JV Secures Record $473M for California Senior Project
This is the year’s biggest tax-exempt senior housing financing and the largest-ever bond issue of its kind.
JLL Capital Markets and HJ Sims have secured $473 million in tax-exempt and taxable bond financing for the ground-up development of The James senior living community in Irvine, Calif. The financing marks the largest tax-exempt senior living financing of 2024 as well as the largest non-profit, single-site senior living bond issue in history.
JLL’s Seniors Housing Capital Markets group worked on behalf of Harbert South Bay Partners, LAMB Properties, P3 Foundation and Momentum Senor Living, to secure the 35-year financing, with HJ Sims hired as sole underwriter of the bonds.
A luxury 350-unit senior community, The James will occupy a three-acre parcel at 1001 Gates Ave. The property is located directly across the street from The District at Tustin Legacy, a high-end shopping center visited by 15.6 million shoppers annually.
The James will offer 210 independent living residences, 110 assisted living apartments and 30 memory care units. A blend of studio, one- and two-bedroom homes will average 837 square feet. Amenities will include an indoor pool and spa, wellness gym and yoga studio, hair salon, media lounge, golf simulator, dog park and pet washroom, bocce ball and multiple dining rooms and therapy rooms.
The James is proximate to Interstate 5 and the I-405 freeways, enabling easy access to Orange County Great Park, John Wayne Airport, Hoag Hospital Irvine, and Irvine Spectrum Center. A Whole Foods, Costco, H Mart and Walmart Supercenter are all less than one mile from the site.
Orange County’s cohort of age 65-plus seniors is the population’s swiftest-growing segment. It is anticipated that this segment will increase to 29 percent of the total population base, fostering robust demand for quality senior living options well into the future.
The Orange County multifamily market performed well this year with the year-over-year advertised asking rent up 0.7 percent as of October. Minimal incoming supply has aided rental growth fundamentals while occupancy rates in stabilized properties was at 96.6 percent as of July.
Several weeks ago, MBK completed a 315-unit upscale community in Orange County, near Disneyland. Located at 1600 W. Lincoln Ave., the property is a five-story, wrap-style community with studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
