The increasing ranks of aging baby boomers in Central Kentucky have spurred a surge in senior living facilities across Lexington in recent years.
The Bluegrass area’s senior population age 60 and older is expected to increase roughly 30 percent in the decade between 2015 and 2025, according to projections from the Kentucky State Data Center. As this expanding swell of seniors and their families evaluate their current and future needs for more care, many are seeking living arrangements that will provide added comfort and convenience while still keeping them close to the communities they call home. Multiple new and expanded developments set to come online in the next year are hoping to answer that call, reflecting a broadening landscape of local senior living alternatives.
Aging in Chevy Chase
While many seniors indicate a desire to age in place, often it’s not so much about the physical structure where they live, but the community of support they have built around it, said Solly Van Meter, who is developing a new 24-unit senior living complex on Duke Road. And according to a Senior Living Satisfaction Study released by J.D. Power in 2018, location is a driving factor for the majority of aging consumers and their families when making their senior-care selection.
Chevy Chase Gardens, expected to open this spring on Duke Rd., will offer 24 one-bedroom senior-living units.
Van Meter’s project, Chevy Chase Gardens, expected to open this spring, is taking a neighborhood-based approach to aging in place, he said. The boutique concept aims to providing concierge-style assisted living services for aging seniors who prefer not to leave Chevy Chase.
“People like to stay in their neighborhood,” Van Meter said. “We want to age where we are closest to our established support systems, and that relates very closely to your neighborhood, or the neighborhood where your children and your friends are.”
It’s unusual today for an elder-care enterprise to locate as an infill project in an established residential community inside New Circle, Van Meter said, but keeping its future residents connected to all the nearby neighborhood amenities of the Romany Road corridor is part of the mission.
“We will have a back gate that allows our residents to walk next door to have lunch at the Wheeler’s [Pharmacy] lunch counter or to go to Suggins for a drink with friends,” he said.
The one-bedroom apartments are designed with carriage kitchens, high ceilings and plentiful windows, to make them feel bright and spacious, Van Meter said, with dining services available in a separate building. The units are constructed so they can be combined into two-bedroom suites if requested, and the first-floor apartments will be licensed as personal care units, for residents who might need a higher level of assistance, now or in the future.
Van Meter said he expects the smaller scale of the facility will enable it to focus on the needs and preferences of its residents for everything from social event planning to high-quality dining service to seamlessly integrated individual wellness plans. The facility has also partnered with the local concierge medical practice of Drs. Ryan and Cady Brown to provide tailored memberships for residents, including at-home wellness visits, house calls and a physician “quarterbacking” service to coordinate medical care in the event of hospital admittance.
“People have different needs and different tastes,” Van Meter said. “There’s a lot of variety that’s starting to work its way into the senior living industry. Nowadays you can’t be one size fits all.”
Adding elbow room at Friendship Towers
In May, Sayre Christian Village broke ground on the expansion and renovation of its Friendship Towers assisted-living apartment complex, which will add 15 one- and two-bedroom apartments to the facility, along with a new café, restaurant-style dining room, resident lounge, wrap-around porch and more. The facility, originally built for independent living and later certified for assisted living when that concept was first introduced, is also refurbishing its existing apartments and common space as part of the project. That will include an updated beauty salon, exercise room, chapel and game parlor, said Elise Hinchman, director of marketing and development. The old and new sections will be connected by a glass pedway to give all residents easy access to the entire facility. The project, which is the biggest endeavor since its Healthcare Center expansion for the 36-year-old faith-based nonprofit continuing care community, is projected to be completed next summer.
In response to an increasing demand for more elbow room and mainstream-oriented accommodations for the senior set, the new apartments will be larger, Hinchman said, featuring up to 1,125 square feet of living space in the two-bedroom units. The apartments will also have their own full-size kitchens and in-unit washers and dryers.
