Heavy work is heating up on the big expansion/renovation at Cedar Sinai Park, where administrators are eager to roll out a new method of senior care.

The Southwest Portland project will add two buildings, each made of two self-sustaining “homes” containing 12 beds each. A total of 48 beds will be added to CSP. Phase 1 was recently completed, and crews are beginning to make their big push on Phase II, which involves the most square-footage. The overall move to a post-acute rehabilitation center should wrap by January 2018.

Ground was broken on the $33 million project – designed by LRS Architects – in summer 2015. The somewhat extended timeline is due to the project phasing – as one section is completed and crews move on to the next, residents begin to occupy the new space.

“The next seven months are pivotal to making our schedule,” senior project manager Kraig O’Connor said.

By far, the biggest challenge for general contractor R&H Construction has been performing the work while the existing facility is fully occupied, according to project team members. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems need to continue functioning as they are upgraded.

The risk of cutting the wrong pipe or electrical wire has an added level of severity when live people depend on it, O’Connor said. That is why surfaces have color-coded tape, delineating which elements are to stay and which will go.

“It’s different going into an unused building and having to tear it apart,” he said. “Here we have to be incredibly careful.

“We obviously don’t want to interrupt the services that they need to provide, but we need them to know we’re here. That’s our biggest challenge, and they’ve been amazing partners.”

Cedar Sinai Park CEO Sandra Simon returned the compliment. She said she’s been involved in five similar remodels during which buildings were occupied during construction.

“I’ve been involved in projects where we’ve felt it,” she said, “but they’ve been amazing partners. I haven’t had any residents call me to complain – no families, no neighbors.”

Some residents, CSP officials insist, love the excitement the renovation affords – the noise, the new faces, the changes in scenery. (No residents were on-site for the 91��Ƶ to ask to confirm this.)

“Some of our residents have made friends,” said Jennifer Felberg, CSP’s life enrichment director. “They love to go up and say, ‘How you boys doing?’ ”

For this, communication has been key, O’Connor said. Messages are conveyed differently in the construction and the health care sectors, so getting on the same page has been an area of focus. Project leaders on both sides have had to keep their cellphones close at hand.

“The biggest thing we can do is communicate often,” O’Connor said. “We have staff available to answer questions full-time, and so do they.”

R&H has relied on a crew of about 20, with around 30 more working on-site for subcontractors.

Cedar Sinai Park has hosted tours for neighbors for most of July. Once the residents move in, access will be more restricted. The reason is tied to the organization’s philosophy, Felberg said.

“You can ask yourself: Would this happen in my home? If the answer is no, then it’s not going to happen here,” she said. “In our home, if a stranger comes up, they ring the doorbell and you decide whether or not to invite them in. And that’s how it will be here – we’re honoring the threshold.”

The rooms aren’t numbered. They aren’t shared either. CSP’s Green House model for elder care, Felberg said, focuses on three things: meaningful life, empowered staff and “real home.”

“I hope that we are moving forward elder care for our society, and for all of Oregon,” she said. “It needed to happen, and it couldn’t come any faster.”

Each room in the “home” buildings will feature private bathrooms. Residents will have the option of handling their own laundry in private areas.

Green House caregivers, known as “Shahbazim,” are certified nursing assistants (CNAs) cross-trained in the Green House model, which includes meal preparation, laundry and other services for seven to 10 residents. Shahbazim is the plural of Shabaz, a Persian word for a legendary falcon that guards a king.

All Cedar Sinai Park residents are Jewish, and require skilled nursing care.

The project started about 10 years ago with the establishment of a capital campaign seeking around $19 million. About five years ago, the small “home-like” layout was chosen, and then the “Green House” method was adopted.

“It’s beyond bricks and mortar – it’s a philosophy of care,” Simon said.

“Everything you see is meant to eliminate institutional cues,” Felberg said. “You won’t see med carts. The CNAs don’t wear scrubs. The residents who live here make most of the decisions. They plan the menus. They plan their activities. They participate in cooking. There are a lot more options.

“It’s really modeled on a home model. It’s a deliberate departure from institutional care.”

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A major expansion and renovation is under way on the Cedar Sinai Park, a Southwest Portland facility which provides residential and community-based care to elders and adults with special needs. The $33 million project includes the renovation of the Robison Jewish Health Center and construction of two new buildings, part of the Harold Schnitzer Health & Rehabilitation Care Center.

