In the Pipeline: Ascent Living to Open in Denver, CA Senior Living Breaks Ground Near Pittsburgh

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Construction: Planned

Focus Property Group, Ascent Living Planning Denver Community

Property investor and developer Focus Property Group and senior living owner and operator Ascent Living Communities are teaming up to open a senior living community in Denver’s Hilltop neighborhood.

The property, which is yet to be named, will have more than 200 independent living, assisted living and memory care apartments on three levels. Planned amenities include a fitness and yoga center, an aquatics center and multiple restaurant options, such as a bistro and al fresco dining.

The architecture of the forthcoming community is inspired by the design of nearby neighborhoods and the urban lifestyles of the residents. The three floors of residences will be organized around three internal courtyards, and many of the apartments will come with fireplaces, balconies, and glass walls overlooking mountain views.

Focus Property Group acquired the site, a former milk processing and distribution center, in 2016. Ascent Living Communities is co-developing, operating and managing the community. Construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2019, with initial move-ins planned for summer 2020.

Hord Coplan Macht is designing the project, studioSIX5 has been tapped for the interior design, and Catamount Constructors is the general contractor.

Oxford Senior Living to Expand Communities in Texas, Oklahoma

Oxford Senior Living plans to expand two of its communities located in Grand Prairie, Texas; and in Owasso, Oklahoma.

The senior living provider is set to break ground later this year on a $5 million expansion at its Oxford Glen Memory Care community in Texas. In Oklahoma, work is expected to begin this summer.

Plans for the Tulsa and Grand Prairie expansions are very similar, according to Oxford. Each community will add about 30,000 square feet and up to 40 assisted living apartments, plus a secure courtyard and additional amenities.

LK Architecture is the architect for both projects.

Construction: In progress

CA Senior Living Breaks Ground on Community Near Pittsburgh

CA Senior Living, the senior housing investment and development division of Chicago-based CA Ventures, has started work for a new senior living community in McCandless, Pennsylvania.

The project, Atria McCandless, is a 179-unit independent living, assisted living and memory care community slated to be operated by Atria Senior Living. Amenities include a pool and spa, fitness center, salon, multiple dining venues, activity rooms, an outdoor walking path and a patio with plenty of seating and a bar.

Independent and assisted living apartments will have stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and tile backsplashes. Most will also offer in-unit laundry, and floor plans include studio, one- and two-bedroom options ranging in size from 410 to 1,052 square feet.

Pre-leasing for the community is scheduled to begin in October 2018, with an anticipated fall 2019 opening.

Abby Development Starts Work for Arkansas Community

Abby Development, a developer, owner and operator of senior housing communities, has broken ground on Ridgemere, a 92-unit luxury independent living, assisted living and memory care campus in Conway, Arkansas.

The “resort-style” community will have amenities such as a stocked fishing lake with walking trails, multiple landscaped courtyards with water features, a movie theater, pharmacy and general store, beauty salons, libraries and rehabilitation center.

The community’s independent living cottages will have a mix of two- and three-bedroom floorplans, with an average size of 1,485 square feet. On the assisted living side, residents will be able to choose from studio, one- and two-bedroom floorplans. The memory care wing will have private and semi-private studio floorplans in a secure building.

Work Underway for Expanded PACE Center in Michigan

United Methodist Retirement Communities (UMRC) recently held a groundbreaking event for a new addition to double the size and capacity of the existing Huron Valley PACE Day Health Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

PACE, which stands for Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, is an alternative to nursing home care designed to meet the social, medical, and supportive needs of low-income adults 55 and older. The project is made possible, in part, by a $1 million capital grant from Maryland-based funder, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

Construction: Complete

Buckner Community in Texas Completes $29.8 Million Expansion and Renovation Project

Buckner Villas, a faith-based Buckner Retirement Services community in North Austin, Texas, recently completed a $29.8 million expansion and renovation project.

The expansion added 69 one- and two-bedroom apartment homes to its GreenRidge independent living area, as well as 70 underground parking spaces. Workers also enlarged the dining room, extended the bistro, added a theater, broadened the salon and spa, built a larger meeting space and updated the interior design throughout.

The community can now serve up to 138 additional seniors, Bucker announced. The project included work from Hill and Wilkinson, Barbara J. Vessels Interiors and D2 Architecture.

LifeSpire CCRC Set to Open New Dining Venues in April

The Chesapeake, a LifeSpire of Virginia continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Newport News, Virginia, is slated to open newly updated dining venues with cook-to- order options and new menu offerings on April 9.

The new options will let residents choose from a number of dining venues, including an updated formal dining room, a bistro, a pub and a cafe.

This is the first phase of a $10 million renovation project. THW Design and contractor GC Construction, worked with The Chesapeake on the renovations, which began last September.

Other noteworthy projects:

Planned

— Purchase College is seeking to open a new senior living project with 339 units and 46 villas on its campus in Purchase, New York.

— Oaks Senior Living and Lotus Park Senior Living are teaming up for a new assisted living and memory care development in Aiken, South Carolina.

— A 101-bed assisted living and memory care community is in the works in Macomb Township, Michigan.

— Great Falls, Virginia, could get a new 62-unit assisted living and memory care community.

—Sugar Loaf Senior Living has announced it intends to build a 70-unit property next to one of its communities in Winona County, Minnesota.

— A former “spy house” in Washington, D.C., could be demolished to make way for a new assisted living community.

— Fortress Ventures is constructing a $31 million community with 140 assisted living, independent living and memory care units in Fort Myers, Florida.

— An elementary school building in Hager City, Wisconsin, could become a senior living community with 16 units.

— Local officials in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, have given their blessing to plans for a 42-unit senior living project.

In progress

— Tradition Senior Living has broken ground for a new 23-story senior living highrise in Houston.

— A new assisted living and memory care community is set to open in Bossier City, Louisiana, this summer.

— Work is expected to begin in April for a new assisted living and memory care community in Swift County, Minnesota.

Complete

— A new 74-unit senior apartment community has opened in Vineland, New Jersey.

Written by Tim Regan