“If you are going to attract independent senior residents potentially at an earlier age, they want to have their grandkids over. They want to have visitors, and they want to entertain. We have to give them space for that.” —Elise Hinchman, director of marketing and development with Sayre Christian Village
“People don’t want to downsize, and we have listened to them,” Hinchman said. “If you are going to attract independent senior residents potentially at an earlier age, they want to have their grandkids over. They want to have visitors, and they want to entertain. We have to give them space for that.”
But today’s graying market, and the family members involved in their senior living choices, also want added security and convenience, Hinchman said, as well as access to increasing levels of care as needed down the road. Sayre Christian Village offers a full spectrum of senior care options on its 27-acre campus, including assisted living and skilled nursing services, dementia care, and short-term and outpatient rehabilitation therapy.
The availability of high-quality rehabilitation has been particularly valuable in helping Sayre residents maintain their preferred lifestyles, Hinchman said.
“The benefit is so fantastic for all our residents,” she said. “If they do suffer an injury, they are able to be transported right across campus. They can come to therapy several times a week, and they will be able to stay in our independent or assisted-living arrangements for even longer.”
The facility also offers residents a host of social activities, Hinchman said. Last year, the village’s social calendar featured more than 3,500 events on campus. It contributes to the strong sense of community and belonging that Sayre works to build, she said.
“Our residents often tell us they wish they’d come earlier,” Hinchman said. “When they get here, the sense of camaraderie we have really helps them to thrive.”
Senior care with small-town appeal
Two years ago, Continental Senior Management, managed by Traditions Management, launched its first Lexington-based senior living community, Highgrove at Tates Creek, featuring 89 senior apartments with a la carte access to assisted living services as needed, along with a host of additional resort-like perks, including a full-service salon, spa, exercise classes and restaurant-style dining facilities. In January of this year the company added a new option, freestanding independent living cottages on the property, and the model has proven so popular that the company is now gearing up for the launch of its second Bluegrass facility this spring in Georgetown.
Continental Senior Management is building its second Central Kentucky location, Ashtongrove Senior Living, in Georgetown.
The new development, Ashtongrove Senior Living, has been designed to provide all the care and comfort of high-end senior living with a rural, small-town feel that will make Georgetown residents feel more at home, said Executive Director Davonna Saier. The community even has its own horse barn on the property, and it is working on a potential plan to host equine visitors.
“It’s an incredibly new concept for Georgetown,” Saier said. “We like our back porches here. We like to spread out a little bit more, and the back of our property overlooks a horse farm. … The Georgetown folks love that they will get to keep those gorgeous views and so many of the other things they love about their community.”
Ashtongrove will include 46 independent living cottages on the property, along with a main building to house 60 assisted living apartments and 30 dedicated memory care units, in addition to restaurant-style dining, a beauty salon, movie theater and a chapel suitable for religious services of all denominations. The 1,300-square-foot cottages will feature two bedrooms and two baths, along with fully equipped stainless steel kitchens and one-car garages.
“Instead of downsizing, we refer to it as ‘right-sizing,’” Saier said. “It gives more opportunity to people who would like all the amenities of senior living, but who still want to live independently, and come and go as they please.”
The ability to maintain their independence while taking advantage of resort-like comforts is also leading more seniors to opt in at an earlier age, Saier said.
“We get asked daily what our minimum age is,” she said. “We have people in their mid-50s, as well as people in their 60s and 70s. … They are newly retired and they want that maintenance-free living, where we take care of everything.”
The senior-care industry is swiftly evolving to meet the wide spectrum of needs across the market, and more of today’s seniors are demanding the freedom to choose for themselves, Saier said. Listening to what they want is just as important as providing all the services they need, she added, and there is also plenty of opportunity for service providers to exceed expectations and give today’s senior consumers even more than they ask for.
“As you age, you still want to have just as many choices in life,” Saier said. “In our culture, we have not always honored and cared for our elders the way that we should. I love being able to tell our residents, ‘This is your time. Let’s make it amazing.’”
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Dee more than 4 years ago