Joint venture spends $15M for development site in Warner Center

A joint venture between South Bay Partners and LAMB Properties is forging ahead with plans to build a senior facility in the Warner Center.

The partnership paid $15.3 million to acquire a 95,000-square-foot development site in the Woodland Hills submarket, the companies announced Monday.

The seller of the property at 6253 Variel was an LLC named Americana Jackson Street, which is tied to developer Richard Weintraub of Weintraub Real Estate Group on business registration records.

SBP, based in Dallas, specializes in developing senior facilities across Texas, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, among others. LAMB, a privately held real estate firm, is based in Seattle.

Spanning 420,000 square feet, the eight-story facility will feature studio, one and two-bedroom units. There will be an assisted living component and memory care facility, as well as a gym, pool and several open courtyards.

SBP plans on demolishing the existing, vacant office building on the site to make room for the new facility, which would be its fifth California location. The facility will include an adjacent site at 6233 Variel Avenue formerly owned by a Hartano family trust, records show.

John Battle at Lee & Associates brokered the off-market deal for 6253 Variel.

The Warner Center has become a destination for commercial and residential developers since the city adopted the Warner Center 2035 master plan in 2013 as a way to encourage more development in the neighborhood.

Last week, a new opportunity to acquire and potentially redevelop a 415,000-square-foot office building came on the market. The building was leased by Anthem Blue Cross for over two decades. Several big-time multifamily developers, such as Hanover Co. and California Home Builders, have also been proposing large residential projects in the area.