Windsor plans another facility

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Owners of the Windsor at Lakewood Ranch, an assisted-living facility, christened a new facility dedicated to memory care and Alzheimer’s disease patients in May.

Those developers now are working on plans to bring their care offerings full circle as they construct an independent-living facility within walking distance of their other two projects.

Project developer Pete Russell, who owns The Windsor of Lakewood Ranch with his wife, Cathy Layton, and business partners Tim and Gail Buchanan, has under contract a 4.5-acre site near the existing Reflections memory care and Windsor assisted-living facilities, both off Natures Way. They currently are developing a site plan, securing entitlements and handling other details necessary to move forward with the project.

Russell said he hopes to start construction on the project in the first quarter of 2013. As currently planned, the facility would be a five-story building with 110 one- and two-bedroom apartments, each equipped with a kitchen and some with garages. There would activity and dining areas for residents, as well as an option for a sixth floor.

Although the couples have been in the assisted-living facility business for decades, the idea of offering independent living to seniors is a new endeavor.

“This is a brand-new concept for us,” Russell said. “We have conceptual floor plans, and now we are working on tweaking it. We wanted it to feel more like an upscale hotel.”

“We’ve toyed with this idea for a number of years,” he said.

Russell said developers originally planned to extend their existing assisted-living facility but could not configure the new building on the property like they wanted.

Instead, they are purchasing acreage immediately north of their Reflections facility, with frontage along Town Center Parkway.

“It’s probably the most ideal independent-living site we’ve ever come across,” Russell said. “You’ve got banks, Publix, restaurants. There are services people like. They can walk or ride their bikes there. This whole area is just ideal.

“Assisted living or memory care can be more need driven,” Russell said. “(This) is a lifestyle choice. They want someone to provide meals for them, activities and social events.”

Russell said the independent-living facility industry took a hit with the recession but is seeing a comeback. The timing, Russell said, is right to move forward with the project.

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Transition
In July, a large Ohio-based real-estate investment trust, Healthcare REIT, purchased the buildings for the Windsor at Lakewood Ranch assisted-living center and its adjacent Reflections memory care center for $30 million.

Pete Russell said the deal has no impact on the operations of either facility, because they have leased the buildings back and are operating them as before.

“It’s a financing transaction,” Russell said, noting his business has had a relationship with Healthcare REIT for about 15 years. “It gives us an opportunity to expand our business. We’re leveraging our ability to borrow, and it frees up some of the credit we have. This (memory care) building we started out from day one owned by the REIT.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].