Special Partnership Dedicated to Seniors
UCCS brings skills to firm’s housing project
Feb. 9, 2006
By Rich Laden, The Gazette
A developer calls it a retirement community, but officials of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs look upon it as an innovation center. In what could be the first-of-its-kind pairing of senior housing and academics, a local real estate company is partnering with UCCS to build a retirement project in which school experts will assist in development and services.
Jeff Dunn, president of Dunn & Associates of Colorado Springs, said his company’s 108-unit Palisades at Broadmoor Park will be built on the city’s southwest side for residents 55 and older. Under an agreement with Dunn, UCCS officials said their faculty and staff will employ the latest methods of senior care at Palisades, while they explore new means of aid. Such help might range from suggestions on apartment designs and what furniture to use, to what types of programs and services best suit residents.
The partnership might be the first such arrangement for a senior housing project in Colorado and could be a financial benefit for UCCS, said Sara Qualls, director of the school’s Gerontology Center. In addition to still-to-be-negotiated compensation from Dunn for its work, UCCS will be allowed to sell and market any programs or technology it develops as part of its work at the retirement community, Qualls said. “Any process that we develop that really does work and any technology we develop that makes senior housing work better, he’s (Dunn) giving us the intellectual and commercial rights,” Qualls said. “It becomes another funding stream to support the academic programs of the university.”
Dunn & Associates plans to develop and operate The Palisades at Broadmoor Park, on 4 acres west of Colorado Highway 115 and Broadmoor Bluffs Drive. Sixty studio and one-bedroom apartments will be rented to residents who need assisted living, and 40 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a pair of four-plexes will be set aside for residents living on their own.
Rents haven’t been set, but Dunn said he expects them to be competitive with the Village at Skyline, one of the Springs’ larger senior housing projects. Amenities will include a pair of fitness centers, a clinic focusing on preventative medicine, dining areas, walking paths, spa, barber shop and beauty salon, exercise rooms, multimedia room, chapel and even a pub with billiards.
He hopes to start construction on three model apartments within six weeks, with completion in another three to four months. Depending on demand, Dunn hopes to start construction on the rest of the units by late summer or early fall.
A Safeway-anchored shopping center east of the project will be a convenient location for residents to shop for groceries and fill prescriptions, which Dunn expects will help fuel demand.
Dunn has developed senior housing projects in Denver, Brighton and Sun City, Ariz. He said he first approached Qualls after hearing her speak at an economic-development function in 2004.
Among services, UCCS’s Beth-El College of Nursing will operate an on-site clinic specializing in preventive medicine. UCCS officials will also oversee a fitness center that will offer programs and exercises to help seniors feel better, instead of just forestalling aches and pains, Dunn said.
When it comes to design, Qualls said UCCS faculty and staff will suggest how to improve existing plans. For example, they looked at a bedroom and bathroom and saw a way to move them closer — improving access for seniors who might have mobility problems.