Panorama Senior Housing and KTGY Architecture + Planning to Create Amenity-Rich Senior Community in Los Angeles

March 31, 2020

80 Resident Rooms 200 Feet South of Beverly Hills

LOS ANGELES – Panorama Senior Housing is developing the Assisted Living and Memory Care Community at 825-837 Holt Avenue. KTGY Architecture + Planning (KTGY) is the architect of the assisted living and memory care community located 200 feet south of Beverly Hills. Construction is slated to start in early 2021, with delivery planned for late 2022.

The community will have a total of 80 resident rooms: This includes 62 assisted-living rooms and 18 rooms for residents experiencing cognitive decline. The rooms with cognitive-decline care will span the entire second floor and will have a dedicated common area, dining room and patio. The five-story building includes a rooftop deck on part of the fifth floor with bocce ball, BBQ, putting green and other fresh-air activities.

The U-shaped building will also feature a multi-purpose patio area, and other amenities such as fire pits and raised planters for gardening. It also includes beautifully landscaped, below-grade courtyards that draw natural light into the below-surface interiors.

“Every day I get up, my goal is to combine my understanding of urban L.A., mix in my seven years in the senior housing industry and hundreds of assisted living building tours, and then come up with buildings that reflect the urban setting. That’s where Baby Boomers want to age, in the same urban neighborhood where they raised their families. I’m keenly aware of the scarcity of developable sites. The solution is to get creative with layouts so we can build the housing needed to combat the housing crisis,” said Panorama Senior Housing Founder and Principal Daniel Kianmahd.

“One of the biggest reasons that Los Angeles is way behind in building senior housing compared to other Western U.S. metropolitan areas is the lack of available land,” said Kianmahd. “Since launching my company in 2016, I looked for a sub-20,000-square-foot site to try an innovative approach of using courtyards and lightwells to create a well-lit, perfectly enjoyable subterranean floor with common area. I took this site and this idea to Ben at KTGY and he knocked it out of the park.”

“We worked closely with Panorama Senior Housing to bring a very wide range of common areas and amenities into a relatively compact building,” said KTGY Associate Principal Ben Seager AIA, LEED AP. “The overall goal is make it as comfortable and as responsive to residents’ needs as possible. In the context of the Beverly Hills-Adjacent location, we achieved this with creative approaches such as the rooftop and the below-grade light wells. In fact, we brought natural light – so important for health and well-being – into many parts of the building through multiple solutions, such as recessed patios and courtyards.”

Seager said “We also designed generous openings between flexible communal spaces so that – when they visit – families are as comfortable as their loved ones. Feeling unconfined, having spacious and pleasant space with fresh air and sunlight to invite loved ones to visit, is essential to a dignified setting for seniors. And an environment that encourages human interaction significantly limits loneliness.”

“Real estate is no longer comprised of fixed spaces dedicated to a single use, “Kianmahd said.” “New office and retail spaces transform into event spaces after 6pm. Single-family homes have open- floorplans where the line between living and dining room is blurred. We adopted the same idea by creating ‘flexible space’ wherever possible so residents could invite their loves ones for large gatherings, such as Mother’s Day brunches and Super Bowl parties without space concerns.”

Rendering of Holt Avenue Senior Housing community by KTGY Architecture + Planning. Link to high-resolution image here

Common areas and amenities at the community include: a dining room serving three meals a day, a bistro for snacks, activity room, theater, hair salon, library/living room, physical therapy/fitness room, outdoor game room.

“There is a very serious under-supply of assisted living communities and senior housing in general, especially in urban areas,” said Kianmahd. “It’s important that we create places that are close to residents’ families, that integrate seamlessly with their surrounding neighborhood, and that bring the highest level of care in an attractive, healthy and comfortable environment.

“Bringing this and other senior-focused developments to fruition is essential to achieving balanced housing solutions for the entire region,” he added. “Seniors have few viable options for aging. Retrofitting their existing homes can be very costly and create new financial burdens. And when they feel like remaining in their existing homes is their best option, it creates a bottleneck in the housing supply by precluding entry-level homes from younger families.”

The building will include expansive rooftop decks, complete with BBQs, lounge chairs, and flexible areas for live music performances, art classes, and yoga sessions.

“We have to cover every inch of the lot due to the cost of land and space required for these buildings to provide the care and amenities our residents need. In fact, about 50% of the gross area of the building is dedicated to common area compared to 15% for typical apartment buildings. Despite space constraints, we want to enhance our residents’ quality of life including their opportunities to enjoy our beautiful L.A. weather, so we have thousands of square feet of open space, including a rooftop deck where residents can play bocce ball and corn hole,” said Kianmahd.

Developer
Panorama Senior Housing

Architect
KTGY Architecture + Planning

Resident rooms
80 Guest Rooms (no kitchens) comprised of:
62 assisted living rooms and 18 rooms for residents experience cognitive decline

Estimated timeline
Groundbreaking in Q1 2021; opening in Q4 2022

Floors
A five-story building including rooftop deck.

Total square footage
61,000 sf

Common areas/amenities
Dining room serving three meals a day, bistro for snacks, activities room, theater, hair salon, library/living room, physical therapy/fitness room, locker rooms, balconies, rooftop deck with bocce ball, corn hole, putting green and BBQ

About Panorama Senior Housing
Based in Beverly Hills, Panorama Senior Housing (PSH) is a senior housing real estate development company, specifically focused on urban neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Founder, Principal, and L.A. native, Daniel Kianmahd launched PSH in 2016 recognizing that seniors seek to age in-place in the communities where they raised their families, and urban Los Angeles neighborhoods are woefully under-supplied in senior housing. Panorama utilizes its local market knowledge, an award-winning professional team, and its dedicated focus on senior housing to build independent living, assisted living, and memory care that is thoughtful, uplifting, and innovative. With a successful track record in land acquisitions and entitlements, intimate understanding of senior housing operations, and expertise in real estate finance, Panorama is leading the senior housing industry in building much-needed senior housing in Los Angeles. Panorama is currently under construction on the first purpose-built memory care facility ever built in the City of Los Angeles, which will be completed in Q2 2021. Panorama’s development pipeline is valued at over $130 million. Additional information is available at www.accesspanorama.com.

About KTGY Architecture + Planning
Founded in 1991, KTGY Architecture + Planning is a leading architecture and design firm focused on residential and mixed-use developments and neighborhood revitalization. KTGY seamlessly delivers innovation, artistry and attention to detail across multiple design studios, ensuring that clients and communities get the best the firm has to offer no matter the building type or location. KTGY’s architects and planners combine big picture opportunities, leading-edge sustainable practices and impeccable design standards to create memorable destinations of enduring value. KTGY serves clients worldwide from offices located in Chicago, Denver, Irvine, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pune (India) and Tysons. See www.ktgy.com.