Lancaster, Pennsylvania is no stranger to innovative senior living development, given the region’s history of deeper industry penetration rates and multitude of choices.
An effort by Landis Communities to bring more middle-income senior living options was aimed at helping even more older adults find a place to call home, with sustainability in mind.
Among the nonprofit’s most recent projects was Landis Place on King, a downtown senior living and mixed-use community with 79 apartment units. Leadership with the organization and project planners told Senior Housing News the community was committed to building an urban location with middle-income rates for older adults.
The community’s efforts to hit a middle-income price point, coupled with its forward-thinking design, are why Landis Place on King won the first place SHN Architecture and Design Award for the Affordable Housing category.
The Concept
Project planners with RLPS Architects joined the effort led by Landis Communities in spring, 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic initially ramped up. From the get-go, the project planners had sustainable design practices as well as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in mind.
Early in the process, planners looked to make inroads with local neighborhood associations, religious institutions, nonprofits and businesses. To do so, they appointed a community liaison, who helped integrate the project with the surrounding neighborhood.
The 122,525 square-foot project went through municipal and board approvals for about a year, Landis Communities Director of Real Estate Development Ed Kaminski told SHN.
“The site is a tight urban environment and negotiating easements with our neighbors was something that took us a bit longer,” Kaminski said. “The supply chain issues really led to the delays.”
The project planners specifically designed the community to NGBS Gold Certification standards, aiming to be 20% to 30% more energy efficient than conventional builds. Native plants were planned to be added to patios, along with street tree planters and a “green sedum roof” to help with water management at the seven-story development.
The project’s designers landed on a design with loft-style units and open floor plans, covered parking and a range of shared spaces and amenities, although common spaces in the community were “kept to a minimum” to maintain affordability for residents. Unit sizes range, also to keep the community affordable for new residents, with almost half of the units reserved for those below the local area’s median income level.
“That led us to a planning process where kitchens were streamlined, bathrooms were streamlined; each of the unit plans had efficiency being key to the design,” RLPS Architects Designer Dustin G. Julius said.
But even the communities smallest units at 700 square feet include features such as eat-in kitchens, balconies, walk-in closets and washers and dryers.
The project replaced two vacant buildings at the site in the city’s downtown business core. To avoid costs associated with excavation and rock removal, the project planners designed the structure on top of the site and then filled in lower areas of the property.
Interior design at the community was handled by GCI Design Inc.
The Construction
Construction for the $28 million project was originally planned for 15 months, but the process ran closer to 24 months after various delays, Kaminski noted. Work at the site was handled by general contractor High Construction Company.
After a waiting period due to a subcontractor dropping off the project, mixed with broader Covid-19 impacts, construction wrapped up in the summer of 2023.
Construction costs of the overall project total were $21 million, having gone slightly over original cost estimates due to Covid-19 delays and complications.
During construction, a crane was used to add balconies and due to the location of the tight urban nature of the site, brought an additional challenge, Kaminski added.
The Completion
Today, Landis Place on King has one- and two-bedroom loft-style apartments, 1,800 square feet of retail shell space, and 1,400 square feet of office space.
A large entry and lobby area adds a downtown luxury appeal while being a “welcoming moment” into the building, Julius noted.
The community has an elevator lobby and gathering rooms on three floors, a fitness room, and a community room on the top floor. This space opens to a rooftop terrace with expansive city views. The first floor provides 40 parking spaces, with additional street parking available nearby. The parking garage roof creates a second-floor patio and outdoor green space overlooking the street.
“We spent a lot of energy on that rooftop on the upper floor and what we got in the end was something that grabbed everyone’s attention,” Julius said.
Nathan Cox Photography
After work was completed last summary, Evon Bergey, Vice President and COO of Landis Communities and Executive Director of Landis Quality Living, said all parties involved were “thrilled with how the project came together.”
“It was how we envisioned it and it came together better than we would have hoped for and we received positive feedback from the city and from residents,” Bergey told SHN. “It’s been very rewarding and we’ve had a lot of community events and everything’s been very intentional with the space.”
Judges with the SHN Architecture and Design Awards also praised the project for its innovation and middle-market success. Merlino Design Partnership President Bruce Hurowitz noted the project’s commitment to accessibility and design in a downtown environment when he said the project “has great community integration.”
Lease-up is “going well,” Bergey added, with about 80% of the community now occupied. Just over a quarter 26% of the units are rented to people of color, reflecting the community’s efforts to make senior living more affordable for all in light of challenges that Black and Hispanic older adults face accessing senior housing.
A key focal point of tours has been the lobby, shared amenity areas and the “green roof” as the water management flora is known, Bergey said, with tours increasing.
“We have great optimism to get to full occupancy soon,” Bergey said. “We’re looking to do this again in the future to meet middle-market demand.”
