Proposed expansion of Costa Mesa retirement facility headed to Planning Commission
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission will consider whether to approve a proposed expansion of a Westside senior-living facility during its meeting Monday.
The project represents the next phase of Vivante on the Coast, an upscale retirement community at 1640 Monrovia Ave., according to city planning documents.
The request would scrap a previously approved 42,000-square-foot office building planned for the site and instead build a 111-unit independent- and assisted-living facility.
The applicant, Nexus Development Corp., had proposed the office building but now is seeking approval to amend the master plan for the site to replace that project with the new living facility for Vivante.
“Given the success of the first phase of Vivante on the Coast, we feel that this proposed amendment to the master plan would be more compatible and more consistent with the vision for the overall project,” Rob Eres, vice president of development for Nexus’ Central Division, wrote in a letter to the city.
As proposed, the new facility would be four stories and have 15 studio units, 77 one-bedroom units and 19 two-bedroom units.
Vivante currently has 185 units, including 40 designed for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
The new project would be built on the northern 2.25 acres of the 6.8-acre Vivante site, which stretches between Monrovia Avenue and Babcock Street.
The proposal also calls for a 1,700-square-foot fitness center, a 3,900-square-foot community events center, a dance studio, a cafe, a bar/lounge, activity rooms, a library/computer room, an art room, an outdoor plaza park, office space for management services, and surface and underground parking lots with a combined 125 spaces.
The amenities would add to an array of high-end offerings already in place at Vivante, including an indoor saltwater pool, a fitness center and courtyards with fire pits.
City staff is recommending that the Planning Commission approve the project, partly because it would provide “housing opportunities to senior residents and employment for healthcare professionals in a mixed-use setting,” according to a staff report.
Nexus bought the property in 2005, and development stalled for a time amid the subsequent recession, Nexus President Cory Alder said during a media tour of the Vivante facility shortly before it opened in 2013.
Alder said at the time that Vivante’s Westside location was a desirable spot, in part because of its proximity to Hoag Hospital about a mile away.
Monday’s Planning Commission meeting will start at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.
