A Vancouver elder-care company’s decision to build in its own backyard for the first time is nearly a bingo.
Springwood Landing Gracious Retirement Living, the large complex rising from the field near the intersection of Southeast 136th Avenue and Mill Plain Boulevard, is 80 percent pre-rented even though it won’t open until April.
Winning over the last few residents won’t take long, said marketing representative Amber Chamberlain.
“We expect to be well at 100 percent by the time we open,” she said. The project broke ground in the spring.
At four stories tall and 130,000 square feet, the center is hard to miss. Besides apartments under construction, it is the only development on the former airport property northwest of that intersection.
It will offer 140 units, ranging from studio apartments to one- and two-bedroom units. Prices start at nearly $2,300 per month, according to Chamberlain. Amenities include three meals a day, a movie theater and a library. It is open to people age 62 and older with no health care requirements.
Managers and assistant managers for the center will live on-site. Centers of these sizes typically employ about 10 full-time employees and close to 15 part time.
Backing the whole development is Hawthorn Retirement Group, headquartered near Vancouver Mall. Though it owns and manages about 60 facilities across the country and in Canada, this will be its first in Clark County and second in Washington.
In June, Seattle-based investment firm Columbia Pacific Advisors bought Hawthorn Retirement Group, adding to its own formidable portfolio in elder care. It operates 300 such communities.
Caring for the elderly is shaping up to be a strong local industry. The number of local residents age 65 and older grew nearly 40 percent — roughly 20,000 people — from 2010 to 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
