The Brief

Many who lost homes in the Eaton and Palisades fires have been asking themselves whether they should rebuild or if it’s time to pull up stakes.

For some, rebuilding may be too costly, too time-consuming, too heartbreaking.

But if they sell — to whom? No shortage of developers are swooping in to buy properties. In Altadena, that’s stirred up concerns over whether the community will retain its socioeconomic diversity or a Black homeownership rate that at 81% was nearly double the national average.

Sell to a nonprofit

One nonprofit says sellers have other options.

This month, Greenline Housing Foundation in Pasadena made what’s believed to be the first Eaton Fire lot purchase by a community organization: a 6,800-plus sq. foot parcel on West Altadena Drive.

“We bought the property at $520,000, completely demolished and with a lot of debris on it,” said Greenline’s founder and president Jasmin Shupper.

Shupper said after seeing the listing, she had reached out to the seller’s agent, expressing interest in submitting an offer.

Shupper made her case to the agent: “Here's our mission. We're trying to keep land off the speculative market. We're trying to avoid mass purchases by developers who might not be community- minded.”

“And so we just started the conversation from there,” Shupper said. “And then he said, ‘Let me talk to my seller.’”

It was a smooth transaction that Shupper hopes to be a forerunner to future purchases in Greenline's bid to do more land banking for the social good.

Greenline’s start

Shupper founded Greenline five years ago to help remedy decades of racial housing discrimination by offering financial education and down payment grants.

Jasmin Shupper founded Greenline Housing Foundation in Pasadena.

(

Courtesy Greenline Housing Foundation

)

“It would only follow that we would show up consistent with our same mission in the Eaton fire recovery," Shupper said. “Specifically, that means home ownership preservation and wealth restoration to the Black and Brown communities.”

Greenline wants to rebuild on the burned-out property and sell it at a below-market price to a first-time homebuyer. Shupper said its mission seemed to resonate with the seller who had already been thinking about selling their house before the fires.

In February, the property was listed at $425,000 — covered in rubble. Still, Greenline came in nearly $100,000 over asking.

“We wanted to come in a little bit higher, to be competitive, and also to ensure that it wasn't a lowball offer and that people were compensated fairly,” Shupper said.

A partnership

Greenline was able to make the purchase because of a half million dollar grant from the Pasadena Community Foundation.

“We all want to keep Altadena in friendly hands,” said Sarah Hilbert, a spokesperson for the Pasadena foundation and an Altadena resident. “I think that's a paramount goal for all of us who are connected to the community.”

There’s a sense of urgency to act. Dozens of parcels have already been sold since the Eaton Fire. And dozens more are on the market.

The arrival of developers has sparked anxiety about real estate speculation.

(

Mario Tama

/

Getty Images

)

“Lots of those housing parcels are being sold for cash only, and we know that a lot of them are being sold to speculative developers,” Hilbert said. “When that happens, we know that erodes the ability of people who have roots in the community to have a say and a role in that recovery, in that rebuild.”

Hilbert noted that in recent years gentrification has sped up in Altadena.

“It's a desirable place because it is so creative and so diverse and [there's] the beautiful natural setting,” Hilbert said. “So we know that those are the forces that we're kind of racing against the clock.”

Hilbert says the Pasadena foundation recognizes what Greenline wants to do by "land banking" is an important way to keep Altadena in community control and continues to be in conversation with Shupper about future partnerships. In the meantime, the Pasadena foundation is helping fund another Greenline initiative to get Altadena homeowners into interim housing until they can start to rebuild.

All hands on deck 

When time is of the essence, how can a nonprofit like Greenline bank more land while competing with all-cash buyers?

“You're kind of swimming against a flood, you know?” said Jon Christensen, who teaches and conducts research at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Christensen says it will take multiple approaches – and more than philanthropy to protect Altadena from speculative developers.

“There are also investors who are not looking for the biggest profit [who say] 'I want investments to have some positive social impact,” Christensen said.

