Harbert South Bay plans senior housing in Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek landed on a luxury senior housing developer’s expansion list.

Harbert South Bay, the South Bay investment team of Birmingham, Alabama-based Harbert Management Corporation, named the city as a planned construction location in a Nov. 2 company announcement. The company provided no local address, unit count or construction schedule for the project.

The announcement came one day before Walnut Creek voters appeared to approve Measure U on Nov. 3, a citizen initiative to rezone a 2.4-acre site near the Walnut Creek BART station to mixed-use residential to accommodate senior housing. The measure, backed by Hall Equities Group, drew 71% support in unofficial initial results, according to Local News Matters. Harbert’s announcement did not identify a connection to the Measure U property.

Harbert South Bay’s Walnut Creek plans are part of a broader expansion. The company’s announcement centered on a new joint venture with Harrison Street Asset Management to build two communities: an 80-unit project called The Palmer in Pasadena and a 94-unit project called The Belle Mare in Potomac, Maryland. PNC Bank is providing construction financing for those two projects.

Walnut Creek, San Francisco, San Diego’s Mission Valley and Newton, Massachusetts, were listed as additional planned construction starts, according to the company announcement. It did not provide project-specific details for those locations.

Patrick McGonigle, CEO of Harbert South Bay, said in a statement that the Pasadena and Potomac projects “will be benchmark assets in our portfolio of luxury, Class A communities.” He did not comment specifically on the Walnut Creek project.

Harbert South Bay said Momentum Senior Living is its exclusive partner throughout its portfolio. The team reported developing more than 11,000 senior housing units in 84 projects costing $1.8 billion. It said its strategy over the past decade has emphasized upscale communities in affluent areas with strong demand and limited new supply.

Harrison Street, the joint-venture partner, manages $110 billion in assets and is the largest private owner of senior housing properties in the United States, according to the announcement. Rob Korslin, co-head of North America transactions at Harrison Street, said in a statement that he expects growth in the population age 80 and older to increase pressure on an already undersupplied senior housing market.

The company said it has more than 800 units in active construction when the Pasadena and Potomac developments are combined with projects underway in Irvine, Dublin and Dallas. The companies said they are pursuing additional development opportunities beyond those already announced.