A proposed eldercare development has cleared a key planning hurdle at 5353 North Del Moreno Drive in Woodland Hills, a property that was recently at the center of a legal fight over its development potential.
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission voted to approve plans from engineer and developer Akhilesh Jha for a three-story mixed-use building with 71 residential units and approximately 1,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The project would replace a single-family home, and no on-site automobile parking is proposed.
Eight of the residential units would be reserved for very low-income renters in exchange for density-bonus incentives and waivers.
Project details
- Address
- 5353 North Del Moreno Drive, Woodland Hills
- Developer
- Akhilesh Jha
- Designer
- Surge Group
- Building
- Three stories
- Residential units
- 71 eldercare units
- Unit size
- Approximately 210 to 215 square feet, according to the supplied report
- Affordable units
- Eight units for very low-income renters
- Commercial space
- Approximately 1,000 square feet
- Parking
- No on-site automobile parking proposed
- Status
- Approved by the Los Angeles City Planning Commission
- Planning case
- CPC-2022-6472-DB-CU-SPP-HCA
A compact senior-housing proposal
The proposed residences would be unusually compact, ranging from approximately 210 to 215 square feet, according to the supplied Urbanize LA report. Surge Group is designing the building, which would place the residential floors above a small commercial space at street level.
The applicant is using density-bonus incentives and waivers to obtain a larger building than the property's zoning would otherwise permit. In return, eight of the 71 units would carry very low-income restrictions.
The plan does not include on-site automobile parking, making the project's operating model and transportation arrangements important details to watch as it advances.
The site was the subject of a legal battle
Jha previously pursued a seven-story apartment building on the property. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2023 that the plan called for 67 units, including seven reserved for low-income disabled veterans, in place of the existing four-bedroom home.
That proposal tested a conflict between two layers of Los Angeles land-use policy. The parcel's zoning allowed a single-family house, while its Limited Commercial general-plan designation permitted substantially more housing. YIMBY Law backed Jha's lawsuit and argued that a 2018 amendment to the Housing Accountability Act required the city to honor the density allowed by its general plan even when the zoning map allowed less.
On July 29, 2022, a Los Angeles County Superior Court ruling ordered the city to process the application at the density permitted by the general plan and barred the city from demanding a zone change for a project conforming to the Limited Commercial designation. The judgment followed in October 2022. The Los Angeles Times later reported that the ruling required the city to process Jha's application, though the larger projects discussed in its August 2023 profile had not yet received final approval at that time.
The newly approved three-story eldercare plan changes both the form and the program: 71 compact eldercare units rather than the earlier 67-unit, seven-story apartment proposal. Urbanize LA reports that the current design returns to the smaller physical scale Jha initially proposed roughly four years ago.
Planning commissioners raised questions about eldercare operations
Although commissioners approved the Del Moreno Drive project, Jha's shift toward eldercare developments has drawn scrutiny.
During a recent hearing for a similar proposal in Sylmar, commissioners acknowledged that the projects are permitted under state housing law but questioned their viability and whether they would comply with other rules governing senior housing. City staff also outlined California requirements that apply to eldercare operators.
Those concerns do not reverse the Woodland Hills approval, but they leave an important distinction between land-use approval and the practical requirements for operating an eldercare facility. The supplied report does not identify an operator, construction schedule or opening date.
Street View
The commission vote moves the compact senior-housing proposal forward after years of legal and planning disputes. What comes next particularly the selection of an operator and demonstration of compliance with eldercare regulations will determine how the approved land-use plan translates into an operating facility.
Sources
- Urbanize LA, Eldercare facility approved for site at 5353 N. Del Moreno Dr. in Woodland Hills, published August 31, 2026. Source text supplied by the publisher.
- Los Angeles Times: This L.A. developer aims to tear down homes to build apartments where the city doesn't want them, published August 1, 2023.
- YIMBY Law: The general plan rules litigation history and underlying Housing Accountability Act argument.
- Los Angeles City Planning case document case number, application type and filing history.
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