Christensen says these types of investors could help those who lost their homes stay in Altadena — by putting in, say, 20% of the capital needed to rebuild "with the expectation that [the investor] could get [their] capital out with some reasonable return that wouldn't be burdening the homeowner."

Next step: the build

Christensen says as outsiders come into Altadena to help, gaining the community’s trust will be key. That’s where a local organization like Greenline has an advantage.

And because of its work in the area, founder Jasmin Shupper knows of many potential buyers for its newly-acquired parcel.

“We already have a Rolodex of people that would be interested in purchasing this lot,” Shupper said. “Identifying people is not the problem.”

The more pressing issue at hand is what can Greenline afford to have built on the lot. That will depend on yet another round of funding the group is trying to raise.

Voyager Technologies unveiled a 140,000-square-foot facility Tuesday in Long Beach that will be used for designing and producing parts for missiles and commercial spacecraft.

The company wrote in a news release that the facility, which will employ 150 to 200 people, will be used to advance a number of the company’s ventures into aerospace and defense for the U.S. military and other clients.

“We are standing up capacity at Space Beach for one purpose: to deliver for our customers,” Matt Magaña, president of Space, Defense and National Security at Voyager, wrote — using a nickname for Long Beach’s burgeoning space industry.

The Denver-based company, which launched in 2019, has nearly a dozen locations across Ohio, California, Colorado and Texas. This announcement comes two months after it opened a 150,000-square-foot facility in Pueblo, Colo., also focused on missiles, defence and weaponry.

Through a network of former companies it has purchased, Voyager has researched and designed a variety of parts for spacecraft or rockets, from long-range radios and GPS guidance systems to commercial airlocks and propulsion systems.

It’s known for its Starlab project, a venture propelled by a $217 million NASA contract to replace the International Space Station, which is slated to retire in 2030.

But a majority of the company’s business is in defense. The net sales last year for its defense and national security program jumped 59%, making up $123 million of the $166 million it made. In the last quarter of 2025, the category made up nearly two-thirds of its sales.

By contrast, the company’s sales for “Space Solutions,” which designs spacecraft for commercial and research purposes, declined by 36% in 2025.

The company is working with Lockheed Martin to develop a new missile interceptor system — coined the “Next Generation Interceptor” — and has contracts to build parts for hypersonic missiles and military-grade payloads. Top officials at Voyager say they have a strong interest in competing for contracts on Golden Dome, a 10-year, $151 billion missile defense program.

It’s unclear whether the Long Beach facility will focus on a particular program or take on work as it is needed. In a release, company officials wrote it will help design A.I. software and other parts for “next-generation propulsion and defense systems and integrated sensing, communications and autonomy technologies.”

The company said it is working with neighbors Anduril Industries and True Anomaly, who recently set up facilities in Long Beach, to meet some contracts, but did not specify the venture.

It’s the latest in a wave of space tech companies to join “Space Beach” by moving to the 430-odd acres of industrial and warehouse space once used to build cargo planes outside Long Beach Airport.

In January, Anduril, an artificial-intelligence-backed weapons manufacturer, announced that it was building a $1 billion campus nearby to make drones and other A.I.-enabled weapons.

It’s an industry where successful businesses often curry favor with the federal government and military, and local representatives are eager to attract defense tech firms to create high-paying jobs.

Mayor Rex Richardson, left, and Matt Magaña, president of Space, Defense and National Security at Voyager. Photo Courtesy Voyager Technologies “We’re proud to welcome Voyager to our growing Space Beach ecosystem with a 140,000-square-foot facility advancing aerospace innovation, domestic manufacturing, and national security capabilities,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “This investment brings high-skilled jobs, strengthens our local economy, and further establishes Long Beach as a national hub for the industries shaping our future.”

These companies are in tight competition to take advantage of a growing national defense budget — $895 million in 2025 from $816 in 2023 — while taking advantage of the large pools of talent near existing research and military facilities like JPL in Pasadena, Mojave Air and Space port in Kern County and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

While the budget was shrunk to $838.7 billion in 2026, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has placed an increased priority on spending on U.S.-made drones and autonomous weapon systems. Buoyed by global conflicts, defense companies in Long Beach and across the region are anxious to accelerate their designs and production of weapons and defense systems.

