$40 million 'high end' senior living facility gets approval in Elgin
A project is moving forward in Elgin for a $40 million "high end" senior living facility with amenities like a pub with daily happy hour, a full-service spa, a putting green, a playground and a fenced-in dog park.
The Elgin City Council unanimously approved Wednesday night the plan for a 140-unit, four-story facility at 450 S. Randall Road, south of South Street. The facility would be part of New Perspective Senior Living, based in Minnesota, which has 24 facilities in the Midwest.
"To the developers, I'd just like to say, thank you for bringing such a great project," Councilwoman Rose Martinez said. "If you think of the tax revenue, the jobs and the economic impact, it's just incredible."
The facility would include 107 market-rate rental apartments for independent living and assisted living - with a full kitchen, in-unit laundry and screened-in porch - plus 33 memory care units in a more secure portion of the building.
Other amenities are a bistro, activity center, library, community room that would also serve as chapel and theater and a wellness center with a warm-water therapy pool.
The 187,544 square-foot facility would have 24-hour staffing, employing 80 people and providing more than $1.6 million in wages, city documents state.
The city council is expected to give final approval in two weeks. If all goes smoothly, groundbreaking would be in late summer and the facility would be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2021, said Chris Buday, director of planning, design and construction for Boldt Holdings, the development management firm for New Perspective.
The senior subdivision Edgewater by Del Webb is south of the proposed new senior living facility. An agreement calls for New Perspective to build a city street from South Street to Prairie Shore Drive, a private street that dead-ends in Edgewater. Edgewater would dedicate its portion of Prairie Shore Drive as a city street and in turn use a parking lot within the new development to store snow and landscaping equipment.
The developers worked with Edgewater in a "truly exemplary" fashion to devise the agreement, Community Development Director Marc Mylott said.
New Perspective's website lists 13 senior living facilities in Minnesota, nine in Wisconsin, one in North Dakota and one in Silvis, Illinois. The company believes the key to successful aging is combining physical activity, mental stimulation, dining experience, and social and spiritual engagement, Buday said.
The Elgin location was chosen based on demographics, availability of senior living and market demand, Buday said. Residents would be able to "age in place," Buday said, meaning that, if needed, they could transition from independent to assisted living in the same unit, and to memory care living in the same building.
The Elgin facility would be built on a 27-acre property. The project leaves about 8 acres open for additional development, mostly likely townhouses or single-family homes, according to city documents.
The land belongs to the descendants of the late Arthur W. Funk, CEO of A.J. Funk & Co., the manufacturer of Sparkle Glass Cleaner, and Elgin Paper Co., according to land records and information from the developer.
New Perspective is planning "several" other projects in locations throughout the Chicago area, he said, but he declined to say where.