A 70-unit senior affordable housing complex approved by the City Council at its last meeting could be opened by 2027 in Westside Costa Mesa.

The affordable housing project will take over part of the parking lot at the Costa Mesa Senior Center at 19th Street and Pomona Avenue. The excess space was identified as a potential spot for adding more affordable housing for seniors as far back as the early 1990s.

“This is a needed project,” Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens said March 18 before the council unanimously voted to approve the project. “There is no other demographic or group at risk of homelessness more than our seniors.”

The plan is for construction to start later in November this year and welcome the first residents in fall 2027. Priority will be given to Costa Mesa seniors who meet income requirements.

Jamboree Housing Corporation, an affordable housing developer in the region, will lease the land from the city for $1 a year. The project is also supported by county funds and housing vouchers, the waiving of city fees and federal grant money.

City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison said the federal grant money is already in the city’s account after Councilmember Andrea Marr raised concerns about the potential loss of  funding amid recent news the Trump administration had ordered the freezing of some aid.

The apartment building will be four stories with 35 units for low-income seniors and another 34 for very-low income seniors. One unit will be set aside for a manager.

There will be a fitness room, computer room, pet spa and dog run. The building will have no setback along West 19th Street.

Stephens said Jamboree’s housing developments are first class and typically the nicest complexes in the neighborhood once they are built. “I have no doubt that that will be true here,” he said.

Stephens said the average age of somebody homeless in Costa Mesa is over 60. From 2022 to 2024, Costa Mesa saw a 45% increase in its unsheltered homeless population.

Officials said a parking study indicated there will be enough spaces for both the Senior Center and the housing development, which will have covered parking under the building.

Councilmember Arlis Reynolds, who represents the area, lauded the project and said it is an excellent central location with access to transit, the Senior Center and neighborhoods to walk in.

“It allows seniors to be centered in our community,” she said. “I think so many senior housing projects move seniors out to the corners of the community where they don’t necessarily get to interact with the rest of the community on a daily basis.”

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