More “Brookdale magic” is headed for The Villages with the construction of a new assisted living and memory-care facility next door to Freedom Pointe along El Camino Drive.
“There really is a magic to this business,” said T. Andrew Smith, chief executive officer of Brookdale Senior Living, the project developer. “Freedom Pointe is a flagship property for us.”
The new Brookdale Place will extend what Smith called “the magic of senior living” at the 4-year-old Freedom Pointe, where services currently range from independent living to rehabilitation care. Smith spoke Tuesday morning at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility.
When the 87,000-square-foot facility is completed in December 2014, Brookdale Place will include 40 assisted-living beds, 22 transitional beds and 44 memory-care beds. Rooms will have full kitchens, said Rick Arnold, Brookdale’s corporate development director.
Smith said he views the latest project as much more than just the physical building.
“It’s about the relationships we as a company form with our constituents, families and associates,” he said. “We don’t think we’re in the senior housing business. We’re in the senior solutions business.”
Walt Stroly, Freedom Pointe executive director, said the company is grateful to be in The Villages and wants to offer “an optimum life opportunity” to seniors. Gary Lester, The Villages vice president of community relations, said the intertwined relationships of Brookdale, The Villages and constituents are like a redwood forest where roots grow together.
Brookdale Place likely won’t be the last facility built in The Villages by Brookdale Senior Living, said Todd Kastner, the company’s executive vice president for development. He said there is space on the Freedom Pointe campus for a skilled nursing facility.
“We plan more facilities here,” he said. “We want to do this in an orderly fashion.”
Besides the expanded needs of aging Baby Boomers, rapid growth of The Villages has also driven the demand for more facilities, Kastner said.
Other new assisted-living and memory-care projects in The Villages include Lexington Park assisted living, which plans to add a 70-bed unit to its facility on County Road 466 in Lady Lake. The 120-bed, 77,000-square-foot Villages Rehab & Nursing Center opened next to Lexington Park during the past year.
Sumter Place on County Road 466A is adding a memory-care unit and the Serendades Memory Care Assisted Living by Sonata opened a new facility near the Belvedere Library. Harbor Chase will open soon across from The Villages Regional Hospital.
