WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2008
by Jenn DankoConstruction is underway on Hamilton County's first assisted living facility, a $4 million project that is part of a strengthening senior housing sector in southern Illinois.
Fox Meadows Supportive Living Facility, a 30,430 square foot facility that includes 41 studio and one-bedroom apartments, is slated for completion in fall 2008 and is one of seven centers constructed by Swansea-based Holland Construction in the southern half of the state in the past three years.
The center is located in the town of McLeansboro.
"There has really been an emergence in the building of these types of facilities," says Bruce Holland, Holland Construction's president and CEO. His company focuses the majority of its building projects south of the Chicago market, and recently, senior housing has been on the company's contractual radar.
"A big part of what's happened is that the state of Illinois has been issuing more licenses for supportive facilities," Holland says.
According to the Illinois Health Care Association, there are an estimated 36,000 assisted living facilities nationwide; but because many of these health-related centers do not share a common name, their exact number is difficult pinpoint, the association reports.
Additionally, the NCB Capital Impact Cooperative reports that by 2050, 20 percent-or one in every five Americans-will be age 65 or older.
Such statistics translate into larger project dockets for Illinois contractors. And while Holland says that his company has seen in an increase in construction of senior living centers, he says that business has remained steady in healthcare construction in general.
"Years ago, the majority of our work came from retail, but we soon realized that was the most volatile part of the economy," says Holland, whose company delved into off-campus hospitals and medical offices buildings about 12 years ago. Since then, business has steadily grown, especially in the past three years.
"The ones that we are involved in are private, but also accept public pay," adds Holland, noting that the state government has stepped in to help fund the development of these types of facilities in the more sparsely populated areas of the state.
Randy Dauby, president and project owner Fox Meadows, says the need for a supportive living facility of this magnitude was determined in 2001 by a community health mapping program.
In the case of Fox Meadows, each living area will include kitchenettes and be available to residents 65 and older. Seniors will also have the option to eat daily meals in a central dining room accompanied by a full service kitchen for food service.
Holland is expected to complete the project in November, and Dauby says the hope is to move in its first residents between Christmas and New Year's Day
"We already have quite a few people interested," Dauby adds.
Blair Minton and Associates Inc., a firm founded by McLeansboro native Blair Minton, will manage Fox Meadows. The architectural firm on the project is Gleason Architects PC of Sugar Grove.
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