Project name: The Springs at The WaterfrontLocation: Vancouver, Washington

Completion: July 2024

Size: 465,000 square feet

Owner/Developer: The Springs Living

Architect: GBD Architects

Interior Designer: GBD Architects

Engineers: KPFF, Ocean Park Mechanical, Prairie Electric

General Contractor: Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company

Submitting Company: Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company

Other Key Participants: Pacific Medical Buildings (development partner), Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (equity partner), City of Vancouver, Interface Engineering, Lango Hansen

Subcontractors: Alliance Laundry Systems, Anderson Poolworks, Bargreen Ellingson of Oregon, Building Material Specialties, Building Specialties Northwest, Cash’s Drapery, Center Pointe Signs, Chown Portland, Dallas Glass, DeaMor Associates, DE-EL Enterprises, Dero, Don Frank Floors, Eagle Striping Services, ES&A Sign & Awning, F.D. Thomas, Fireside Contracting Services, Floor Solutions, Flynn BEC, Foster Bray, Fought & Co., Conco Concrete, Greenhaven Landscapes, Hospitality Services, Infinity Images, Interior Technology, J&S Masonry, J.S. Perrott & Co., Knife River Corp.-Northwest, Kraft Screens & Window Washington, Lanz Cabinet Shop, Legend Custom Woodworking, Mincey Marble Manufacturing, Ocean Park Mechanical, Otis Elevator, Overhead Door Co. of Portland, Pacific Stair, Performance Contracting, Prairie Electric, Precision Rail of Oregon, Pro-Bel Enterprises, Proclean, Safemark Systems, Schonert & Associates, Sign Wizards, Standard TV & Appliance, Starline Windows USA, Superior Fence, Tapani, Teufel Nursery, Viking Automatic Sprinkler, Washington Commercial Painters, Wessco Equipment, Williamsen & Bleid

The Springs at The Waterfront rises 12 stories along the Columbia River, representing a bold reimagining of senior living in an urban setting.

The 250-residence community seamlessly integrates Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care across approximately 465,000 square feet, with two levels of underground parking. The project achieved LEED Gold and Fitwel 3-star certifications.

The project has attracted the youngest demographic The Springs Living has seen.

The community faced unique challenges during development. Located less than a mile from Pearson Field airport, builders encountered strict FAA height limitations, ultimately setting the building just 6 inches below regulatory restrictions. During excavation, crews uncovered contaminated soils and unexpected buried structures from the site’s industrial past. Workers removed 2,029 tons of concrete foundations, 187 wooden piles and 267 tons of steel. An 1889 brick foundation from the DuBois Brothers Sawmill was cataloged by the State Department of Archaeology before removal.

The building’s innovative design places Memory Care residents on upper floors, providing equitable access to Columbia River views. A dedicated wellness suite on the second floor houses fitness classes, physical therapy services and an elevated pool with distinctive privacy screens that maintain river views while blocking visibility from neighboring buildings.

Departing from traditional senior dining models, The Springs features “Fancho’s Public House,” a bistro-heavy concept creating a casual atmosphere where residents can “come as they are.”

The exterior facade combines masonry, dark bronze, and wood tones in patterns inspired by sunset reflections on the Columbia River. Interior spaces feature subtle whites, grays and beiges complemented by natural Oregon oak and stone textures.

Thoughtfully selected materials like Knotwood, an aluminum cladding system that replicates wood while offering superior durability, allow the building to withstand challenging waterfront conditions.

Residents enjoy a ninth-floor wine bar, outdoor roof deck with garden plots, putting green and dog run. Ground-floor spaces connect to waterfront paths, playgrounds and outdoor dining areas.

Two natural gas-fueled rooftop generators augment emergency power systems, allowing residents to shelter in place during emergencies while maintaining essential services.

