According to Realtor.com, a foreign investor has spent $65 million on nine lots along the coastline of Malibu, California, after wildfires ripped through the area. Wildfires in January severely damaged miles of beachfront homes along the Pacific Coast Highway. The foreign investor aims to rebuild La Costa Beach following the fires that devastated the area. “Once this beach is built back and it’s all brand-new construction, I think it’s going to be a very desirable spot for a lot of wealthy people to try to buy a beach house,” Weston Littlefield with the Weston James Group told Realtor.com. “Malibu was such a charming beach town, and all the homes that were on La Costa Beach had so much character. They’ve been there for years on years, and you could just tell, all the fun parties that people used to have and for it all to just be gone and wiped out, down to the sand, is heartbreaking,” he added. A foreign investor has quietly spent $65M for Malibu real estate charred by January’s wildfires https://t.co/JaOiJgyVPP pic.twitter.com/17sgQzDOMH — New York Post (@nypost) August 8, 2025 Realtor.com has more: The luxury real estate agent and his colleague Alex Howe have been working with the investor who has, so far, purchased nine lots worth more than $65 million—but the process isn’t random. Currently, there are dozens of empty properties listed for sale on Realtor.com—all along the beach—but this investor wanted a common characteristic among the properties. “He started building a team on his end of expediters, architects, and kind of figured out what the best size lots and frontage would be to build on to eventually resell,” explains Littlefield. “And based on their formula, we were only acquiring lots that were 40-plus feet of frontage.” Littlefield started researching all of the beachfront properties along the PCH. What he found was that the burned lots that would be desirable for his client were not for sale. So, he tracked down the owners and approached them to see if they would consider selling. “I’d say probably about 50% had sentimental value to their properties just based on memories, or their parents passed it down to them, which was a very tough subject to get across with them,” says Littlefield about some of his conversations with potential sellers. “But a lot of them, ultimately, just didn’t want to go through the rebuilding process because of how long they knew it was going to take to really come back.” According to the New York Post, the fire on Malibu decimated 720 structures. The rebuilding process for the area is expected to take years, with a timeline of 12 to 24 months to approve permits. Los Angeles Magazine said the deadly Palisades Fire destroyed 340 homes in the area. A mystery foreign investor has spent $65M buying nine fire-ravaged oceanfront lots in Malibu, months after the deadly Palisades Fire destroyed 340 homes. Read more from @michelemcphee https://t.co/CtRFF5JHfg pic.twitter.com/9zrYRgGsHR — Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) August 10, 2025 “An anonymous foreign investor has reportedly been able to snatch up large swaths of Malibu’s oceanfront property where 340 homes burned just along the coast. Mystery buyer has purchased nine burn-scarred lots for $65 million with no pushback. I took this photo in Palisades in Jan,” Los Angeles Magazine writer Michele McPhee said. An anonymous foreign investor has reportedly been able to snatch up large swaths of Malibu's oceanfront property where 340 homes burned just along the coast. Mystery buyer has purchased nine burn-scarred lots for $65 million with no pushback. I took this photo in Palisades in Jan pic.twitter.com/UiEfyyI3PA — Michele McPhee (@MicheleMcPhee) August 8, 2025 More from the New York Post: Fees start at $11,579 for planning alone, before additional costs for site reviews or variances. Homes must generally match the original footprint, though up to 10% more square footage is allowed. Developers must also meet FEMA floodplain standards, replace noncompliant seawalls and install Advanced Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems instead of septic tanks. Timber piles are banned, and narrow La Costa Beach parcels are subject to strict view protections. The city has set up a Malibu Rebuild Center to help owners navigate the process, both online and in person. For Littlefield, the investment is a calculated bet with a long horizon. “Once this beach is built back and it’s all brand-new construction, I think it’s going to be a very desirable spot for a lot of wealthy people to try to buy a beach house,” he said.