Seniors housing community set to target rural communities
MELBOURNE: The growth of seniors housing communities is threatening to suck up key contributors to rural communities.
Presbyterian Homes & Services is pushing ahead with plans for a new independent living building on its McKenna Crossing campus in Prior Lake, a reversal from previous intentions to add an assisted living facility to the site.
Tuesday night, the Prior Lake City Council approved a land use change to allow construction of the proposed four-story, 72-unit independent living building, which will rise on the northeast part of the campus at 13810 Shepherds Path NW.
Specifically, the council signed off on a “major amendment” to a planned unit development plan for the campus. The original PUD “anticipated a skilled nursing facility in this location,” Casey McCabe, Prior Lake’s community development director said at the council meeting.
“The demand and the market conditions, according to the applicant, have changed since that original plan, and now they see a significant demand for independent living in this location,” McCabe said.
The next step would be for the developer to apply for a building permit, said Jake Skluzacek, Prior Lake city planner.
Initial plans called for an 80-unit assisted living facility as the second phase of development on the campus. The first phase, completed in 2007, created a 154-unit building with 85 independent living, 51 assisted living and 18 memory care units.
Presbyterian Homes & Services, in partnership with Senior Housing Partners, said in a project narrative that the existing community has “maintained full occupancy and experienced consistently strong demand, particularly for independent living residences.”
A “significant” shift in market conditions is driving the switch from assisted living to independent living units in the second phase, the development team noted, adding that the skilled nursing industry has seen big changes in the past two decades.
“Trends — including shorter lengths of stay, increased reliance on home- and community-based services, and a strong preference for aging in place — have reduced demand for traditional skilled nursing beds,” the narrative states. “At the same time, construction costs, staffing challenges, and reimbursement limitations have made new skilled nursing development increasingly difficult to support.”
Presbyterian Homes & Services also noted that the existing campus “maintains a substantial waitlist, clearly demonstrating unmet demand for additional independent living units.”
Designed by BKV Group, the new building will feature a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, some of which will include dens. All of the dwellings will contain full kitchens, in-unit laundry, and private patios or balconies.
Also included are heated, structured parking and a climate-controlled tunnel, which will link the new building to the existing campus. The idea is to create a “cohesive, integrated campus environment,” the narrative states.
Jill Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Consulting Services, said the shift from assisted living to independent living is a “strong strategic choice” that will “add vitality to the community.”
“With their community footprint across the metro area, they already have plenty of existing skilled nursing in place to support residents who would need post-acute care after a hospital discharge,” Johnson said.
Independent living units “become feeders to your higher care areas, whether it’s assisted living or memory care. It is a true continuum of care,” Johnson noted, adding that a 72-unit building is a good fit for the campus.
“Even though they’re part of a campus community, the residents within the building often create a deep social network, so it’s a nice-size building.”