Clear “Gives New Meaning to In-House”
A snap of the Fall 2026 article in The Riv magazine
For the Fall 2026 issue of The RIV magazine, the publication’s founder Les Firestein sat down with Clear Group CEO Bailey Hochhalter to spotlight the work we’re doing in the Pacific Palisades, explore our history in Santa Barbara, and dive into the strategy that makes Clear Group “Accountable by design.”
With a detailed account of our Palisades fire rebuilds in progress, Firestein makes the case that navigating the post-disaster rebuilding process does not have to be nearly as complex and inefficient as it sounds. With the right team, building anew from the ground up can be straightforward and seamless—as long as each contributor is as motivated and informed as the next.
From the article:
“Bailey’s explanation for why his company exists is one of the more useful things I’ve heard a builder say recently. Before Clear, Bailey was a partner in a construction-only firm, and he kept watching the same thing happen:
‘There was this whole Bermuda Triangle between the owner and the architect and then back to the architect and then back to the contractor,” he says. ‘It was like you were having seven conversations that all took days of back-and forth. What inspired me to start Clear was I knew I could condense what was normally a three-week process into one two-hour conversation. The key was getting all the players under one roof, which is what we’re doing.”
CLEAR GROUP GIVES NEW MEANING TO “IN HOUSE”
Among other things that differentiates Clear from other builders is Clear does architecture, construction, and millwork all under one roof, roughly 55 people, with a professional engineer and an interior designer also in-house. Michael Bosio, a licensed California architect who came out from New Orleans in 2024, is the managing principal on the design side. And Clear’s millwork shop in Ventura also sells to other general contractors, which was intentional.
‘A lot of the reason projects draw out is because there’s those interfaces that just take time. By the time the project gets around to telling the millwork company to get started, the millwork company typically has to wedge it into their already busy schedule. So you’ll inevitably lose weeks, if not months.’ Or, as I describe it to Bailey, ‘there’s no baton to pass so there’s no baton to drop.’ ‘I’d say that’s a fair description,’ he says.”
The piece also shares a unique look at Bailey’s early career, how his upbringing helped influence the company he set out to build and what it has grown into today. From building his own recording studio, to learning how to build every single part of a home while working with his dad, Bailey’s story follows his drive for continuous improvement that inspires Clear Group’s growth and scale every day.