Portland, Ore.-based Paradigm Senior Living has formed a partnership with Arvada, Colo.-based Ochsner Development Co. to develop Golden Pond Senior Living Community in Golden, Colo. The two companies will also own and operate the property, scheduled to open in early-2001.
The five-acre campus will feature 36 independent seniors apartments, 60 private assisted living apartments and 16 units for Alzheimer's/dementia care. Golden Pond will provide meals, activities, transportation and other personal care services.
Each apartment features dishwashers, balconies or patios, and emergency pullcords. The complex has a community room, exercise room and a laundry facility. The facility was built with $4.4 million of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits awarded by the State of Maryland.
This isn't your father's 3030 Park
You probably do not need me to tell you the pace is moving slowly in the seniors housing industry these days: A merger here, an acquisition there and a sprinkling of new developments thrown in every now and then. But compared with other commercial real estate segments, seniors housing has been really quiet lately.
This month was looking particularly quiet, until we got the news of the completion of a three-year renovation project at 3030 Park, a non-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Bridgeport, Conn. The upshot is that the community will offer bigger apartments, as well as provide its residents new access to computers, the Internet and an array of fitness machines.
The renovations at 3030 Park are particularly interesting because they indicate an industry that is creating an active lifestyle for its residents a more attainable goal. The improvements offer the community's residents a chance to keep both their body and mind in shape.
"We launched this program in order to meet the diverse, evolving needs of today's active senior population," says Marianne D. Keevins, president and CEO of 3030 Park. "We studied newer communities, interviewed our own residents and conducted focus groups to identify areas of improvement while formulating our comprehensive, multi-tiered plan."
The center's studio and efficiency apartments have been renovated into one- and two-bedroom units. These expansions were meant to increase space for residents and enable them to better socialize by entertaining friends, family and neighbors. The two-bedroom units offer a washer/dryer option.
Other improvements to the units include full kitchens with ceramic tile flooring and decorative columns that separate the dining and living rooms. The lobby has been spruced up as well: It now features deep-mahogany paneling and wall-to-wall carpeting.
3030 Park also has a new computer lab that will give its residents two ways to expand their horizons. First, it will offer Internet access, and second, it will also be open to Fairfield County seniors, increasing the residents' social opportunities. The computers also will feature basic word processing programs.
When they are not surfing the World Wide Web, 3030 Park residents can flex their muscles and build up a sweat in the community's new fitness room, which boasts stationary bicycles, rowing machines and treadmills. 3030 Park also features a new billiards room, and a refurbished art studio and wood shop.
"3030 Park recognized the changing needs and desires of the senior population," says Keevins. "Today's seniors are discerning and sophisticated. Visits to newer CCRCs nationwide, interviews with residents, and feedback obtained through focus groups and surveys indicated the need for 3030 Park to redefine itself to keep pace with, and remain a step ahead of, the senior population's changing needs."