Fancy Senior Housing Complex Breaks Ground in Playa Vista

Image credit: Kilograph

Feast your eyes on the latest shiny object to sprout from the ashes of Howard Hughes's once expansive empire.  According to multiple sources, the Los Angeles Jewish Home has officially broken ground on the Fountainview at Gonda Westside, an upscale senior housing development in the Playa Vista neighborhood.  The $100 million complex will feature a series of low-rise structures, offering a total of 175 independent living units and 24 assisted living/memory care units.  Plans call for a wide battery of residential amenities, including a fitness center, library, screening room and a ground-floor cafe.  In addition, an accessible rooftop deck will offer both a swimming pool and a spa.  Completion is currently scheduled for sometime in 2016.

Plans from architectural firm Gensler call for a complex of six-story buildings, incorporating the sloping rooflines and wood paneling frequently seen on other Westside developments. The project's design  ingratiates itself heavily to the outdoors, both through its rooftop amenity deck and its expansive balconies.  Lush landscaping will surround the perimeter of the residential community and permeate into an internal courtyard.

Crews from C.W. Driver will have plenty of company as they build the new senior housing facility, as two major commercial developments are also underway on adjacent properties.  To the west, the $260 million Runway at Playa Vista is slated to serve as a pseudo-downtown for the planned community.  The mutli-building project will create 420 apartments and 35,000 square feet of office space above 221,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial stalls.  Confirmed retail tenants include Whole Foods Market, CVS Pharmacy and Cinemark Theatres.

To the south of Fountainview, the steel framework for the IMAX Corporation's new West Coast Headquarters is now in place.  The three-story structure, also designed by Gensler, will contain multiple screening rooms and office space for over 120 employees.

• Gensler Designed Senior Housing for Playa Vista (Building Los Angeles)
• Work Begins AT Fountainview at Gonda Senior Living Community... (Commercial Property Executive)

Gensler Designed Senior Housing for Playa Vista

The Fountainview at Gonda Westside, image from Gensler via Kilograph

Back to Playa Vista, where the Los Angeles Jewish Home is currently working on their latest luxury retirement community.  The Fountainview at Gonda Westside is scheduled to open in 2016, creating 175 independent living units and 24 assisted living units.  The five-story, Gensler-designed structure will rise at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Westlawn Avenue.  The building's "picturesque rooftop," features a swimming pool, spa, garden, cafe and observation deck.   Other residential amenities include a fitness center, library, and on-site theater.  As the Fountainview prepares to break ground, the rest of the Playa Vista campus is in the midst of a full on building boom.  Just a short walk away, Lincoln Property Group is hard at work on the $200 million Runway at Playa Vista, which will create a mixed-use complex consisting of apartments, office space, ground floor retail and (of course) parking.  Also under construction nearby is the Resort, a 25,000 square foot recreation facility featuring a fitness center and a Junior Olympic pool.  In addition, a variety of smaller for-sale and rental housing facilities are underway from developers such as KB Home and Brookfield Home.  This is shaping up to be a walkable, amenity laden community, full of the resources that car-free seniors will need.  Plus, the beach is just one-and-a-half miles west (if you're into that sort of thing).

• Fountainview at Gonda Westside (Los Angeles Jewish Home)
• Gonda Westside (Kilograph)
• 199 Units of Senior Housing for Playa Vista (Building Los Angeles)