General contractor R&H Construction broke ground on the LRS Architects-designed project in mid-2015, conducting partial demolition and removing about 14,000 cubic yards of soil from the sloped property. A total of 48 new beds will be added in two new structures on the site; each floor features 12 residential units, kitchens, and common residential areas. The West building is a single-story, wood-framed residential structure measuring about 10,000 square feet slated for completion this July. The North building is a three-story, steel-framed building measuring about 40,000 square feet slated for completion in January 2017.

The buildings will connect via new corridors with the existing building, the Robison Jewish Health Center, which will be remodeled in phases following the completion of the West building. The $33 million project is slated for completion in December 2017.

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A generation that has always preferred doing things its own way has started to change senior housing.

Or so say many professionals in the design and construction sectors. A number of firms in the Portland area, including builders like R&H, Perlo and LCG Pence as well as designers like Ankrom Moisan, Myhre Group and LRS, have made senior living a central focus.

R&H is working on four such projects in Oregon – Mary’s Woods in Lake Oswego, Rose Villa in Milwaukie, Cedar Sinai Park in Portland and Dallas Retirement Village in Dallas. The firm is predicting that the future of assisted living will hold more single-floor layouts, highly customizable design and feature options, and further renovations, according to R&H principal Norm Dowty.

“We’ve been in senior housing for some time now, and it continues to be a strong market,” he said.

Bob Boileau of Myhre Group Architects said senior housing is a good fit for the firm because it incorporates Myhre Group’s other core competencies: mixed use, interiors and hospitality.

People entering retirement communities these days tend to want the same things their grandkids want, Boileau said. That’s why the pool has a slide.

“We want them to know what health services we provide, but that’s not what sells,” he said. “It’s the active stuff, and contributing to a neighborhood. And there’s a pent-up demand for this. It’s what a lot of people are looking for.”

is perhaps the biggest senior living facility going up in the Portland area. It is one level, with “pocket-style” units and fun amenities as well as shops and restaurants that face outward, not in. Housing options are also highly customizable.

In general, Rose Villa was intended to feel more small-town and pedestrian-friendly, Rose Villa CEO Vassar Byrd said.

“But the difference is just that we are also on a campus where we also have pretty intensive health care options, so as they get older, people don’t have to face the incredible disruption or chaos of trying to find a nursing home when they’re already sick,” she said. “We have really transformed from what was once called a retirement community to more of a mixed-use community designed to serve people as they age.”

Part of the problem with traditional retirement homes is what Byrd calls an “institutional imperative.” Care facilities for older people have been perceived as cold, sterile buildings resembling medical offices where rules must be followed and the management is in charge. More and more new residents enter Rose Villa with different expectations.

“The baby boomers – they’re not like my grandparents,” Byrd said. “The folks coming online today are used to getting their own way. They understand consumer activism, to getting all the information they are entitled to. You need to partner with them in a serious way.”

The Mary’s Woods nonprofit continuing care facility was established by an order of nuns – the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary – who still sponsor the home and live there. Because of the sisters’ longtime residency in the area (they established an academy here in 1859), they view time differently than other developers, said architect Laurie Linville-Gregston, the project manager for Ankrom Moisan Architects.

The expansion added 200 units for individual living and a 40,000-square-foot commons area with natatorium, dining room, kitchen and administrative space. The facility was occupied throughout the renovation, presenting further difficulties for crews. The project was first proposed in 2003, but given the sisters’ deliberative decision-making – and the Great Recession – numerous revisions were required.

“Their process is a little slow,” said George Signori, an Ankrom Moisan senior associate. “But when the economy crashed, they were glad they hadn’t started yet. And it sat until the sun started shining again.”

Ankrom Moisan designed the tower-style Mirabella in the South Waterfront District. It has more of an urban feel, Linville-Gregston said. But Mary’s Woods was designed to incorporate its tranquil natural surroundings.

With a retail component, Mary’s Woods is also mixed use, like a lot of new assisted living. The shops serving food and drinks cater to drivers of nearby Oregon Route 43. Designers sought to better integrate the campus with its surrounding community, as well as with nature, Signori said. In traditional retirement homes, one enters a closed system without a need to leave.

“This one was intended to be a little more forward-thinking,” he said. “Well, actually, it’s backward-thinking – this is the way they used to do it in the old days.”

