Construction of The James, a senior luxury apartment complex in Irvine, is underway with developers currently working on excavation. The James, the city’s first senior living project in 28 years, is expected to be completed in 2027, according to developers.
The James will be located at 1001 Gates Ave., across from The District at Tustin Legacy, a shopping and entertainment hub situated between Irvine and Tustin. The eight-story complex will include 350 units for independent living, assisted living and memory care on a three-acre site. The senior living campus will also feature luxury amenities such as courtyards, a dog park, an indoor spa and theaters.
The James will include 210 independent living units, 110 assisted living units and 30 memory care units, designed to meet a variety of senior needs. Unit sizes will range from luxury studios to two-bedroom apartments, wth an average of 837 square feet.
Harbert South Bay Partners, the project developer, began working on the design and permit process in 2018, according to Managing Director of Harbert South Bay Adam Arnold. In March 2023, the developer announced in a press release that construction had been scheduled. Arnold told New University that W.E. O’Neil Construction, the project’s general contractor, received a Notice to Proceed in November 2024, confirming the 30-month construction timeline.
Developers completed demolition of the site in December 2024 and are now looking to continue with excavation, shoring and dewatering processes, according to Arnold. The site was previously a SmartHome facility, as reported by the Orange County Business Journal (OCBJ).
To finance the project, JLL’s Seniors Housing Capital Markets group and HJ Sims worked on behalf of stakeholders to secure funding. In December 2024, JLL announced it had arranged $473 million in tax-exempt and taxable bond financing, calling it the “largest non-profit single-site senior living bond issue in history.”
JLL’s press release noted that $442.1 million was publicly offered as tax-exempt bonds, along with $12.93 million in taxable senior series bonds. An additional $18 million was included in a subordinate tax-exempt series.
According to Arnold, independent living units — designed for seniors who do not need additional care and seek community — will feature a larger space with full-size kitchens.
Assisted living and memory care units will not include cooking appliances and will provide residents with additional or specialized care. Memory care units will be smaller than independent and assisted living units and will feature communal spaces.
Planners for The James also aim to offer residents free transportation, field trips and extracurricular activities outside of the complex. On-site, residents may join a gardening club and dine at three luxury restaurants.
“As a developer, all we do is senior living. So we’re constantly innovating our buildings,” Arnold told New University. “We try to constantly improve, constantly get better and constantly offer something to the market that didn’t exist in the last iteration of construction, whether ours or anybody else’s.”
Upon completion, The James will be owned by the P3 Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on philanthropic missions. Momentum Senior Living will manage the property, overseeing staffing and daily operations.
Momentum Senior Living CEO Josh Johnson spoke on the resources and upscale amenities planned for The James, describing the project as a way to reinvest in the senior community.
“Other than being newer, typically our apartments are a bit larger than the average senior living community,” Johnson told New University. “We also are more vertical in nature, so what that does for seniors is it allows them not to have to walk as far to all the different amenities that we have such as our dining rooms, swimming pools … It’s a bit different from the average.”
Monthly rent at The James will range between $8,000 and $25,000, according to the OCBJ.
The building’s leasing office is expected to open in spring 2026, with occupancy beginning in 2027.
Katherine Nava is a News Staff writer. She can be reached at navakl@uci.edu.
Edited by Ben De Guzman