Two months after filing an application with the Planning Department, Wellpointe has unveiled plans for a Warner Center high-rise complex which would be the largest affordable housing development in the City of Los Angeles.

Slated for a roughly 4.71-acre site at 6400 Canoga Avenue, the $2-billion Viva development calls for the construction of 3,192 income-restricted homes for seniors (and 266 units for on-site staff), roughly 61,450 square feet of non-residential floor area, and parking for 823 vehicles. The 2.2-millions-square-foot project would include four high-rise structures, ranging from 34 to 42 stories in height.

Viva exteriorShimahara

"Viva represents our conviction that affordable housing, paired with assisted living services as needed, can be delivered at the scale and density that California's aging population in core urban centers actually needs," said Wellpointe co-founder George Kutnerian in a news release. "Despite the overwhelming need for a new model, senior living continues to be built out rather than up - even in dense urban areas - and quality is treated as incompatible with affordability. Viva rejects that premise and builds upon Wellpointe’s mission of democratizing access to quality housing and care for older adults – now through transit-oriented, high-density, community-serving urban social infrastructure. Viva L.A. at Warner Center is the first manifestation of this new urban co-living vision.”

Gensler is designing Viva, which is a departure from the low-rise campuses typically seen in senior housing. The model for Viva is instead billed as a vertical extension of the co-living model which Wellpointe has utilized in single-family homes, with private units and baths, but shared living spaces.

The proposed project represents an intersection between different city land use policies, including the Warner Center 2035 specific plan, which has encouraged high-rise construction such as this, as well as Executive Directive 1, the affordable housing streamlining imitative launched by Mayor Bass which has since been codified into law. The project is one of two large high-rise complexes currently in the proposal stage for the Warner Center area, joining plans from Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke for a $10-billion mixed-use complex anchored by a new headquarters campus and practice facility for the team.

TV LoungeGensler

Wellpointe, which acquired the site for $25 million from Parkview Financial, is not the first develop to pitch high-rise for this site. Sandstone Properties, which previously owned the property, had sought to build a 34-story market-rate residential tower with a small hotel component.

Wellpointe, in addition to its Warner Center project, is planning a more modestly-scaled senior living facility in Van Nuys.

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