While the project did not include specific MWESB participation requirements, Howard S. Wright and the project team remained committed to providing opportunities for diverse firms. Team members participated in various outreach efforts at local tradeshows and association events including PBDG, OAME and MCIP. As a result of these efforts, more than $5.4 million in work was awarded to 18 MWESB subcontractors and vendors.

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Construction is set to begin soon on Burnside Living, a 132-unit senior living community being developed by the .

The $19 million, five-story structure will be located on East Burnside Street and 12th Avenue and have ground-floor retail and on-site parking. The building will have large rooftop gardens and a central courtyard.

The church has been planning to construct a senior living facility for more than 15 years, said Jeff Miller, business administrator at Portland Foursquare. However, the plans didn’t materialize until the Foursquare Foundation, which helps fund projects for Foursquare churches, offered to pay for the project’s initial costs.

“We have seniors in our church that are going to be facing retirement age and are facing it right now, and we’ve wanted to get them a place to live,” Miller said. “There is great transportation access, and it’s right next to downtown Portland, so we thought this could be a unique place to live.”

Profit revenue played a part in building the facility, Miller said. Because of the facility’s large size, both the church and the foundation, which will own two thirds of it, stand to benefit financially. With the money, the church will establish more community outreach programs, according to Miller.

The project was designed by and will be built by .

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Portland City Council on Thursday denied an appeal by the East Portland Neighborhood Association, a conglomerate of 13 East Portland neighborhoods, to prevent construction of a 10,500-square-foot home care facility on Southeast 174^th Avenue.

Members of the association claimed that the size and number of occupants of the facility, proposed by local residential care company Asa Care, would not be suitable for a residential zone. Bonny McKnight, chair of the Russell Neighborhood Association and the Citywide Land Use Group, said the area around 174^th Avenue does not have the proper transportation or commercial zoning to handle a large facility.

“Proponents of this building are saying basically, ‘They (the patients) have no need for interaction; they don’t need to be close to transit; they don’t need to be close to a park or a small business district where they can shop or go to medical offices,’” McKnight said. “If we were to look at this and define it as clearly as it is, it’s a warehouse for people with a limited quality of life.”

To show that the association wouldn’t oppose all medical facilities in the residential area, McKnight added that the Centennial Neighborhood already has a large percentage of the city’s group homes.

“It’s not, ‘I don’t one of these in my backyard,’ she said. “(The neighbors have) proven it’s not about the facility, but about the quality of life that will be in that facility.”

However, four of the five council members ruled that the facility is authorized under the city’s zoning code as “group living with conditional use,” a code that authorizes large structures in residential areas as long as they mitigate issues regarding their size.  Council members said it would meet these issues because it would be set back far from the street and there would be a large amount of landscaping surrounding it.

Tom Lewis, chair of the Centennial Community Association, said he disagrees with the ruling and said it could lead to large nursing facilities being built in other residential neighborhoods.

“The rest of the city doesn’t have this problem, but it could open the door to enable these facilities to be throughout the city, so we should pay attention,” he said. “To go to this length to use a multi-housing facility and pretend it looks just like the other (group home facilities in the area) is, as politicians would say, disingenuous.”

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According to the 2000 census, the median age in Richland is 63. And the aging residents are now facing a lack of suitable housing.

“What was happening was that the older generation had to leave their farmhouses, which were not accessible,” said Dale Inslee, director of asset management for the Northeast Oregon Housing Authority. “Rather than stay in their community, with their friends and parades, they had to move to the next larger city, Baker City, which had plenty of elderly housing.”

The Northeast Oregon Housing Authority, along with other organizations, found a solution: Renovation of a former elementary school building to create 10 units of accessible senior housing. The building already is being reused. Presently, the gym is used for overflow basketball games when nearby schools need it. The cafeteria hosts Grange dinners and Meals on Wheels programs, and the school library is now the town’s only public library.

The school district was responsible for maintenance of the building’s unused portions, however, and that was expensive.

