the Palisades.
“We care very much about the community and wanted to do something to help,” Mike described. “After the fire, a number of friends and friends of friends contacted my wife Nancy, my daughters, Julie and Sheri, and me and expressed concern about knowing what to do and how to do it and who to do it with.”
Kilbane has designed and built five houses for Mike and Nancy Sitrick, including their first Palisades residence in 1985, then their home on Via Cresta 10 years later, which they moved into in 1995 and had remodeled a few times. He also built Sheri and Fahn’s homes.
After the fire, Mike described asking Kilbane to come out of retirement to rebuild his daughters’ homes and also help additional Palisadians. Over the course of his 40-year career, Kilbane has worked on over 200 custom houses in Malibu and the Palisades.
“Slowly but surely, what we determined was we wanted to figure out how we could help people get back in their homes,” Kilbane said.
With partner Scott Watt, they set up Watt Palisades, which is devoted “solely to rebuilding homes in the Palisades for people that want to return.” Mike is a partner, and Scott’s daughter, Nadine, is also involved.
“I do know that for the people that want to go back, we just want to go back,” Fahn said, “even if there’s not an entire town yet, and it’ll be piece by piece.”
Kilbane said that a number of his clients lost homes in the fire in both the Palisades and Malibu. He described a “real strong connection” with his clients in both communities, developing “lifelong friendships with clients that you design and build homes for.” When it comes to the Sitrick family, Kilbane said he has watched Sheri and Fahn grow up.
“We’re rebuilding two of the Sitrick family homes right now, and it’s personal for everyone involved,” described Kevin Webb, who serves as president of Watt Palisades and director of construction. “The Sitricks’ story gets right to the heart of what Watt Palisades is about: helping longtime residents work through the mess of rebuilding after losing their homes.”
As of mid-October, they were under contract with between eight and 10 people, describing fielding “more interest” but “being very careful in terms of not over committing.”
“One of our mantras is: ‘Don’t over commit and underperform,” Kilbane said, “and we plan on holding up to that.”
When working with potential clients, Kilbane said they are not turning people away, but are evaluating their needs with “a whole bunch of criteria that determine whether or not we can accommodate” on a case by case basis.
“We have very good bandwidth—bench strength—with the subcontractor pool that we control,” Kilbane said. “So our ability to build houses is limitless, really, in terms of, as Kevin said, we could jump up to 30 or 40 houses without a problem … We want to do as much as we can. I mean, we’re not going to make a dent … if we stay small, so we plan on expanding in the months.”
Webb said that their role is to make sure the process is “as organized, as affordable and as predictable as possible.” This applies whether their client has a “tight budget” or is looking to replace their “high-end home.”
“We handle everything: insurance coordination, design, engineering, permitting and construction, all under one roof,” Webb said. “One team, one process, start to finish.”
The Watt Palisades rebuild process begins with initial consultation and site evaluation, including meeting with the homeowner to understand insurance coverage, timeline and goals.
Then they enter pre-construction and design, pairing families with an architect or one of their pre-engineered plans. This step also includes managing survey, engineering, energy compliance and city coordination.
When it comes to picking an architect, Kilbane noted the importance of research, as well as finding someone who can do the type of work that is being sought.
“It’s like any other important decision you make, you have to investigate the person that you’re considering, and that means getting referrals and talking to those referrals,” he said, later adding, “An architect becomes a very, very long-term partner in the process. And if you don’t get along with that person or you don’t feel like they communicate with you properly, it’s going to be difficult.”
Next in the process is budget and bidding, including providing “transparent cost breakdowns and allowances.”
“For most folks, if the approach is we just want to get a house, we can improve or make it better later,” Webb said of budgeting, “you can really be careful in your finishes, do standard finishes, standard flooring, and get in the house … then, as time goes by, you can upgrade or update.”
Construction then begins, with weekly updates, including photos, draw schedules and progress tracking.
“We handle inspections, utilities and coordination, so owners can focus on getting their lives back,” Webb said.
The final stage is close-out and move-in, which includes conducting a “full quality inspection and final walk-through,” delivering warranties, maintenance documents and occupancy certification.
When it comes to rebuilding in the Palisades, Kilbane cited concerns about the length of time for permits to get approved by the city, as well as infrastructure, like traffic control as construction ramps up. He also mentioned unknown timelines for other amenities to return, like additional grocery stores.
“That’s the part of the community that we as builders don’t have any control over,” Kilbane said. “We’re going to help everybody get their homes rebuilt, but the city and other people are going to have to see that those other needs are met.”
He said that once 500 or 1,000 homes are underway, it will be “something unlike anything anybody’s ever seen before.”
“The Palisades is a magical, special, special place,” Kilbane said. “I spent 40 years of my life going out there, building houses, meeting people, going to Mort’s, getting coffee … It was like a small town in a big city, and I want to see it get back to that.”
For more information, visit wattpalisades.com.