The story first appeared on Boyle Heights Beat.

A free community food pantry that had been set up outside a market in East Los Angeles now has a new home in Boyle Heights, thanks to community members who rallied to keep it going.

Created by East L.A. native Rebecca Gonzales, the pantry had been stationed outside of Ramirez Meat Market on the corner of Folsom Street and Rowan Avenue since November, offering produce, snacks and shelf-stable items.

Gonzales created the resource after seeing how ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and SNAP delays were affecting the most vulnerable in her community. 

A few days after Boyle Heights Beat published an article about the pantry, the market’s owner asked Gonzales to move it.

Rosa Ramirez, who has owned Ramirez Meat Market for 26 years, said she hadn’t expected the pantry to be permanent and noticed that fewer people were coming into her store when the pantry was stocked. Ramirez appreciated Gonzales’ intentions, but said the piles of donated clothes and shoes next to the pantry were difficult to manage.

Soon after learning the pantry would have to move, Gonzales posted the news on Instagram. Within an hour, she received about a dozen messages from friends and community members reaching out to help. 

“I was worried that I was gonna have to just bring it home and it’s gonna be a lapse of services,” Gonzales said. 

That same day, Yvonne I. Monje Perez, owner of SuperNova Thrift — a shop near Mariachi Plaza that sells second-hand clothing — reached out. Though she had never met Gonzales, Perez didn’t think twice about offering help. 

The East LA free food pantry now sits outside of SuperNova Thrift on 1st Street in Boyle Heights.

(

Laura Anaya-Morga

/

Boyle Heights Beat

)

“We could benefit from something like that here in this neighborhood,” Perez recalled thinking after seeing the post. 

With coordination from Gonzales and guidance from the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, Perez and her husband picked up the pantry last Friday and it was open for the community the following day. 

“It makes me so happy seeing people come to it and look at it, and just take from it,” said Perez. “It’s been received very well, a lot of people are very happy about it.”

Now, Perez and Gonzales have a schedule for opening and closing the pantry, and donations have continued to roll in. 

While Gonzales does not keep track of how many donations come in every day, she noticed items usually remain at the end of the day, a change from when the pantry would go empty in East L.A.  

Looking ahead, Gonzales hopes to inspire others to start free food pantries in their own communities.

“People want to help,” she said. “People want to do good things. People want to see other people not just survive, but thrive.”

The East LA free food pantry was recently moved in front of SuperNova Thrift on 1st Street in Boyle Heights.

(

Laura Anaya-Morga

/

Boyle Heights Beat

)

The heat isn’t the only thing to worry about this weekend.

If you’re looking to escape the summer-like weather, the beach might be a spot to cool off, but it's a good idea to stay out of some waters.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is advising people to avoid contact with ocean water at certain L.A. County beaches because of bacteria levels that exceed state health standards.

After recent samples showed unsafe bacterial levels, which may increase the risk of illness, health officials recommend beachgoers to:

• avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the public restrooms of the Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach.
  
• avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast at Santa Monica Canyon Creek at Will Rogers State Beach. It's located near Will Rogers Tower 18.
  
• avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the Castlerock Storm Drain at Topanga County Beach too.
  
• avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the Escondido Creek at Escondido State Beach.
  
• avoid contact 100 yards up and down the coast from the Marie Canyon Storm Drain at Puerco Beach.

Good news, some beach areas have been cleared of previous warnings because of recent water samples that identified quality levels back within California standards. Those include:

• Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu.
  
• Mother’s Beach in Marina Del Rey.
  
• The Pulga storm drain at Will Rogers State Beach.
  
• And last but not least, the world-famous Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica.

You can find the latest information and a map on beach conditions online here. You can also find information on the last 30 days of beach water quality across L.A. County at Heal The Bay's Beach Report Card.