Three New Senior Communities

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By Alyssa Gautieri |

Within the last six months, three senior living communities have announced they will plant stakes or open in Monmouth County. While in different stages of development, the three communities each offer a range of amenities, services and room options.

Chelsea Senior Living of Shrewsbury

Capitol Seniors Housing (CSH), will begin construction on a new 55-and-older residence in Shrewsbury. The $29.3 million community is slated to open in the third quarter of 2018.
Chelsea Senior Living of Shrewsbury, located at 515 Shrewsbury Ave., will be the first assisted living residence built in Shrewsbury since 2000. Scott Stewart, managing partner at CHS, said, “Shrewsbury is such a great market, filled with great people who have lived here for their entire lives, and we thought the market was unserved. A new, state-of-the-art property will accommodate that need.”

The development will feature oversized windows to provide natural light and bright décor to bring a lively atmosphere to the residence. Stewart said, “With wide spacious hallways and doorways, we want to maintain a bright, open and cheerful environment within the community.” He added, “Seniors want a home that is more like a high-end hotel than a traditional senior living community.”
The property will offer 85 apartments, with 58 for assisted living and 27 for memory care. While prices have yet to be set for the apartments, they will be congruent with various room and care options, he said.
“We really pride ourselves on building great communities that people are proud to call home,” Stewart said. “In each of our communities, we offer preventive health care, great nutritional options and an abundance of stimulating activities. We see our residents’ lives improve almost instantaneously.”
CHS has also partnered with Chelsea Senior Living, who will be charge of running the day-to-day management of the community.
Bayshore Village was designed with resiliency in mind to prevent future storm damage.

Bayshore Village – Port Monmouth Section of Middletown

Bayshore Village, a 110-unit age-restricted development for people ages 62 or older in Port Monmouth at 100 Shoal Harbour Court, has re-opened following severe damage caused by Super Storm Sandy in 2012. Community Investment Strategies (CIS) has replaced the prior development, also named Bayshore Village, with a more resilient building on an elevated site.
In the last few months, about 40 residents have moved into the community, some of whom were residents forced to evacuate the previous 96-unit development during Sandy. “We worked with the prior owners to track the residences that were displaced,” said Barbara K. Schoor, vice president of CIS. “By staying in touch with them, we were able to make them a part of the process and encourage them to come back when the new building opened.”
Following the reconstruction, the development has seen some upgrades. “The new building is a modern, state-of-the-art, energy efficient and resilient building, which is very different than what had been on the property before,” said Schoor. “It is a different lifestyle, but we think it will better address the needs of the senior population.”
Following the damage caused by Sandy, CIS chose to address and design the new property with resiliency in mind. The property was raised above flood elevation, the storm water management systems were designed to better control water entering the property, impact-resistant windows were installed, and an emergency generator maintains power to the security system, the fire alarm system, elevators, common areas, stair- wells and hallways in the case of an emergency.
“We wanted to take it a step further and be extra cautious because of what happened during Sandy,” added Schoor.
At Bayshore Village, a Heritage Village community, rents range from $755 to $889 for a one-bedroom apartment and $905 to $1,025 for a two-bedroom apartment.
Heritage Village at Oakhurst.                                   – Courtesy Heritage Village

Heritage Village at Oakhurst – Oakhurst Section of Ocean Township

Less than six months ago, CIS also opened Heritage Village at Oakhurst, a 93-unit rental apartment community for the age 55+ population. Rents range from $933 for one-bedroom apartments and $1,120 for a two-bedroom apartment.
Heritage Village, located at 777 W Park Ave., Oakhurst, was also designed with emergency preparedness in mind – all of the mechanical systems and emergency systems are above the flood elevation to prevent damage in the case of an emergency, and an insulation and weather barrier system was installed.
The Oakhurst property was intended to replace affordable senior housing facilities, which were made inhabitable by Hurricane Irene in 2011. Schoor said, “The township knew there was a need in the community to provide replacement housing.”
The $23.2 million project was financed with the help of $11 million in federal funds related to the Hurricane Sandy recovery program, as well as $11.4 million from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
To improve resident readiness in the case of another storm, CIS has also implemented a program – at all of its developments – to educate residents about preparedness. “After Sandy, we saw that, in general, people that lived in apartments weren’t as prepared as people that lived in private homes,” Schoor said. “We saw this sudden reliance on the landlord to provide for the residents in a way that we didn’t expect. People didn’t even have flashlights or emergency radios.”

This article was first published in the August 3 – 10, 2017 print edition of The Two River Times.