Senior Housing, New Facilities Planned for Newport Beach Y

The YMCA is looking to revamp a 4-acre site next to the Back Bay in Newport Beach.

The Y submitted a preliminary application to the city of Newport Beach to renovate and expand its campus at 2300 University Drive, the Orange County Business Journal reported. The Newport-Mesa Family YMCA site is located next to the Upper Newport Bay Nature Reserve and currently holds an approximately 18,000-square-foot fitness center and a pool.

YMCA officials hope to expand the main facility to 51,000 square feet and install new amenities including a cafe, aquatics center, gymnasium, teaching kitchen, children’s areas and educational facilities. In addition, the Y, which owns the site, is looking to build 105 multifamily housing units for residents aged 55 and older. Parking for 424 vehicles, including 300 for the larger YMCA, would also be built. The 105-unit senior housing building, dubbed the Perch Residences, is expected to be 134,499 square feet.

Adding senior housing to the Newport Beach Y is part of the organization’s “Newport Hub” project, which “blends private residential amenities with shared access to expansive recreational facilities” to create “a dynamic community hub, supporting the city’s housing goals, affordable housing needs and broad recreational demands — including aquatic programs — while enriching lives across generations,” according to the project’s website.

The Newport-Mesa YMCA is adjacent to the Bay Corporate Plaza office complex on University Drive. Those offices are home to tenants including Holocaust Museum Orange County and the Chabad Center for Jewish Life. The campus’ largest building, a nearly 27,000-square-foot office structure at 2240 University Drive, sold last month for approximately $22 million, or about $825 per square foot. The buyer was the Newport Jewish Center and the seller was an affiliate of Corona-based KPC Group.

Under Newport Beach’s housing element, the city must plan to build 4,845 new units of housing with varying levels of affordability by 2029.

If approved, construction is expected to begin later this year and is predicted to take between 18 and 22 months to complete, according to the Newport Hub site.

— Chris Malone Méndez