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09/22/2014
Powell Development Adds Senior Citizen Facility
This Week Community News - Olentangy Valley News
developer adds new senior facility to powell plans
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A Denver-based company already developing a senior apartment complex in Powell hopes to build an assisted-living community in the city as well.
Spectrum Retirement Communities gave the city's Planning and Zoning Commission a first look at plans for the building at the board's meeting Sept. 10. The two-story structure is expected to feature 64 assisted-living beds and 25 beds reserved for memory-care patients.
The complex is planned for 2.38 acres of land between Sawmill Road and Liberty Crossing Drive, just north of Attucks Drive. The land currently is within Liberty Township, but the developer plans to ask for annexation into the city.
Powell City Council approved final plans for Spectrum's previous project, a 130-bed independent-living facility, in early June. The site for that project is located east of Sawmill Parkway, between Presidential Parkway and North Hampton Drive.
David Betz, the city's director of development, said after the second Spectrum development that the city should conduct a demographic study "so that we know that we're not overpopulating the area with these types of (developments)."
Along with the first Spectrum project, the city also recently approved the construction of a 64-unit facility for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and dementia patients. That facility, which will be owned and operated by Ganzhorn Suites, will be located southwest of Sawmill Parkway's intersection with Presidential Parkway.
Michael Longfellow, a vice president with Spectrum, said the company's research pointed toward a need for additional senior-housing options in the city.
"We obviously are confident that the demographics support this," he said.
Longfellow said the company's senior apartments could act as a feeder system for the assisted-living building, with residents possibly making the transition between the two complexes if necessary. He said both of the buildings will help Powell residents continue to live in the city as they age.
Commission members were uniformly supportive of the plan, but told Spectrum officials to follow advice provided by the city's architectural adviser, Chris Meyers, as they continued design work.
One of Meyers' suggestions was for Spectrum to change the orientation of the building so the front door faces Sawmill Road instead of Liberty Crossing Drive. In the initial site plan, the structure faces the backs of several commercial structures.
No vote is required at this stage in the development process.
"This is something that I think is really needed in this community, and I'm really happy to see this," commission member Richard Fusch said.
Board member Erin Wesson added that she thought the project was a "great fit for the area."
