The Building Boom in the Valley for Senior Living Communities Has Escalated

Above The Variel at Warner Center in Woodland Hills, sister property to The Vered in Encino.

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The sheer numbers amplify the perennial concerns of seniors: How to live as happily and healthfully as possible. How to stay socially connected and avoid debilitating loneliness. How to find safe living situations, efficient transportation, convenient access to health care.

Here in the Valley, one option, an innovative senior living concept called Life Plan Community (also known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community) addresses all of those concerns. Toss out your old notions of a retirement community, assisted living facility, nursing home, or board-and-care. Life Plan Communities are bright, happy, upscale, resortlike communities that offer a full range of living and care situations right on-site. In a Life Plan Community, you buy in to an attractive dwelling where you live independently, even luxuriously, and enjoy a deluxe menu of recreational and dining options. Then, if and when you need any level of dedicated care—acute or long-term—it’s right there with no need to hire caretakers or trouble your family.

Two new Life Plan Communities are on the horizon in the Valley. Wisteria at Warner Center in Woodland Hills, slated to open in the first quarter of 2026, offers lovely residences that range from one-bedroom condos to multimillion-dollar homes with expansive views. The master-planned community has a country club-like vibe with a clubhouse and gym, several restaurants, a hair salon and an aquatic center with a retractable roof. It will also have a mixed-use component with several on-site independent retailers and eateries bordering Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard. Wisteria is a sister community to University Village in Thousand Oaks.

Troy Bourne, a partner in Wisteria and a principal with Streiker Senior Development Partners—developers of Wisteria, University Village, and six other Life Plan Communities in California—fleshes out that characterization. “Yes, we offer a range of homes, multiple health spas, restaurants, coffee houses, and all sorts of activities.” And like other Life Plan Communities, residents are freed from the obligations of homeownership—all maintenance and upkeep are included. “But where we differ from, say, a golf course retirement community in Palm Springs, is in comprehensive care at all levels. The idea is that you can truly age in place and have geographic continuity. You don’t need to move as your needs change.”

Above Wisteria, also in Woodland Hills, is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2026.

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If those changing needs require assisted living, memory care, or skilled nursing, those services “are just a phone call away,” adds Bourne. “You know right where you’re going to get whatever you need.”

Bourne says this particularly appeals to a certain type of senior. “Our residents tend to be planners. They’ve planned for every life stage. They’re not necessarily wealthy, but they have usually paid off their home. They have a financial plan even if they’re not rich.”

Another Life Plan Community, Livelle Mulholland, is slated to rise in Calabasas on a 19-acre property adjacent to the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Construction hasn’t begun at Livelle—completion is expected to be in 2028. Like Wisteria, it’s a 60+ community that will offer independent living residences,  and access to health care on site. Also like Wisteria, the development is designed to encourage community and connection. Among the planned perks are multiple restaurants and a wine bar, pool, saunas, pickleball, a theater, a dog park and walking trails.

“It’s about healthy living,” says Livelle’s marketing and sales director, Dana Holden. (The name Livelle is a mash-up of “live well.”) “Livelle is a place for people who enjoy an infusion of nature and luxury with the comfort of being supported, and enjoying quality of life.” As at any Life Plan Community, the concept of community is a strong emphasis at Livelle. Obviously, given the abundance of recreational opportunities, friendships can be easy to forge and isolation easy to avoid. But some folks are considering bringing their friendships with them. Dana cites a Tarzana resident who heard about Livelle and spread the word among his longtime neighbors, all in their 70s. “There is a good chance that they might all wind up living at Livelle—continuing their friendship.”

Above Livelle Mulholland in Calabasas, slated to open in 2028.

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Livelle has not yet broken ground, but is accepting $1,000 deposits that secure preconstruction pricing and a choice of location. That raises an obvious question: How do these communities work? How do you buy in, and what exactly does that get you?

At both Livelle and Wisteria, customers buy in by paying an entry fee that secures them a place to live. Entry fees depend on the type of home selected, but at both communities they begin in the $500,000s and range upward. Many  residents use the proceeds from the sale of their current home to cover the entrance fee.

Dana clarifies that this is “not a real estate transaction. The contract buys you the right to occupy the space.” Residents are therefore not homeowners. The bulk of the entry fee is repaid to the resident should they leave, or to the estate when they pass away. In addition to that, residents pay a monthly fee proportional to the size of their home that covers maintenance, housekeeping, dining and recreation. On average, monthly fees run in the upper four figures.

That monthly fee also covers health services, but here the terms differ. Wisteria is what is known as a Type A community, where long-term care services are covered if and when they are needed: assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing. Livelle is a Type B community, where assisted living and memory care are available on-site at an additional cost that residents pay only if such care is needed. Skilled nursing is not offered in a Type B community. You can expect to pay higher entry and monthly fees in a Type A community for the more comprehensive coverage.

Above The Vered in Encino, due for completion in early 2025.

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Wisteria and Livelle are lively new options where prospective residents can lock in an attractive deal prior to their opening. But the Valley is also home to The Variel, a flourishing senior community at Warner Center that operates on a rental basis. It opened in 2022 and is running at full capacity. And the concept of resortlike ambience is spilling over into assisted living/memory care facilities as well: to wit, The Variel’s sister property, The Vered, under construction on Ventura Boulevard in Encino (next to Encino Hospital) and Belmont Village in Calabasas. The Vered will offer 123 apartments with upscale decor of which 107 are equipped for assisted living residents; 16 are located within its memory care area.

“Our memory care will feature large floor-to-ceiling windows in common areas maximizing natural light,” shares Cassandra Moan, staff gerontologist at The Vered. “Studies have demonstrated that abundant natural light can significantly enhance the well-being of individuals living with dementia.” The Vered will also offer hybrid sensing technology that detects and analyzes critical events (such as falls) while residents are inside their apartments and notifies the staff to respond.

A word to the wise for careful life planners: The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) reports high demand for Life Plan Communities. NIC states that 90% of them nationwide are reporting an 80% or higher occupancy rate. To underscore that, Wisteria is still a year and a half from opening and has already sold 202 of its 486 units. The silver tsunami is calling for innovative living options. Fortunately, innovative developers here in the Valley are answering that call.