5 new living facilities for seniors are in works for Tucson area

A building boom in senior living communities that began about five years ago is still going strong in the Tucson area.

At least five new independent or assisted-living facilities are in the pipeline.

One $25 million project on Orange Grove Road near Northwest Hospital has broken ground and is expected to open in 2018.

Sage Desert Senior Living will offer assisted-living and memory-care services. It is owned by Willis Development and managed by Milestone Retirement Communities.

Amenities at the 124-unit facility will include a theater, a computer center and an on-site salon.

“Community living can provide improved quality of life a person may be missing when they live at home alone,” said Joe Jedlowski, Milestone’s president. “Residents still have their independence in their own apartment, but right outside the door are services and people they can call upon for help with personal assistance and opportunities for many new friendships.”

Financing for the project was arranged by Los Angeles-based Dekel Capital, a real estate merchant bank. Sage was its third senior-housing investment.

“Sage Tucson presents a first-rate opportunity for investment due to the exceptionally strong rental market in Tucson, the superior location and the remarkable demographics,” said Shlomi Ronen, managing principal and founder of Dekel Capital.

Other developers have plans for at least four similar facilities in Oro Valley, Marana and on the northeast side of Tucson.

The industry is quickly growing as the number of residents over the age of 80 gets larger, said Mike Chapman, senior vice president of NAI Horizon.

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He said the turnover rates are much more stable than in the traditional apartment market because people don’t normally bounce around from one assisted-living facility to another.

“Once you get there, for the most part, you’re not leaving,” Chapman said. “In the normal apartment market, you have turnover of about 60 percent a year.”

NAI Horizon just closed a deal for 9.2 acres of land near Oro Valley Hospital for a 177-unit independent and assisted-living center.

Chapman said he knows of two other projects on the northwest side.

Watermark Retirement Communities, which just completed a senior living center on River Road that incorporates equine therapy, is planning an assisted-living development on Sabino Canyon Road.

Karen Powers, vice president for sales and marketing at Milestone Retirement, said Tucson is an appealing place for this type of investment because of the stable population.

“Tucson has a growing aging demographic that are staying, not snow-birding back and forth,” she said.

As new developments come online, older facilities may close or renovate to accommodate seniors from all demographics, Powers said.

“In every community there’s a hierarchy of senior communities,” she said. “We look for a healthy balance in the market.”

Sage plans to hire about 100 people and a showroom for information, tours and applicants will open in April. Visit milestoneretirement.com for updates on the showroom opening.