Granada Hills has seen a 35% increase in people 65-74 years old and a 15% increase in 75+ in the past decade.
The Northwest San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles County, with a population of 554,000 residents, presently offers 9 senior living communities with assisted living and only 3 of the senior living communities offer memory care.
Only two assisted living communities in Granada Hills offer dementia care.
MorningStar is proposing a 98-unit residential community that offers seniors the independence they crave with the assistance they may need as health conditions change. The assisted living and memory care project at the northwest corner of Shoshone Ave and Rinaldi Street would represent the best in modern senior living with elegant, comfortable suites, high-quality amenities, and a compassionate hospitality and care team.
“We believe that people as they age and need services, more than ever, deserve to stay in the communities where they’ve been! They deserve to continue to be an important portion of the fabric of that community, contributing to that society. We love to be part of ensuring that.”
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, MorningStar Senior Living is a leading developer and operator of premier communities within the senior living landscape. Its portfolio encompasses over 40 properties under operation or development in 11 states with an ownership interest in the majority. Offering independent living, assisted living and memory care, MorningStar is privileged to elevate life for those who taught the rest of us how to live.
“I had a dream to start a senior housing company that was defined by the human touch. I wanted to re-create my grandmother’s house, a place where one can go and feel a sense of family.”
Situated on five acres of rolling hills that will provide a backdrop of serenity for residents and a year-round connection to nature. Two western facing courtyards are planned for the residents which will allow them to safely experience the outdoors via walking paths, shaded seating areas, community gardens, and calming water fountain areas.
Architecture draws inspiration from a farmhouse style with welcoming front porch elements at the main entry, steep pitched roof lines with the injection of warmer earth toned materials that interact well with the openness and beauty of the site, and which complement the residential structures in the neighborhood.
The lower-profile two-story structure is sited on the flatter portions and lower elevations of the Site, closer to Rinaldi and Shoshone street frontages; this will serve as a natural buffer for much of the surrounding single-family homes, particularly those located to the northwest of the Site and also allows the high elevation vacant land to remain undeveloped.
In addition to the more than 20,000 SF of programmed and/or landscaped common outdoor open space, approximately 25% of the Site will remain in its natural state, with no development and no grading activities occurring on approximately 66,000 SF of the Site.
The 2-story, maximum 45 feet in height eldercare community will house 98 dwelling units (of which, 65 will be assisted living units and 30 will be memory care units and 3 Independent Living Units), approximately 35,077 square feet of common space and on-site residential supportive services and approximately 92,933 square feet of total floor area.
The project will have 20,255 square feet of common outdoor open space areas, including both passive and active recreational spaces within the Project’s two main courtyards, both located on the ground level in the rear of the building for the safety of the residents.
The senior living community will have a total of 98 units, including Assisted Living units, Memory Care units, and Independent Living units. Additionally, there will be approximately 12,000 square feet of common/private open space and on-site residential supportive services.
In designing the architecture our goal was to make sure the style complements the residential character of the neighborhood. Inspiration was drawn from the Farmhouse Style of the history of the Sunshine Ranch area with welcoming front porch elements at the main entry, steep pitched roof lines and the use of warmer earth-toned materials.
The building is primarily two stories with a portion at the center that is three stories. The overall maximum height is 45 feet.
Approximately one acre of existing natural slope will be preserved and will provide a backdrop of serenity for residents and a year-round connection to nature. One western facing courtyard and one north facing courtyard is planned for the residents that will allow them to safely experience the outdoors via walking paths, shaded seating areas, community gardens, and calming water fountain areas. The project is designed around existing trees as much as possible and also proposes new trees be added to the site.
Approximately 25% of the site will remain in its natural state, with no development and no grading activities occurring on approximately 66,000 square feet of the site. There will be approximately 12,000 square feet of programmed and/or landscaped common outdoor open space. The common outdoor open space areas will be located within the project’s two main ground floor courtyards, both located in the rear of the building and enclosed with security fencing for the safety of the residents.
The lower-profile building is located as central within the site as possible so that landscaping buffers our residential neighbors on the west and north. These buffers will include including existing and new trees. These buffers will include meaningful landscaping, including existing and new trees.
Traffic associated with the project will be limited primarily to staff and visitors due to the fact that most residents of the project are unable to drive. As previously noted, the senior residents of this project require assistance with at least two activities of daily living or are memory-impaired; thus, most residents are not able to drive their own vehicles. Consequently, the traffic demand generated by the project should be significantly less than the adjacent institutional and vicinity commercial uses.
As an amenity, a shuttle service is provided for residents, which reduces demand for parking. Also, approximately 25 staff members will be onsite at peak times and 25 parking spaces will be designated for employees. While the City requires 74 total spaces, we are providing a total of 77 parking stalls. It is worth noting that there are certain days or events, like Mother’s Day, where more parking may be needed than the site provides. In these predictable instances, MorningStar contracts with a Valet Parking service to ensure all cars are managed on-site.
All circulation and delivery activities will be contained on-site. The project’s internal circulation and parking plan is designed to minimize congestion.Two points of vehicular ingress and egress to the site are proposed: one off of Shoshone Avenue and the other off of Rinaldi Street and both driveway locations are far from the intersection of Rinaldi/Shoshone. The two driveways lead to the surface parking areas in front of the building which provide safe, easy and convenient pick-up and drop-off for residents.
A senior living community is a generally passive, non-impactful, residential use and any operations associated with the project, including maintenance activity or noise emitted from the site is not expected to expose surrounding residential uses to substantial ongoing noise or nuisances. Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is the responsibility of the City of Los Angeles, as the ‘lead agency’ exercising jurisdiction over the project. The Project will commence with the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and public engagement later in 2022.
Update
The Granada Hills Street Faire was a great success! Our thanks to the Granada Hills Chamber for organizing a wonderful community event. We were thrilled to participate. We greatly appreciate everyone who stopped by our booth and filled out support cards to help bring much-needed Assisted Living and Memory Care to the Northwest Valley.