“The community was concerned about the school getting a no-longer-used look,” Inslee said.

The housing authority will use state and federal grants to pay for a full renovation of two classroom wings, said Tom Stark, project architect with Bend-based .

The housing units will have one or two bedrooms and be accessible for disabled persons, Stark said. Though the building’s use will change significantly, the renovation is not quite as complicated as it might seem, he said.

“Luckily, in these older schools, there are large window walls,” Stark said. “This construction type lends itself well to completely taking out window walls while leaving in the actual structural components.”

As a result, the building’s structural integrity will not be compromised.

In addition to housing units, the renovation project calls for creating shared community spaces, like an outdoor barbecue patio and bench areas in interior hallways. Residents also will have full access to the cafeteria and gymnasium for family parties and exercise opportunities, Inslee said.

Daylighting systems will include lighting tubes, which reflect light and create a skylight effect with a smaller roof impact. The building’s roof will be replaced, and a sidewalk connection will be constructed so that residents can access downtown, Stark said.

One of the project challenges is the number of building uses, Inslee said. The grants paying for the housing portion of the project are restricted for housing use, so other sources – such as library money and lease fees from other organizations – must be used to maintain the building’s library, gym and cafeteria. The school district gifted the entire school to the housing authority, but it will need to work in partnership with other organizations to make funding distinctions clear, Inslee said.

Stark said his team is using an unusual and newer building code, the International Building Code as adopted by Oregon, to be able to isolate the classroom wings from the rest of the building in code terms. That will prevent the requirement of upgrades for the building’s non-housing portions.

Stark added that his firm is assembling a team of engineers for the project, and hopes to issue a request for bids in the next couple of months. The team is seeking local contractors, in particular, he said. Construction could start at the beginning of next year.

“Instead of having this unused school building be a maintenance burden and an eyesore, we’ve found a perfect reuse to serve the seniors in town,” Stark said.

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A growing number of older Americans are modifying their homes instead of moving into retirement communities or assisted-living quarters, according to the National Aging in Place Council. And some local builders are looking to accommodate that mounting building niche.

Portland-based recently hired an aging in place specialist, Stacey Foisy, as part of the launch of its new Universal Design Services, which features home safety assessments and aging-in-place retrofits. Its launch coincides with National Aging in Place week, which begins today.

“As baby boomers are getting older, the demographic shift is leading to a natural uptick in interest in this sort of thing,” said Zack Semke, director of business development at Hammer and Hand. “Barrier-free retrofits make it possible to live in houses and be independent, safe, and happy and really have a different experience than if you’re forced to sell your house.”

Examples of universal design retrofit measures include step-less entries, wider doors, lowered surfaces and open floor plans.

“Aging-in-place may conjure images of institutional style changes to a house, but that’s not necessarily the case,” Semke said. “The modifications are consistent with our ethos around fine design too.”

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General contractor LMC Construction is performing a full remodel of the Stewart Terrace Apartments, a 29-unit senior living community in Sherwood.

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Royalton Place, a senior independent living home in Milwaukie, is receiving a remodel of its main entry area. Walls were removed to open up the space, a reception desk was installed, and walls, doors, flooring and lighting were updated. The general contractor is Todd Hess Building Co.

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is converting twin 8800-square foot buildings from residential care residences to memory care units at The Springs at Clackamas Woods.

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Southeast Portland has many senior care homes, but the newest – and arguably the stateliest looking – is for sale by motivated owners.

The Hawthorne Gardens Senior Living Community, at 2828 S.E. Taylor St., sits on a corner block surrounded by carved stone and wrought iron fencing. The building looks more like a conglomeration of townhomes than an assisted living facility. The owners are looking to sell the property to interested investors.

The building was built in 2007, more recently than other senior care homes in close-in Portland. The property was developed by Marquis Cos. of Milwaukie and managed by Sunwest Management, the Salem-based senior living management company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. Marvin Calhoun, one of the 18 owners, said at the time he thought it would be a passive investment. The property is now managed by Frontier Management and has been since May 2009.

