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In 2002, Touchmark quietly started buying up parcels in unincorporated Washington County.

Today, the Beaverton-based senior living provider holds more than 80 acres of contiguous, prime real estate in the West Hills, and construction of Phase I of its first local retirement community recently reached the halfway point. The Touchmark in the West Hills will provide a variety of living options and a gamut of care services and amenities 鈥� and conceptual renderings show the firm has high hopes for the imprint.

“It’s important when you build in a location that your views aren’t blocked by the buildings around you, so we wanted to buy all the lots here before we develop,” said Werner G. Nistler Jr., Touchmark’s founder and chairman. “Our vision has been that we pick up as many acres as we could in one area and build as the market provides.”

PERFECT TIMING

The main entrance to Touchmark in the West Hills is Touchmark Way, a public-access road created for the project off Breyer Lane. The road eventually will wind around a water feature and pickleball courts, and run past lodge buildings arrayed on a steep perspective.

The vertiginous topography is central to the marketing of the project, but also has created challenges. Touchmark’s in-house design team, along with LRS Architects, has had to incorporate more stacking of units, a sky bridge to connect residents with services and massive retaining walls to slow erosion. And soils testing also didn’t fully reveal the rocky substrata below.

But the well-defined elevation allows for what may be the most novel aspect of the project 鈥� a plot of pinot noir grapes. Wine will feature prominently in the development’s image 鈥� oenology courses will be offered and the fruit grown on-site will be bottled under a Touchmark label.

“It’s a real creative way of turning what could have just been some landscaping into a real amenity and something that can be a real positive,鈥� Marcus Breuer, Touchmark’s newly minted CEO, said.

Plus, added Nistler, “Who wouldn’t want to live in a vineyard?”

Planning for the project was so carefully considered that the first vine cuttings went into the ground three years ago, with an eye toward being able to bottle the first vintage from grapes grown on site around the time the project opens in fall 2017.

The hillier areas that aren’t vineyard will remain open space. For now, only about 12 of 80 acres are being improved. But a conceptual site plan from 2013 shows a much more fleshed-out vision with mid- and low-rise buildings spread around a trail and street array.

MEETING MARKET DEMAND

It’s likely the effort would have taken flight sooner, but for dips in the U.S. economy. The demand for senior housing is surging, and the baby boom generation has different views on aging, Nistler said.

“It’s a bit like a college campus, where all your services are in the same location,” he said.

Touchmark’s residents range from 60 to 100-plus, and the idea behind its facilities is “aging in place.” Care options range from full independence to complete memory care. Offering a range of services is important because couples often don’t have the same health needs, Breuer said.

Phase I will feature two large lodges. One building will contain 126 condo units across four wings while the other will contain 138 homes with connected assisted living and memory care services. All corner units will feature glassy conservatories with wraparound perspectives.

Sixty-eight of the 80 total acres will remain open space, with walking trails, garden plots, water features and an amphitheater. The 40,000-square foot clubhouse will feature health and fitness amenities as well as an array of dining and social rooms oriented around westerly views.

Nistler founded Touchmark in Beaverton in 1980. It’s grown into one of Oregon’s largest privately held companies with 2,400 employees across 11 retirement complexes in nine states and one Canadian province. But it’s still based in the same office park on Griffth Drive.

The West Hills complex will have a similar look to Touchmark’s facilities in Boise and Bend. 聽The project, which is Andersen Construction’s 11^th for the company, has managed to keep on schedule without crews having to work many irregular hours.

The development of the remainder of the property will depend on the success of the project. Breuer said senior housing is a game of supply and demand, like any other market segment.

“Portland actually tends to be fairly educated about senior housing and has a higher percent of people willing to go into it than other markets,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut that penetration rate still isn’t very high. For us, it’s an education process. We survey all our new residents, and 90 percent say they wished they moved in sooner.”

Each day can become complicated as people age, and a new approach to senior housing used by companies like Touchmark lets residents focus on what entertains them, Breuer said.

“There’s no gutters to keep clear here, no roof to clean,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s our job.”

PROJECT BOX

PROJECT: Touchmark in the West Hills Phase I

Owner: Touchmark Senior Living

Contractor: Andersen Construction

Architect: LRS Architects

Substantial completion: Fall 2017

Units: 290, for people 60 and older