Developers Land $473M Financing for Senior Complex in Irvine

A consortium of developers has landed $473 million in bond financing for a 350-unit luxury senior housing complex in Irvine, a record for single-site senior living bonds, according to JLL.

Harbert South Bay Partners, Lamb Properties, P3 Foundation and Momentum Senior Living secured the loan to build an eight-story building at 1001 Gates Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported.

HJ Sims was the underwriter of the 35-year bond. JLL Senior Housing Capital Markets arranged the debt. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“While tax-exempt financing has been used to finance senior living in the past, this specific structure was innovative for both the clients involved and bond investors,” Jay Wagner, head of JLL’s Senior Housing Capital Markets team, said in a statement.

The development consortium bought the 3-acre lot from Lamb Properties for an unknown price, with JLL also helming the land deal.

Plans for the project, known as The James, call for 210 independent living apartments, 110 assisted living flats and 30 memory care units. When complete, the complex will be the first new senior living project in the Orange County city in 28 years, according to JLL.

Other senior living projects secured financing or are in the pipeline across the Southland, according to the Observer.

In August, Atria Senior Living and an unidentified investment trust landed a $52 million floating-rate loan for its 168-unit Atria Newport Beach complex, renovated last year.

In July, GHC Companies bought the Seville Gardens Apartment Community, a 225-unit senior living complex in Huntington Park, for $34 million, with a covenant mandating it remain senior housing until 2038.

In February, Newport Real Estate Partners bought the Cypress Village Apartments, an 88-unit senior apartment complex in Buena Park for $34.4 million, according to The Real Deal.

— Dana Bartholomew