$72.5 million, 128-residence senior living community planned in Holland – MLive.com
HOLLAND, MI – A $72.5 million senior living community with 128 residences is being planned in Holland.
Called “The Farmstead,” the development will be located at 875 E. 24th St. next to the sprawling Van Raalte Farm Park and feature 80 congregate apartments, 24 home residences and 24 assisted living suites.
While the units aren’t expected to be ready for residents to move in until January 2024, more than 70% of them have already been reserved, said Deedre Vriesman, president and CEO of senior housing nonprofit Resthaven, the project developer.
It highlights a need for more senior housing in the Holland area, especially as many in the Baby Boomer generation begin entering the later ages of life, Vriesman said. The Farmstead is open to residents age 60 and older.
“There’s a need that’s there already, and this will help meet that need,” Vriesman said.
All rooms at the Farmstead will be Americans with Disabilities Act accessible and feature no steps nor raised parts in the floor. Vriesman said these design features will help accommodate people should they require a walker or wheelchair but are still able to live independently.
Planned amenities at the Farmstead include parking, dining facilities, a fitness center, clubhouse, activity rooms, multipurpose rooms and other common living areas. The city has allowed Resthaven to build two entrances from the community to adjacent Van Raalte Farm Park.
“(The project) is important because seniors deserve to have homes that are comfortable for them and that are built to help to be as independent for as long as possible,” Vriesman said. “We’ve not done enough work on creating space for seniors to live with dignity long-term and then have the silent supports around them to help them stay living active and engaged lives. A lot of times in the past we’ve built senior communities that have everything right there and then we kind of tuck them away.
“But seniors are an important part of our community, so we need to create space for them in our community where they’re still using the benefits of the broader community that they’ve chosen to live in.”
People can find out more about the development as well as how to reserve a residence at resthaven.org/farmstead/.
Only 24 of the rooms will be classified as assisted living and will specialize in memory care, with way-finding features, secured exits and staff trained to help those with dementia.
Construction on the project is expected to begin summer 2022. Once completed, Vriesman said roughly 30 new jobs will be created, including dining, housekeeping, activities staff and caregivers, to help staff the Farmstead.
The 128 residences will be located on about 22 acres of the 39-acre site. Future plans could include an expansion on the site, Vriesman said, but at soonest that would be 10 years out and market research would be needed to determine demand and what style of living quarters and amenities are desired.
The apartments come in one- and two-bedroom styles, ranging in size from 841 square feet to 1,572 square feet. The home residences come in both single and duplex models and range in size from 1,519 square feet to 1,544 square feet.
The assisted living suites are a private room model about 400 square feet in size.
The rooms are pet friendly, have their own HVAC systems and are designed to not hear adjacent neighbors, Vriesman said.
The residences range in monthly rent from $1,925 a month to $3,400, Vriesman said. That fee covers cable, WiFi, housekeeping, electricity and more.
Residents of the Farmstead are required to make a one-time purchase of life care giving priority access to five-star skilled nursing, Vriesman said.
The one-time cost depends both on the size of the room and chosen tier of the life care plan. It runs from $188,000 at the lowest tier with the smallest living quarters to $307,000 at the highest tier with the largest living quarters.
The cost is amortized 1.5% each month, meaning that should a person move out before about five-and-a-half years they will receive a portion back with more money being returned the earlier on.
Resthaven plans to finance the project by issuing $80 million in bonds using the Ottawa County Economic Development Corporation as a conduit to receive tax-exempt status on the bonds.
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