Senior housing coming to demographically “perfect” Walnut Creek

Developer Hall Equities Group has received approval from the Walnut Creek City Council to move forward with the development of 254 units of senior housing and a 136-unit residential facility on a 10-acre site known as Oakmont.

The 254 units would be located at 2800 Mitchell Drive with the name Shadelands Senior Apartments. The project would consist of four apartment buildings. The units, which would be age restricted to seniors 55 years and up, would consist of 123 one-bedrooms, 101 two-bedrooms and 28 three-bedrooms.

The building would be configured in pairs – two on the north part of the parcel, farthest from Mitchell Drive, and two on the south part of the property. Each pair would be built over underground parking garages. The structures together would have nearly 230,000 square feet.

An additional 136-unit building will be named The Oakmont of Shadelands and located at 1925 Oak Grove Road. It will be a 116,759-square-foot residential care facility for the elderly. This facility will accommodate persons in need of assisted living and memory care.

The facility will be licensed to provide housing for seniors over 62 years old who need assistance with daily living, but do not require 24-hour medical care. The facility will include a movie theater, private dining rooms, concierge, doctor’s office, beauty salon and rehabilitation room.

The project would bring senior housing to a market with high demand, according to the developer.

“The demographics are perfect for senior housing in Walnut Creek, it’s a higher median age compared to the rest of the East Bay,” Deb Karbo, executive vice president and chief development officer at Hall, said.

The median age for Walnut Creek is 48.3 years, compared to an average age in the East Bay of 38.2 years, according to Census data.

Karbo said demand for senior housing in Walnut Creek is high with many of the current facilities at capacity and long lists for potential residents. If seniors want to reside at a facility, they “must go to surrounding communities.”

The state of senior living facilities in Walnut Creek follows national trends, according to a report by the National Investment Center. Senior housing occupancy increased 0.9 percentage points from 80.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022 to 81.4 percent in the second quarter of 2022. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of occupancy growth. The metric has increased 3.4 percentage points from a pandemic low of 78 percent in the second quarter of 2021.

According to the report, demand for senior housing is at the highest it has been since 2005 while inventory increased by a lesser 3,489 units, largely due to the pandemic-driven slowdown in construction starts in 2020. Starts were again weak in the second quarter of 2022, and units under construction measured the lowest since 2015.

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