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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is betting big on her affordable housing agenda with a housing project that City Hall says is the biggest development yet approved under her fast-track building initiative.
The proposed Viva L.A. at Warner Center in Woodland Hills would add nearly 3,200 affordable assisted living units for seniors, making it the largest project to clear Bass’ streamlined approval process.
At roughly 2 million square feet, the development would transform part of Warner Center into a high-density senior housing campus, a concept city leaders say is needed as Los Angeles grapples with a shortage of affordable housing and a rapidly aging population.
Bass joined Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who represents the area, and developers Tuesday to celebrate the milestone, touting the project as proof her effort to slash bureaucracy is producing results.
“From day one, I’ve focused on cutting red tape and creating faster, more predictable approvals so we can start solving our affordability crisis,” Bass said. “Viva L.A. at Warner Center will provide nearly 3,200 units of affordable senior housing, our largest Executive Directive 1 project to date.”
The mayor’s office says nearly 47,000 affordable housing units are now in the pipeline under Executive Directive 1, which allows qualifying 100% affordable housing developments to move through the city’s approval process more quickly.
Blumenfield credited the project to a combination of Bass’ executive order and the Warner Center 2035 Specific Plan, which he helped shepherd more than a decade ago.
“Viva L.A. at Warner Center will become a transformative investment in the West San Fernando Valley,” Blumenfield said. “This project expands affordable housing options for our aging population while making meaningful progress in addressing our housing crisis.”
Developers say the project is designed to challenge the traditional model of assisted living.
George Kutnerian, co-founder and CEO of Wellpointe Inc., said affordable assisted living has long been built in sprawling suburban campuses instead of dense urban neighborhoods where seniors can access transit, shopping and healthcare.
“Viva rejects that premise,” Kutnerian said. “Affordable housing, paired with assisted living services as needed, can be delivered at the scale and density that California’s aging population actually needs.”
But not everyone welcomed the announcement.
The proposal quickly ignited debate online, with some Los Angeles Reddit users expressing concerns about the size of the development and its impact on the surrounding community.
“They call it ‘Viva.’ I call it ‘The Necropolis,’” one commenter wrote, while another pushed back saying: “3,500 units. That’s a lot of people.”
Others questioned why another affordable housing project is being targeted toward seniors instead of younger working adults struggling to afford Los Angeles’ soaring rents.
“Affordable housing? When do I get that? I’m drowning over here,” another user posted.
Many others, however, defended the project, noting that seniors are one of the fastest-growing homeless populations in Los Angeles and often survive on fixed incomes that make market-rate housing impossible.
Supporters also argued that creating thousands of senior housing units could free up single-family homes and apartments currently occupied by older residents, increasing housing supply for younger families.
“If older folks move out of single-family homes to move into this development, that’s potentially a few thousand homes coming on the market,” one commenter wrote. “In a housing supply crunch, all new housing is good housing.”
The Viva L.A. project will still need to complete additional planning and construction before welcoming residents.
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