Skyscrapers for seniors scheduled to sprout over Warner Center

A $2-billion high-rise affordable housing complex is set to change the skyline of Warner Center and set a new precedent for assisted senior living in Los Angeles.Senior housing provider Wellpointe unveiled plans for Viva L.A. at Warner Center, a cluster of four skyscrapers with 3,192 units to rise near the new Los Angeles Rams Village being built in the San Fernando Valley community. The project has the backing of Mayor Karen Bass and local City Councilmember Bob Blumenfeld, and Wellpointe expects to start construction by the end of next year. Viva is the largest affordable housing project created under Bass’ Executive Directive 1, a 2022 order to speed up the city approval process for 100% affordable developments intended to reduce homelessness. The Viva concept involves co-living, where qualified residents have their own rooms with private baths and share a kitchen and living space with other residents of their “neighborhood.” (Gensler) Viva’s towers, ranging from 34 to 42 stories, will easily be the tallest in Warner Center, a mixed-use community with offices, housing and stores created in the 1970s on the site of movie mogul Harry Warner’s horse ranch that was intended to be a ...