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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Developer Hits Roadblock on Senior Living Center

Last summer, Burbank developer Chandler Pratt & Partners touted online that it had secured a partnership with a national senior living company to bring Southern California a handful of senior living facilities. But the partnership’s first attempt — a 76-bed facility in Woodland Hills — is facing strong neighborhood opposition, putting the project in limbo as it winds through the development approval process. Chandler Pratt declined to comment for this article. Neighbors, however, have been vocal about the reasons they oppose the project, located in Walnut Acres, a Woodland Hills community where residents can grow crops and house livestock. Many Walnut Acres residents fear the roughly 47,800-square-foot senior living facility would flood the neighborhood with traffic, encroaching on those who seek a more tranquil lifestyle. Plans for the facility also lack sufficient parking, they say. “There are only a couple of communities like this in the Valley,” said Royle Birk, 72, who has lived at his Erwin Street home since 1973. “We had one goat chasing our daughter while she was running not too long ago.” Standing in his expansive backyard lined with citrus trees, Birk said approving the senior living project would set a precedent, allowing more residential-agricultural zoned land to be converted. Consultant Brad Rosenheim, who is handling entitlements for Chandler Pratt, said the project would fill a growing need for senior housing, as the local population ages, and his client has worked to be a good neighbor. “We have designed the building to be very considerate of the surrounding neighbors,” Rosenheim said. The facility would be situated on busy Fallbrook Avenue, which has been designated a highway, not tucked far back into the neighborhood, he said. Several proposals for senior living facilities in the Valley region have sprung up amid an aging population trend. Among them: a 95-unit community in Winnetka and a more than 250-unit project near Calabasas. Another senior living facility was proposed for a residential agricultural neighborhood in Tarzana, but the South Valley Area Planning Commission rejected it in late March. “Senior living is the fastest-growing segment of the entire real estate industry,” said Dave Stolte, a vice president at NAI Capital Inc., who specializes in the segment. Unlike the nursing homes of yesteryear, the goal for today’s senior living communities is to create luxury projects with several wings for seniors, so they can move as they need increased assistance, Stolte said. Chandler Pratt plans to erect a two-story structure with four wings and 60 guest rooms at 6221 N. Fallbrook Ave, according to documents filed with the city. Assisted living housing would make up 75 percent of the project, while housing for seniors with Alzheimer’s and dementia would make up 25 percent. The property is currently home to a shuttered school. Chandler Pratt and its Arizona-based partner, Watermark Retirement Communities, are currently in escrow on the 1.5-acre site. If the project is approved, Chandler will serve as developer, Watermark as operator, and the firms will jointly own the community. Now the elder-care facility rests in the hands of a city zoning administrator. If the official rejects the project, Rosenheim said he expects Chandler Pratt to appeal the decision. If residents lose, they also have vowed to appeal.

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