A church on Burbank Boulevard in Encino would give way to a new 238-unit eldercare facility under plans being pursued by Geneva Street Partners and Spectrum Retirement Communities, according to a new planning case opened by the city of Los Angeles this week.
The project is proposed for 17500 Burbank Boulevard, where the Bethel Encino ELCA Church and Preschool would be demolished to make way for a six-story, 284,859-square-foot project with 146 independent living units, 60 assisted living units, and 32 memory care units, plans show.
Of a contemporary design by project architect Vessel Architecture, the proposed building would rise to a maximum height of 89 feet at the southwestern corner of Burbank Boulevard and Encino Avenue.
“The Project seeks to activate the public streetscape with a glass atrium at the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and Encino Avenue, as well as with floor-to-ceiling windows along the Burbank Boulevard frontage,” the development team writes in application documents.
Also involved in the project are landscape architect SQLA and project representative Rosenheim & Associates.
The development team lists an anticipated start date for construction of May 2022 and completion date of May 2024 and will wait on zoning approvals for a requested eldercare facility unified permit and site plan review.
In addition to senior housing, plans call for 162 parking spaces in an underground garage at the 2-acre project site, as well as an array of amenities that includes a pool deck, outdoor dining and rooftop lounge spaces, a spa and salon, a theater room, and other features.
All of the memory care units would be studios, while the independent and assisted living units would include 19 studios, 143 one-bedrooms, and 44 two-bedrooms.
The existing church and preschool property was acquired by a company registered to Geneva Street Partners’ LA office address in May 2020 for about $8.2 million, according to Los Angeles County property records.
Its partner on the project, Spectrum Retirement Communities, is a developer, owner, and operator of senior housing communities around the U.S. It is based in Denver.