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Cedar Sinai Park broke ground last week on the Harold Schnitzer Health and Rehabilitation Care Center, a $33 million construction project in Portland.

Designed by LRS Architects with R&H Construction as general contractor, the project will include the renovation of the Robison Jewish Health Center to transform it into a 44-bed post-acute rehabilitation center. In addition, two new buildings will include four homes with 12 beds each, for a total of 48 beds.

The work on the Southwest Boundary Street campus will be done in phases, with new construction coming first, said Kraig O’Connor, project manager for R&H.

“We are adding two new buildings, a three-story and a single-story, and that will be the first phase,” he said.

Cedar Sinai Parkprovides residential and community-based care to elders and adults with special needs. Current services included independent and assisted living at the Rose Schnitzer Manor, nursing home care at Robison Jewish Health Center, daily respite care through Adult Day Services, affordable housing for the elderly and people with disabilities at four facilities, in-home care and affordable housing for developmentally disabled adults.

But the goal of the new buildings is to get away from an institutional feel, O’Connor said.

“We are trying to make it homey with higher-end finishes, fantastic lighting and upgraded floor and window coverings,” he said.

That “homey” feel is the result of Cedar Sinai following the guidelines of , a long-term care model that’s gaining national attention. Green House homes go beyond simply providing medical care to the elderly, but offer “an environment and support system that enables each person to regain their individuality and to live in a real home,” according to the Green House Project website.

That means large bedrooms, communal kitchens and common areas that all residents to live more socially and yet individually than in a typical home for the elderly, said David Fuks, executive director of Cedar Sinai Park.

“We want to be responsive to people in the way they want to receive care and we are very committed to person-centered care,” he said. “The Green House model will allow us to change the culture not only throughout our organization, but (it) can be exemplary to others in the state as they seek to have 21st-century model care.”

Fuks said Cedar Sinai Park has been saving for the project for years, but got a big boost with a $5 million gift from Arlene and the late Harold Schnitzer through the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. Other corporate interests contributed another $3 million. Fuks also is working with Cain Brothers, an investment bankingfirm that focuses exclusively on the medical services industry, to possibly obtain for both bridge and long-term financing.

“Our fundraising goal for the total project is $19.35 million and we’ve already raised over $18 million for the entire project,” Fuks said.

Fuks added that he is working with a large foundation on the East Coast that may make up the difference.

After the new buildings are complete, the 53,000-square-foot Robison building will be taken down to its studs, said O’Connor.

“Once those are complete, we will move personnel and residents so we can renovate the existing building.”

Construction of the entire project will take about two years, O’Connor said, with work to begin in about a month.

Michael Roberts is leading the team for LRS Architects. O’Connor said R&H is carrying contracts for design and construction of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. American Heating will handle HVAC work, plumbing will be by Tapani Plumbing Inc., electrical work will be by EC Company and Crown Fire Systems will handle fire suppression systems.

Landscaping and other contracts have not been awarded yet, O’Connor said.

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On the exterior, Cedar Sinai Park Community, a new elderly health center going on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, will have the look of an institutional building. But its interior will reflect that of a cozy home, according to Eric Cugnart of MulvannyG2 Architecture, the project architect.

“The idea is to really provide the elderly and the people in need of this type of care to feel like a little family,” he said. “It’s very friendly on the inside, but from the outside it’s still a nice (institutional) building.”

The 105,000-square-foot structure will have four floors, each with 12 single bedrooms. In the middle of each floor, there will be a large living room area that also will contain a kitchen and a dining room. The living room areas will take the place of corridors, creating a home-like feel, Cugnart said. Residents will use the areas for cooking and other activities.

The design strategy is known as a “greenhouse model,” according to Cugnart, and reportedly has never been used for a nursing facility in Oregon.

The model is based on the idea of using common spaces for small groups of residents to increase the amount of contact they have with each other and to reduce the amount of staff turnover.

“It’s called a household because it’s trying to be a small community on each floor,” Cugnart said. “It’s very residential in this sense, despite the fact they will be receiving treatment.”

Cedar Sinai Park Community will be the latest health center built on Cedar Sinai’s property in Southwest Portland. It eventually will replace another nursing residential facility on the site, which was built in the 1950s.

For all of its interior uniqueness, the building’s exterior was designed to fit in with buildings already on the property, Cugnart said.

Construction is expected to start on the project next year and will take one year to finish. The building was designed to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating.

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