Gurnee approves assisted-living facility for Alzheimer's, other dementia clients
Gurnee village board members have approved an assisted-living facility for clients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia.
Developed by the LaSalle Group of Schaumburg, Autumn Leaves will rise on Hunt Club Road just north of Washington Street on Gurnee's west side.
It'll be the latest piece of what's morphed into a Hunt Club Road corridor with facilities catering to seniors.
LaSalle Group attorney David Pardys said Autumn Leaves will be a single-story, 42-unit facility on 12 acres northeast of Hunt Club and Washington.
He said it'll be similar to the other seven Autumn Leaves complexes in the Chicago area.
“It is a beautiful facility,” Pardys said.
Gurnee was selected for the Autumn Leaves because there are no facilities in the immediate area offering assisted living to clients with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, according to LaSalle Group.
Trustees recently voted 6-0 in favor of granting a special-use permit that LaSalle Group needed to construct Autumn Leaves in Gurnee. The 12 acres for Autumn Leaves are part of a larger site that had been approved seven years ago for 58 single-family homes clustered together, but village officials said the plan fizzled when the housing market collapsed.
Autumn Leaves representatives said demographic studies show about 45,000 people age 55 and older live near where the Gurnee facility will operate.
They said an estimated 1,400 people in the area have Alzheimer's.
Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik said Autumn Leaves will be welcomed in the village. “Sad, but very needed,” she added.
Autumn Leaves will be adjacent to the 101-unit Thomas Place of Gurnee complex for residents 55 and older in what's billed as a senior independent-living facility.
Autumn Leaves and Thomas Place will share an access drive.
Sunrise of Gurnee, an assisted-living center for seniors, is in proximity to Thomas Place and the Autumn Leaves property on the west side of Hunt Club Road.
LaSalle Group plans to feature enclosed “wandering gardens” and a courtyard in the middle of Autumn Leaves. Security will be present to ensure clients don't leave the property without supervision or approval.