Longtime Mission Hills YMCA Site Slated for Demolition as Eden Memorial Park Expansion Advances
A new City Planning filing calls for demolishing the longtime YMCA building at 11630 Indian Hills Road and replacing it with administrative and maintenance facilities serving Eden Memorial Park.
A longtime YMCA property in Mission Hills appears headed for a major change as Eden Memorial Park moves forward with another phase of its years-long cemetery expansion.
A new Los Angeles City Planning case filed August 17, 2026, proposes demolishing the existing YMCA building at 11630 N. Indian Hills Road and constructing a new 12,482-square-foot administrative building and a 2,428-square-foot maintenance building to support cemetery operations.
The filing, ZA-2026-4245-PUB, is a Public Benefit request within the Mission Hills–Panorama City–North Hills Community Plan area.
A Change From the Earlier Cemetery Plan
What makes the filing particularly notable is that City Planning documents previously envisioned keeping the YMCA building.
An April 2021 environmental study for the Eden Memorial Park expansion identified approximately 2.4 acres at 11630 Indian Hills Road as part of a future development phase. At that time, the plan stated that the existing YMCA building would eventually be converted for administrative use.
The newly filed 2026 case takes a different approach: instead of adapting the YMCA structure, the building would be demolished and replaced with purpose-built administrative and maintenance facilities.
From Full YMCA Branch to Longtime Childcare Center
The YMCA's connection to Mission Hills stretches back decades and predates its better-known North Valley Family YMCA facility in Porter Ranch.
The YMCA's North Valley history stretches back well before the current Porter Ranch facility. A 1994 Los Angeles Times report said the North Valley YMCA in Mission Hills had been active in the Valley since 1927, primarily as an outreach organization, while a 1997 Times article described the modern North Valley Family YMCA as founded in 1968. By the 1990s, the Mission Hills operation was serving thousands of Valley residents through childcare, summer camps, youth basketball, outdoor programs and other activities.
Records indicate that YMCA childcare programs at 11630 Indian Hills Road were licensed by at least July 1994. The property included both an infant center and a larger preschool and day-care program, establishing a YMCA childcare presence at the site more than three decades before the newly filed demolition proposal.
By 1997, contemporary newspaper coverage specifically identified the property as the YMCA Infant and Preschool Center. At the same time, the North Valley Family YMCA reported approximately 4,500 child and adult members.
The Mission Hills operation lacked some of the amenities associated with a modern full-service YMCA, however. In 1997, the organization broke ground on a new 21,000-square-foot facility on Corbin Avenue in Porter Ranch, planned with an indoor swimming pool, fitness center and other expanded recreational facilities.
As the North Valley YMCA's primary operations shifted to Porter Ranch, the Indian Hills Road property remained in use for infant and preschool childcare. Contemporary reporting indicated that the Mission Hills site would continue operating as a day-care center after the move.
The childcare use proved remarkably long-lived. Los Angeles City Planning documents were still describing 11630 Indian Hills Road as an existing YMCA childcare center and preschool during environmental review of the Eden Memorial Park expansion in 2021.
The 2026 filing therefore represents more than the replacement of an older institutional building. If the demolition proceeds, it would bring to an end a YMCA childcare presence at the Mission Hills property that can be documented for more than 30 years.
The Land Was Once Marketed for Major Redevelopment
Before Eden Memorial Park's expansion emerged, the surrounding property was being considered for an entirely different future.
In 2016, approximately 28 acres at 11630 Indian Hills Road were placed on the market for sale or ground lease. At the time, the mostly undeveloped property was promoted for potential uses that included housing, senior living, medical and educational development.
Mission Hills Neighborhood Council records from 2017 also show developers exploring a large senior-housing project involving property along Indian Hills and Mission Hills roads.
Those concepts did not move forward. By 2019, the site's future had shifted toward cemetery use.
Eden Memorial's Long-Planned Expansion
Eden Memorial Park, located immediately west of the Indian Hills property at 11500 Sepulveda Boulevard, has been planning a substantial eastward expansion for years.
City Planning records for DIR-2019-1538-PUB and ENV-2019-1539 describe what was then called the proposed Indian Hills Cemetery, encompassing roughly 26 to 28 acres east and southeast of the existing cemetery.
The land was largely agricultural or undeveloped when the expansion was proposed.
The project's environmental review anticipated development taking place gradually over approximately 25 to 35 years, reflecting the long-term nature of cemetery expansion.
The Mission Hills Neighborhood Council discussed the proposal in late 2019 as Eden sought approval to convert the adjoining land to cemetery use.
What Happens Next
The August 2026 filing appears to represent another step in that long-range plan, this time concentrating on the YMCA parcel itself.
The case is still in the City Planning review process, and the filing does not mean demolition is imminent. Additional plans, environmental documentation, hearings or determinations may become available as the case progresses.
But the proposal marks a significant turning point for a property that has served generations of Valley families through YMCA and childcare programs.
If approved as proposed, the familiar Mission Hills YMCA building would disappear and the site would become part of the operational infrastructure supporting Eden Memorial Park's expanding cemetery grounds.
More Mission Hills development and San Fernando Valley real estate history from SFV Blog.
- Los Angeles City Planning — ZA-2026-4245-PUB — new 2026 case for 11630 N. Indian Hills Road.
- Los Angeles City Planning — DIR-2019-1538-PUB — earlier Public Benefit case for the Eden Memorial Park / Indian Hills cemetery expansion.
- Los Angeles City Planning — ENV-2019-1539-MND Initial Study — 2021 environmental review identifying the YMCA parcel as a future development phase.
- Mission Hills Neighborhood Council — December 2, 2019 Board Agenda — discussion of DIR-2019-1538-PUB and the proposed conversion of approximately 28 acres to cemetery use.
- Mission Hills Neighborhood Council — July 2017 Zoning & Land Use Committee Agenda — earlier discussion of a possible roughly 800-unit senior-living development on the property.
- Los Angeles Times — “Funds Mount for New YMCA Center” (November 29, 1994) — reports that the North Valley YMCA in Mission Hills had been active in the Valley since 1927 and operated outreach and preschool programs.
- Los Angeles Times — “Mixer Brings Together Five Area Chambers” (January 14, 1997) — identifies the YMCA Infant and Preschool Center at 11630 Indian Hills Road.
- Los Angeles Times — “Groundbreaking Planned for YMCA” (June 24, 1997) — describes the Mission Hills-era branch, its approximately 4,500 members, and plans for the new Porter Ranch facility.
- Los Angeles Times — “North Valley YMCA to Open $9.2-Million Facility” (February 12, 1999) — documents the Corbin Avenue opening and says the former Mission Hills site would continue as a day-care center.
- North Valley YMCA childcare licensing record — 11630 Indian Hills Road — lists a July 11, 1994 license date and capacity of 129 for the day-care center.
- The Real Deal — “28-acre site in San Fernando Valley hits the market” (May 4, 2016) — coverage of the property when it was marketed for redevelopment.
- The Real Deal — SCI acquisition of the 28-acre Mission Hills property (July 2019) — background on the land's transition toward cemetery use.
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