CAMBRIDGE, MN – Adolfson and Peterson Construction officially broke ground on the $49.5 million redevelopment and expansion of GracePointe Crossing senior living community. Local government and business leaders, the project development team, PHS staff and GracePointe Crossing staff and residents gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony held on the main campus, located on RiverHills Parkway, where construction began earlier this fall.
“The vision of PHS has been paramount in addressing and providing services in what we refer to as the senior tsunami,’” said Mayor Marlys Palmer, who addressed the guests attending the ceremony. Palmer spoke about the value GracePointe Crossing has brought to the community, by providing housing and services for older adults as well as through programs, educational activities and caregiver support. “Our citizens look forward to the completion of this building project, not only for this common good, but also for the employment opportunities and the assurance that our city will continue to grow and prosper.”
The redevelopment and expansion project will reconnect the living options at GracePointe Crossing by moving the Gables East and West care centers. The new care center will serve up to 141 long-term residents, including care center memory care residents. The building will connect to GracePointe Crossing Commons assisted living to consolidate amenities and services and enrich community life. The new Gables will be designed in a home-like setting to accommodate Liberty Personally Designed Living™, the care model of PHS. An additional 50 senior apartments and 18 assisted living memory care apartments will be included in the new construction, as well as a therapy center for resident and outpatient services. A new Town Center will feature a chapel/auditorium, bistro, wellness center, salon and theater. Ten Village Homes (townhomes) were eliminated to accommodate the new construction.
The project to expand and reposition GracePointe Crossing will meet the changing housing and services demands of older adults in the region. “This is an investment in the long term future of this community,” Dan Lindh, President of PHS, said as part of his comments to the audience. Lindh shared his close connection to Cambridge and GracePointe Crossing. His mother lives in a townhome in the senior living community and he visits regularly, calling Cambridge the “hub of the family.”
Lindh detailed the increasing need and demand for senior housing and services, describing the growing population of older adults as slow now but rapidly increasing in the next decade. Trends show that the need and demand for senior apartments is increasing while skilled nursing care is decreasing. The distribution of living options in GracePointe Crossing’s plan reflects these trends by “right-sizing” for the present and future needs of older adults, and enables GracePointe Crossing to better serve the emerging older adult population.
GracePoint Crossing marks AP’s 13th project with PHS. In their 20-year relationship, AP and PHS have built 12 projects together. In 2015, AP completed Folkestone at the Promenade in Wayzata, MN, the largest and most complex to date, encompassing over 1 million square feet. AP was awarded the project in 2009, but it was soon delayed due to the financial crisis. Undaunted, the AP team recognized the value of the client relationship and turned the three-year delay into a long preconstruction period and successfully solved the project’s many site and infrastructure challenges. The varied projects for PHS have firmly established AP’s relationship in the senior living sector, leading to projects with other senior living providers.