A major expansion under way at the Mary’s Woods retirement community will add nine buildings to the Lake Oswego campus. General contractor R&H Construction is building The Village at Mary’s Woods, a $100-million-plus project that includes 198 units of independent living space, 48 assisted-living residences, three retail buildings, a community center, and significant site improvements.

Ankrom Moisan Architects is the designer of the project, which spans six acres of former open field space. Site work began in early 2017 with grading, installation of utilities and geopiers, which run eight feet on center under every structure. Construction of buildings commenced last May.

The initial scope of the project was for six new buildings consisting of a mix of independent and assisted living, a retail structure, and the community center. After construction had begun, two more retail buildings and a fourth independent living building were added to the project, extending the duration of the project by approximately six months.

The four independent living buildings are all three-story wood-framed buildings over single-level below-grade parking structures. Buyers of the one- and two-bedroom units are being given the option to pick custom finishes, which R&H is keeping track of using a software program it has used on previous projects to track building multiple units with a wide variety of finishes.

Approximately 300 trades workers are currently working on the site, and the contractor has a team of about 15. The project team also includes landscape architects PLACE Studio, civil engineers Humber Design Group, and structural engineers Froelich Engineers. The mechanical/electrical/plumbing/fire protection systems are design/build by Prairie Electric, Tapani Plumbing, Hunter-Davisson, and Patriot Fire Protection.

The first of the residential buildings is slated for turnover late this year, with two more slated to follow in the coming months. The project is slated for total completion by fall of 2019.

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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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The shovels were shined and ready for a 2008 groundbreaking for the first phase of an expansion at Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst continuing care retirement community in Lake Oswego when the recession hit.

“We were ready to put a shovel in the ground and we had the crash,” said Cheri Mussotto-Conyers, director of marketing and communications for Mary’s Woods. “We made the executive decision to put the project on hold.”

Seven years later, with the expansion finally complete, those involved with the project agree that the end result has been worth the wait.

The 17 new villas added during the past year fit in almost perfectly with 266 independent apartments and 33 villas that were built 15 years ago.

“The most satisfying part for me is that it all works very seamlessly,” said Don Hynes, who served as the owner’s representative and project manager for the recent project. “The old and the new blend in so well, you can’t tell what part you’re in.”

Step inside those new villas, though, and the difference becomes more apparent. Because the villas are Mary’s Wood’s top line units, the tenants were give the option to customize certain interior features. The approach added a new level of complexity to an already challenging project.

Fitting the 17 villas on the 4.31-acre site required some creativity, according to Ariel Chavarria, an architect with Ankrom Moisan, which served as project designer. There also were grading complications due to a 45-foot difference from one end of the property to the other.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult site, so we gave ourselves time to plan for it,” Chavarria said.

Planning also was key when it came to keeping interior customizations straight. Letting one detail slip could have created major headaches, according to Hynes.

“There are 17 villas with three floor plans. You take those 17 and you multiply it by the number of finishes. You change the counters, you change the backsplash, you could end up with 17 variables in every villa for every finish. So it was a very complex process to coordinate,” he said. “You have to get it right. That really could have damaged our schedule and it would have damaged our customers’ confidence. Everybody made it look easy, but it wasn’t easy.”

“It started with documentation,” said Kraig O’Connor, the project manager for general contractor R&H Construction. “Akrom spent a good deal of time being very thorough.”

That attention to detail was carried on by R&H by relaying specific information to subcontractors. Spreadsheets helped everyone involved in the project ensure that the correct finishes ended up in the appropriate units.

“It comes down to collaboration,” O’Connor said. “We were lucky to work with partners who understood the importance of good document control.”

WAITING AND WINNING

Waiting for the recession to pass before starting the project appears to have paid off for Marys’ Woods. Within days of R&H handing the villas’ keys to the continuing care community’s administrators, eager tenants were already moving into their new homes.

“(The new villas) were spoken for within the first 90 days of us starting the presale process,” Mussotto-Conyers said.

The villas tend to appeal to seniors who are at the younger end of the spectrum of tenants that Mary’s Woods serves. As one of only a handful of continuing retirement care communities in Oregon, the community offers a range of living accommodations.

“The whole goal is to keep our seniors really vital and engaged in communities rather than isolated in their own homes,” Mussotto-Conyers said.

For the new villa dwellers at Mary’s Woods, those homes tend to be in the million-dollar range. In order to move into the new villas, seniors paid an entrance fee ranging from $250,000 and $600,000 dollars. They also pay monthly rent for their units.

In return, they’re given access list of services and amenities, including a health center on the Mary’s Woods campus where they can stay if they require short periods of reset after surgeries or illnesses.

“There are no property taxes; we take care of maintenance and housekeeping every week,” Mussotto-Conyers said. “If you need short-term care, you can recoup on campus. If you need to move to … skilled nursing or memory care, we can provide that.”

While catering to residents has proven to be a recipe for success, Mary’s Woods has a different plan for a second phase of development for its community.

That second phase of work will introduce a new concept to the community by including retail space, a wellness center, restaurants and services designed to attract a new, inter-generational component to the existing Mary’s Woods community

“This will double our size … it also allows the outside to come into Mary’s Woods,” Mussotto-Conyers said.

Mary’s Woods Project Team + Stats

Owner: Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst (a nonprofit foundation created by the Sisters of the Holy Name)

Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects

Landscape architect: Mayer/Reed

Engineers: Pacific Community Design (civil/surveying), Cundiff Engineering Inc. (mechanical, plumbing, electrical), Kramer Gehlen and Associates (structural)

General contractor: R&H Construction

Other associates: Earth Advantage (sustainable design consultant), Structural Waterproofing (envelope consultant),

The Pacific Resources Group (arborist), GRI (geotechnical), Carlson Testing Inc. (special inspections)

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