Construction has begun on a senior living home in Lincolnwood that will provide care for varying needs, including a special unit for dementia patients.
Plans for the facility, previously approved by the village board, show 380 units ranging from studios to two bedrooms, along with an in-house station for emergency medical technicians. The center, which has been described by its developers as “upscale,” will serve assisted living needs and memory care patients with medical care.
Entertainment also is expected to be a main attraction of the facility, which is expected to include a bistro, an indoor pool, patios, a theater and game rooms, according to plans submitted to the village.
The July groundbreaking of the facility follows Lincolnwood board members’ approval last year of zoning relief for the 13-acre site at 3400 W. Pratt Avenue, an area of town zoned for industrial business use.
Dallas-based senior living facility developer South Bay Partners, the company developing the property, also endured a months-long process to get permission to use building materials that fall short of the village’s fire code.
The company, which is currently building four other similar senior homes in Texas, bought the lot for roughly $6 million from Oak Brook-based CenterPoint Properties, according to Steven Kohn, senior vice president of commercial real estate brokerage firm Colliers International.
Kohn, who brokered the sale, said the property had been on the market for 15 years following the eventual relocation of technology services company Bell and Howell, which moved its headquarters to North Carolina after operating in Lincolnwood for several decades.
“The site was on the market for a long time because the village was very specific of what they wanted there,” Kohn said. “It’s filling a very important need for the community because memory loss is an unbelievably trying experience for people (with family members) who have these issues.”
Adam Arnold, a representative of South Bay Partners, described the so-far unnamed senior housing facility as a “very vibrant place to live,” and told the village board last year that the concept of the development is focused on dining and wellness.
Plans for the building show enough housing for 500 residents, including at least 250 independent living units, 90 assisted-living spaces and 44 memory-care units.
South Bay Partners is a full-service real estate development company that specializes solely on senior housing, according to the company’s web site.
The company operates senior living facilities in several states, including Park at Golf Mill in Niles, Park at Vernon Hills and eight others in Illinois, according to information from its website.
Construction on the Lincolnwood facility is expected to be completed by the spring of 2018, according to Arnold. An official groundbreaking ceremony is planned for Sept. 13, he said.
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.