Advances in healthcare, and our lifespans, make it more important than ever to keep up with the wide range of needs of today’s senior community. With hundreds of senior living projects completed or in progress, constructing homes to provide comfort to our senior community member – no matter their needs – is close to our heart.
More gathering spaces, entertainment options, technology in every room, no problem! Indoor swimming pools, yoga studios, and worship spaces, not to mention taking advantage of the amazing views of dense urban areas – count us in. High-rise, affordable, mid-market, high-end, you name it – bottom line: we are in the business of delivering products that meet our client’s needs. When we build or renovate senior living facilities, we bring our knowledge and experience together to deliver top-quality facilities that reflect our company vision of “building communities and empowering people.”
In addition to our familiarity with senior living construction needs and best practices, we also apply a collective 60+ years of experience in housing and decades of experience in healthcare construction to bring a wide range of experience to each senior living project. Approaching each project in a collaborative spirit, we work together with the entire project team to provide healing spaces aimed to enhance life for the ill or elderly. We strive to help give seniors the dignified, healthy lives they deserve.
Banking on a long history and strong industry relationships, we begin each new senior living facility with a focus on resident care, thoughtful sequencing, noise minimization and constant communication. Senior living facilities we have built include the full continuum of care; independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing. Building for senior living is never one-size-fits-all: our approach takes into account the budget, schedule, and organizational demands unique to each project’s individual circumstances.
With locations in Portland, Vancouver, Tacoma and Seattle, we integrate with the communities in which we build, know how to build with quality, and offer our own dedicated care throughout the life of the project.
Let’s explore some highlights on a few Senior Living projects that are currently under construction.
eliseo’s Independent Living/Hybrid Homes
Rendering courtesy of our design partner, Ankrom Moisan Architects.
Currently on our third project with eliseo, a Life Plan Community based in Tacoma, we have enjoyed years of collaboration and a trusting working relationship. Our current collaboration offers both a renovation to existing spaces and the addition of 91 new independent living homes on a vibrant, interactive campus overlooking the Tacoma Sound. Previously, we delivered two projects expanding housing options and services for eliseo residents: North Ridge Memory Care Living Center, a single-story wood-frame addition, and the two-story Chihuly Family Art Center-Arneklev Garden with classrooms, a creative arts space, indoor and outdoor lounge areas, and a garden area.
Our work has resulted in attractive finishes, fully-equipped modern kitchens, multiple comfortable and engaging common areas, and beautifully landscaped courtyards. The result is a space that blends seamlessly into the existing community while offering homes the residents can be proud of.
Wesley Des Moines – Phase III
Just north of Tacoma you’ll find our team hard at work on Wesley’s 45-acre campus in Des Moines, providing the third phase of this Life Plan Communities’ redevelopment. Phase I included 32 Cottage homes and a two-story Brownstone with 24 condo-style apartments; the second phase added a 310,000 square-foot building housing a town center and 151 independent living homes; now in the third phase, we are adding eleven more Cottage homes, 75 apartments with supportive services, 28 memory care apartments and a 60-bed care center.
Coming up soon, the project team is prepping for a new skybridge connecting the new spaces with the existing Terrace building across the street. It’s long-term relationships like this that we are most proud of. It takes trust and teamwork to have success in the senior living industry – and most importantly, a commitment to supporting client goals in creating high-quality, supportive communities, serving the needs of seniors.
Terwilliger Plaza’s Parkview
Speaking of skybridges, in Portland, Oregon, years of planning along with intense coordination and skilled precision resulted in the recent build and placement of Parkview’s new connecting walkway. Perched high above a main thoroughfare for OHSU staff and patients, this skybridge was a feat of engineering and serves as a showpiece for its new residents. This ease of access is a feature that was important when building such a facility in an urban area. Also important are unique options to suit individual needs, found in the twelve tailored floor plans, in spaces up to 2,310 square-feet. The progressive design was developed to also be highly energy efficient, in the works to be the largest Passive House project in the western United States.
Once complete in 2023, Terwilliger Plaza’s Parkview location will have a new 127-apartment, 10-story facility, built with exquisite finishes, stunning views, large floorplans and tall ceilings, and plenty to keep its 62+ independent senior residents busy.
Holden of Pearl
Moving to the other end of Portland, you’ll find Holden of Pearl, one of the tallest buildings currently in construction in downtown. This 16-story tower has an urban, vertically integrated design and holds 237 high-end senior living apartments along with a separate memory-care space. And talk about amenities – this building will be home to 28,000 square feet of amenity space including multiple dining venues, yoga studio, salon, activity areas, family gathering spaces, terraced courtyards, and rooftop spaces.
Rendering courtesy of our design partner, Ankrom Moisan Architects.
Having built two other projects adjacent to the site, our familiarity kicked in and helped us smoothly plan for logistics, sequencing and above-all, safety.
In closing
To learn more about our projects, please take a look through our work on our website. Though we have a strong portfolio of completed projects and some exciting new ones in the pipeline, we remain open to learning more about this important market sector. At WALSH, we don’t shy away from any chance to increase our knowledge in order to better serve our clients and the aging community that they serve – we believe everyone deserves a dignified place to call home.