Nebraska developer plans luxury senior housing complex in South Portland
Photo / Courtesy of Resort Lifestyle Communities
A photo of Resort Lifestyle Communities' Riverstone complex in Kansas City.
A Lincoln, Neb.-based developer is making its first entry into Maine and New England with a proposal to build a 128-unit luxury senior housing complex in South Portland.
Calling it a “cruise ship on land,” Resort Lifestyle Communities is planning to develop the approximately $30 million complex on a 9.71-acre parcel at 10 and 20 Executive Drive, a piece of land that is located next to Interstate 95 in the Maine Mall area.
The company purchased the land from Affordable Midcoast Housing LLC for $4 million, according to brokers involved with the deal. The transaction, which closed on April 17, was brokered by Tom Moulton of NAI The Dunham Group, Mark Sandler of Cardente Real Estate and Craig Young of CBRE|The Boulos Co.
Josh Thornton, vice president of development for Resort Lifestyle Communities, told Mainebiz that like many of the company’s facilities, the three-story, 66,517-square-foot building will have 128 rentable units, along with one-unit for a live-in manager and a guest suite for relatives and visitors. He said it will also include the company’s “signature” 150-seat theater that will feature movie and television screenings, musicals, church services, political debates and other events.
Other amenities will include a barber shop salon, a workout facility, a general store, a pharmacy, valet parking and a shuttle bus for residents, Thornton said. The complex might also include an office of a local bank, he added.
“Our mission is to provide high quality, Class-A senior housing for people in the community,” Thornton said.
Resort Lifestyle Communities provides housing for seniors aged 55 or over “who are typically of a high income and net worth demographic with substantial disposable income,” according to a company fact sheet. That demographic is reflected in the estimated rental rates for the South Portland complex, ranging from $2,750 a month for studios to $4,250 for a three-bedroom.
“By providing a quality, class A retirement community in the area for them, it keeps their buying power and financial resources in the municipality, adding to the local tax base, rather than forcing them to relocate out of the area,” according to the fact sheet.
On the job creation side, the company is expected to employ around 35 people, with senior positions paid between $30,000 and $70,000 a year on average and part- and full-time hourly positions paid between $8 and $15 an hour.
Thornton estimates construction costs will be around $30 million, and he hopes to break ground sometime this spring, pending city and other approvals. The building is expected to open in the second half of next year, he added.
Resort Lifestyle Communities currently operates about a dozen complexes across Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and four states in the Midwest. But the company has more than two dozen projects in the pipeline, Thornton said, including 12 that are currently under construction or in development and 14 in some phase of approval.
“We really positioned ourselves coming out of the economic downturn to really come out the gates pretty quickly,” he said of the company, which started developing senior housing in 1999. He added that the company has spent the last 20 years developing positive relationships with lenders, which has allowed for its continued growth.
Thornton said Resort Lifestyle Communities chose the Portland area as a target for development using a sophisticated, proprietary tool developed by the company that evaluates 80 different economic and demographic data points. He said the Portland area’s demographics, economics and senior housing stock were all factors in the decision, adding that Maine’s rank as having the highest median age in the country affirms the growing need and demand for senior housing.
As for the actual location, Thornton said the South Portland property’s high visibility on I-95 and the mall area’s amenities were major factors. He added that it helps that many people across the state and elsewhere know the area as a shopping destination.
Sandler, one of the buyer’s brokers, said he started to help Resort Lifestyle Communities find land in the Portland area two-and-a-half years ago. And while this is the first senior housing deal he’s been involved with, he said he’s heard from others interested in pursuing similar developments.
“More people have contacted me because they are noticing this is a big void,” he said.
This story was originally published in the Mainebiz Real Estate Insider.
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