In my current game the AI gangsters have been torching various buildings in my and each other's territory.
This means the businesses or apartments are closed and damaged, but I'm not sure if the computer repairs and reopens them?

From what I can see, torched shops are repaired (since the wood paneling disappears) after a few weeks and the shop front looks like new again. But there is no new NPC shopkeeper?

I would buy up the ruined lots myself, rebuild and then sell them again, but for some reason the game charges a price for a torched lot as if the business was still working and in perfect condition.
So doing this would be a major money sink.

From what I have seen so far, the AI does repair buildings, but there are no new NPCs moving in.
A tenement block that was torched around week 5 in my game still has no new tennant in week 16.

Pretty annoying, since the AI has a tendency to torch left and right for whatever reason and it is impossible to see which lots are essentially vacant, not making me any protection money and bringing the rest of the neighbourhood down.