Repositioned Operator Generations Goes Big on Mixed-Use, Intergenerational Projects

A longtime senior housing provider that has pivoted to developing intergenerational communities within mixed use developments is poised to soon bring a 375-unit senior housing community to California’s Bay Area.

Portland, Oregon-based Generations LLC has partnered with San Diego, California-based health care real estate developer Pacific Medical Buildings to build the community and various public-facing amenities on approximately 8 acres of land in Burlingame, California.

Once completed, the property—Peninsula Wellness Center—will be managed by Generations, which has years of experience operating “large, intergenerational campuses” for seniors, Chip Gabriel, Generations’ president of development, told Senior Housing News.

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The Bay Area project is one of several in the works for Generations, which sees a future in mixed-use rental communities for seniors along the West Coast.

‘Very intergenerational’

Despite only managing five communities, Generations is not new to the senior housing world.

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In fact, the provider has been in business for 75 years, though it repositioned approximately 10 years ago to focus exclusively on developing and operating large rental senior housing communities. In the process, it sold 13 communities it owned or operated, and kept three of its larger communities.

Currently, Generations operates five communities in Utah, California, Oregon and Washington. As a rule, all of its communities are large and “exterior-focused,” or open to the general public, Gabriel explained.

“We’re very intergenerational,” he said.

Paradise Village, Generations’ 460-unit community near San Diego, has a central plaza with a library, wood shop, art studio and billiards lounge. It also features a 212-seat theater space that frequently hosts plays, concerts and other cultural programming brought in from the greater community, including local high school productions. Additoinally, Generations’ Wheatland Village community in Walla Walla, Washington, has a Baker Boyer Bank location on-site.

Right now, the provider is in growth mode. Generations hopes to break ground on a 317-unit senior housing community in Temecula, California, and it has a development under contract in Carmichael, California. The company also owns land in Portland, Oregon, where it intends to build a new community.

Peninsula Wellness Center

Generations and Pacific Medical Buildings signed an agreement with the Peninsula Health Care District to develop Peninsula Wellness Center in Burlingame on July 1. It’s currently unclear when the project will eventually open to the public, Gabriel said, though it’s likely to be several years from now.

When it is completed, Peninsula Wellness Center will house 295 independent living units and 80 assisted living units. There’s also expected to be 250,000 square feet of medical office building space and a 35,000-square-foot space that will house nonprofits, dining venues and community programming.

The property is also likely to house a large preschool for local Burlingame students and administrative spaces for the Burlingame School District, Gabriel said.

Given the high housing prices in San Francisco and the surrounding area, Generations also hopes the Peninsula Wellness Center will offer apartments at different price points for low-income residents.

“Our hope is we can serve a cross-section [of Bay Area seniors],” Gabriel said.

In pursuing intergenerational, mixed-use senior housing projects, Generations is embracing a growing industry trend. Several new senior housing projects in urban locations are high-rises with retail components, and the largest senior living operator in Minnesota—Ebenezer—has a few intergenerational projects in the works.

Written by Mary Kate Nelson

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