An Encino-based land developer is making strides in turning Garden Grove’s infamous “rusty skeleton” construction site into the largest affordable senior housing project the city’s ever seen.
AMG & Associates LLC’s long-awaited plans for the proposed Garden Grove Boulevard development were brought before the city’s planning commission last week.
The eight-story Garden Brook Senior Village would include 394 residential units and a three-story parking structure with about 300 spaces.
Studio units would be in the 400-square-foot range, while one-bedrooms would average about 550 square feet and two-bedroom units would top out at 820 square feet.
The project would have about 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
A central courtyard, a prominent feature in the U-shaped design of the roughly 57,000-square-foot development, would be viewable by residents on upper floors, according to renderings by Architects Orange.
Other firms involved in the project include landscape architect Thomas H. Phelps of Chico and Garden Grove-based civil engineering firm DMS Consulting.
‘Gray Clouds’ Gone
The development would use the existing steel structure at the three-acre site a few blocks north of the Garden Grove (22) Freeway at 10080 Garden Grove Blvd.
The 90-foot-high steel frames were originally intended for the Lotus Plaza mixed-use project, also referred to as the Garden Grove Galleria. It would have been a 66-unit, upscale condo development atop a 100,000-square-foot retail project. Construction of the steel framing started in 2007, coming to a halt during the recession. It’s sat largely untouched since, hence the rusty skeleton nickname conferred by neighbors.
The site was embroiled in litigation until 2016, the most prominent disagreements between Los Angeles-based Cathay Bank—the development’s initial lender—and the Emlen W. Hoag Foundation, which owns the land.
The city signed off on plans to demolish the steel structure in 2013, though litigation kept the order from being fulfilled.
Privately held AMG got involved in the project about 18 months ago, when it took ownership of the ground lease, a deal the Business Journal was first to report. AMG paid a reported $19.3 million in a trustee sale to acquire the note on the development from Cathay Bank, then foreclosed on the site, gaining title to the leasehold interest.
AMG executives said at the time of the deal that they envisioned getting city approvals for a senior housing project within a few months, but the process took longer.
Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones said in a state of the city address in January that “the most common question I get asked on a regular basis is, ‘Hey, what’s going on with that big rusty skeleton near Brookhurst and Garden Grove Boulevard?’”
“Finally, after many years and countless legal battles, I am thrilled” the project is about to proceed, he said.
“The gray clouds have disseminated, the agreements have been inked, and plans are being expedited through the planning process.”
The Hoag Hospital Foundation, which owns another property in the vicinity, uses land rents to support the Boys & Girls Club, which has a location on two acres next to the proposed development. One feature of the Garden Brook Senior Village would be an intergenerational program connecting residents to the Boys & Girls Club.
AMG has indicated in recent discussions with city officials and community members that it plans to break ground within six months of getting approvals. The development would require an increase in allowable site density and slightly smaller unit sizes than typical Garden Grove senior housing units, among other issues.
Prospective retailers haven’t been signed up yet, according to the developer.
Cottage Industries
Garden Brook Senior Village was one of two long-awaited projects in Garden Grove that the city’s planning commission took up last week.
Also in the pipeline is Cottage Industries, a project being pursued by Shaheen Sadeghi’s LAB Holding LLC.
The development, in the works for over a year, would involve repurposing a number of early 1900s Craftsman homes near city hall into retail businesses and restaurants. The project would total about 66,000 square feet.
Among the new businesses, according to planning commission filings, would be a Ball Bar gastropub with a sports theme, and a Healthy Junk vegan restaurant that has a location in Anaheim.