The facility is zoned residential, atypical for a senior care home. And like some others in the area, it is surrounded by a residential neighborhood.

“The residents in the home have more of a feeling of living in a residential neighborhood,” Calhoun said. “It’s homier to them than some place in a commercial area or on a busy street.”

The property is listed for $9.75 million. It includes 51 units, from studios to two-bedrooms, and 65 beds; the cost per bed is $150,000. The property covers 52,000 square feet over 0.75 acres.

The facility presently provides three meals per day, 24-hour staff, housekeeping services, activity planning and memory care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

For details on purchasing Hawthorne Gardens Senior Living Community, contact Calhoun at 360-693-9080 or marvinc0459@msn.com.

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Don Mazziotti has his eye on undeveloped property in downtown Beaverton, but it’s not for a baseball stadium this time.

After negotiations to build a Triple-A stadium in Beaverton came to halt in October, the city hit upon a new idea to reinvigorate its city core: more housing.

Beaverton city council last week reviewed a draft Memorandum of Understanding with Providence Health and Services to locate a three-to-five story, mixed-use senior living facility called ElderPlace at a city-owned block bounded by First Street, Angel and Main avenues, and Farmington Road.

Mazziotti, hired in September as the city’s new community development director, says if Providence can secure funding, ElderPlace could jump start more housing projects in the central city.

Except for a few smaller townhouse projects and mixed-use condo project The Round, Beaverton has seen little multi-family residential development in its downtown in recent years.

“Beaverton has seen the same pause in real estate and development as everywhere else,” Mazziotti said. “But recent reports on third-quarter performance show that Beaverton has seen an expansion of leased space and rents at traditional levels.”

“This is long overdue,” said Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle. “Older apartments in downtown have been closed or torn down with nothing to replace them. This project would be in a highly visible spot. We want it to look good and make some financial sense.”

ElderPlace would provide 50 to 60 units of assisted-living housing, with ground-floor health care and social services provided by Providence. The company currently runs five ElderPlace communities in the Portland-metro area, with a total annual revenue of $45 million in 2008.

Statistics from the US Census Bureau’s 2006-08 American Community Survey indicate that 9.6 percent of the population of Beaverton is over 65 years of age.

“There is a need for senior housing in our central city,” said Beaverton City Councilor Cathy Stanton. “We have a substantial senior population and the need was present for such a project before this great recession.”

Providence has applied for funds through the city’s HOME Investment Partnership Program, which provides money to increase affordable housing, according to Gary Walker, director of public affairs for Providence.

The company also has discussed applying for federal funding through low-income tax credits and other programs, Walker said.

“This has to happen fairly quickly given the time period for applying for federal funding,” Doyle said. “We’re trying to get our ducks in a row here so we can help (Providence) find federal money.”

Mazziotti says he estimates the cost of the facility being between $6 million and $7 million.

“I can’t predict the future better than anyone else,” Mazziotti said. “Whether economics will allow this remains to be seen, but if this project goes forward, several adjoining properties owned by public entities would become likely candidates for redevelopment.”

Some of the neighboring properties around the ElderPlace site are owned by the Beaverton School District while others are owned by private parties.

Mazziotti said the city will embark on a technical planning exercise next year to come up with a redevelopment plan for the whole central district. A significant part of that could be more four- and five-story housing structures, he said.

“When I say higher densities, I’m not speaking of 30-story buildings,” Mazziotti said. “But the possibility exists to redevelop these properties into neighborhood scale developments.”

“Given our tight supply of property, any new housing will have to be vertical,” Doyle said. “Some people don’t like that, but we have to grow up rather than out.”

Beaverton City Council will meet Nov. 30th to discuss whether or not to enter into an MOU with Providence for ElderPlace. A development agreement could be struck as early as April 2010.

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