A long-planned affordable senior housing project on Irwin Way in Orinda has finally been granted a notice to proceed, meaning construction crews could break ground soon on the hillside site squeezed between Orinda Community Church and Orinda Senior Village. The 53-unit development, known as Vista Verde, will rise five stories and 51 feet on a 1.38-acre lot at 10 Irwin Way, delivering 52 affordable senior apartments to a city where demand for subsidized senior housing has run deep for decades.
According to San Francisco YIMBY, which first reported the notice to proceed, builder Brown Construction indicated that work is expected to start soon. Vista Verde Community Housing will be built and owned by the Orinda Senior Housing Foundation. The project is sponsored by UrbanCore Development, which joined the project team in 2024 and worked in collaboration with City Community Capital and Concore Development Group, per the same outlet's reporting. UrbanCore Development Services closed financing on the project on August 12, 2026, clearing the last major obstacle before construction could begin.
The building itself, designed by Dahlin Group with landscape architecture by Orinda-based firm Jett, will include 33 one-bedroom units, 19 two-bedroom units, and a caretaker's unit, according to the same report. Of the 52 affordable units, eight will serve very-low-income households, 30 will serve low-income households, and 13 will serve moderate-income households. The roughly 72,600-square-foot building includes 38,890 square feet of housing area, a 13,760-square-foot garage, a community room, a crafts room, a computer room, two offices, landscaped open space, a garden, roof decks, bicycle parking, and an open-air balcony in every unit, with cementitious siding, wood-look panels, and metal mesh screens making up the exterior. The project team has not replied to a request for comment, per San Francisco YIMBY's reporting.
Years in the Making, Rooted in a Church Partnership
Vista Verde traces back to 2018, when it was initiated by the Orinda Senior Housing Foundation, a local nonprofit whose chair is Victoria Smith, on land leased from the Orinda Community Church, according to Lamorinda Weekly. The arrangement follows earlier senior housing on church-donated land. The city formally approved project entitlements in August 2022, adopting an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and granting density bonus concessions for building height, story count, and private open space requirements, according to state records filed with CA CEQAnet.
The project plans include an off-site pedestrian crosswalk across Irwin Way south of Orinda Community Church, giving elderly residents safe walking access to downtown services. The site is near shops and restaurants, and it is also near a Safeway grocery store, per San Francisco YIMBY's reporting. Orinda Community Park, which hosts the city's local farmers market, is also nearby.
A Deep Well of Local Demand
The need for affordable senior housing in Orinda has been building for years. The adjacent 150-unit Orinda Senior Village, built in the 1980s on land also originally donated by Orinda Community Church, maintains a waitlist exceeding five years and has housed more than 1,000 residents since it opened, Lamorinda Weekly reports. The nearby Monteverde Senior Apartments at 2 Irwin Way is another development for seniors.
That demand is underpinned by broader affordability strain in the affluent suburb. The suburb also faces broader affordability strain. California's state-certified 6th Cycle Housing Element covers 2023 through 2031, according to the City of Orinda.
Financing Fight and Neighborhood Friction
The path to construction wasn't without controversy. In November 2025, the Orinda City Council approved an application for up to $15 million in tax-exempt bonds, amid controversy over union labor and prevailing wages, Lamorinda Weekly reported at the time. Mayor Latika Malkani cast the single dissenting vote, citing the difficulty of the decision.
More recently, The Orinda Pre-School raised construction concerns, while parents sought safety protections as the multi-year building process approaches, according to reporting. TOPS leadership and project developers have discussed safety mitigation measures as construction approaches.
The project has also picked up industry recognition along the way. Vista Verde's design earned the Pacific Coast Builders Conference 2023 Gold Nugget Award for Best on the Boards in the affordable housing category, and the Orinda City Council later presented the project board with a Certificate of Recognition to mark the honor, per Lamorinda Weekly's account. With financing now closed and a notice to proceed issued, Orinda's senior residents may finally see ground broken on a project that has been years in the making.
