Essex Corporation announced last month that construction has begun on Mission Square, a 55-unit non-profit independent-living retirement community for middle-income seniors 60 years old and better. Scheduled to open in January 2011, Mission Square is a three-story community, with an under-building parking garage, situated on two acres of land in Mission, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. The one and two bedroom residences, ranging in size from 780 square feet to over 1,400 square feet, have full size kitchens, terraces, and customizable finishes.
In addition to the wide array of traditional common spaces and services found in most retirement communities, Mission Square includes under-building tempered parking and a membership to the next-door Sylvester Powell, Jr. Community Center for health, fitness, and recreation activities for its residents. Essex Corporation, who has been developing retirement communities across the Midwest and West for over 30 years, is the developer, having arranged for financing, as well as providing the marketing, construction, and property management services for Mission Square.