A 3-acre site in Irvine that’s across the street from the District at Tustin Legacy shopping center is being considered for a sizeable housing project for older residents.
Irvine’s planning commission is scheduled to review proposed plans this month for a congregate care facility at 16542 Millikan Ave., a site that currently holds a single-story commercial building that’s about 21,000 square feet.
The property was listed for sale last year; the site’s current owner was not disclosed in planning commission records. It’s currently used by SmartHome, a seller of home-automation and electronic products.
The building would be knocked down under the proposed plans and make way for a two-tower congregate care facility, a product type that typically caters to seniors who need limited or no assistance with daily living activities. It’s planned for residents 62 and older, according to city filings.
The entire project would be about 424,000 square feet and hold 370 living units.
The eight-story west tower would contain 230 independent-living quarters. The six-story east tower would hold 110 assisted-living quarters and 30 memory-care rooms.
Both buildings would have direct access to courtyards at the ground floor level and underground parking, according to documents filed with the city’s planning department.
The facility would “provide highly-amenitized senior care services,” and have about 60,000 square feet of common space, including a dining hall, activity room, theater and chapel, bank, wellness center and swimming pool, city filings said.
Living units would range from studios to two-bedroom offerings, filings show.
The assisted-living and memory-care tenants will also have access to a nurse call system; the entire project is expected to have about 50 employees on site during daytime hours.
The site was previously considered for a traditional housing development, but that proposal never moved ahead.
The Irvine Business Complex area of the city is now close to its 15,000-unit cap on residential entitlements; the new proposal argues that since the project will not function “in a manner consistent with a typical residential development,” it’s not subject to that zoning ordinance, according to city filings.
Entitlement work is headed by Irvine-based Starpointe Ventures. City records indicate that Dallas-based South Bay Partners, a real estate development company that specializes solely on senior housing, would be involved in the project.
Koll Memoir
“Don’s a real estate guy. When he sees what he wants, he goes for it and closes the deal.”
The quote refers to the late Don Koll, Orange County’s iconic developer, whose related companies developed some 90 million square feet over the years in locations ranging from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to Asia, not to mention OC.
Along with Irvine Co.’s Donald Bren and Costa Mesa’s Henry Segerstrom, Koll was one of a core group of formative developers who’ve shaped modern OC.
That quote didn’t refer to an imminent real estate deal; rather, it was spoken to Kathi Koll when a friend gave some advice about her budding romance with the developer. They soon married.
She recently published the memoir “Kick-Ass Kinda Girl,” which details her life story, her marriage, and the challenges the couple faced in Don’s later years. He suffered a debilitating 2005 stroke and died in 2011.
“A stroke had always been Don’s biggest fear,” she wrote, noting that both Don’s brother and sister had died from strokes in their 50s. He was 78.
The book describes the ups and downs Kathi faced as a full-time caregiver. In addition to the book, she started a foundation to help improve the lives of other caregivers.
The book is light on real estate news; a few local executives and friends of the Kolls pop up, but it has more than its share of anecdotes featuring U.S. presidents, celebrities, far-flung locations, and at least one near-kidnapping.
The book went on sale this month.
Kathi will hold a book signing from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Fashion Island Barnes & Noble.
