Kayak parking, golf gear storage and a woodworking bench—these may seem like far-fetched amenities for a senior living community, but they have become a reality for Portland, Oregon-based Mirabella Portland and residents are noticing.
The urban community, which houses 220 apartments, is on the cutting edge of a more engaging type of retirement living, the Associated Press reports. Residents build things in the on-site wood shop, and they sit on committees that organize events and other types of planning.
“It’s kind of like going to a new high school together,” Mirabella Portland parent company Pacific Retirement Services Inc. Senior Vice President Paul Riepma, tells the AP. “The chemistry that the residents have built toward one another is driven by like-minded people traveling the road of life.”
Keeping busy is the local “medicine,” AP writes.
The community includes independent living, assisted living and memory care units, allowing residents to progress through the continuum of care, whether they are seeking a place to park a bike or require rehab services or Alzheimer’s-specific care.
Despite entrance fees ranging from $260,000 up to $700,000, and monthly fees of $3,500 to $4,200, plus $854 for a second person, the occupancy rate is 95%, the AP reports. This is higher than the industry average of just under 90%.
Hinging on green living, its LEED certification, as well as proximity to transportation and all of the benefits of an urban lifestyle, communities like Mirabella are the first of a burgeoning trend that takes its cues from a much younger generation.
“I think often times the focus on green living and recycling tends to be about younger people, but certainly older people can be seen as stewards,” Paula Carder, a Portland State University gerontologist tells the AP. “They want the world to be a better place for their children and grandchildren.”
Read the AP article via New England Cable News.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
Companies featured in this article:
