Construction Begins on Seventh Project with Owner Kaplan Development Group

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, celebrates the start of construction on its seventh project with owner Kaplan Development Group. The $13.3 million All American of Kingston will be a 58,000 square-foot, assisted living and memory care community located in Kingston, New Hampshire. "We are excited to be building this great senior living development that features senior assisted living and memory care. Having built multiple All American communities, we understand how the client's vision embodies a true senior living campus," said Landon Kessler, Project Manager of The Douglas Company. The 58 unit assisted living and memory care community was designed by EGA Architects and boasts spacious studios and two-bedroom companion suites for residents, as well as, a gorgeous state-of-the-art memory care wing specifically dedicated to caring and providing a secure home-like environment for residents with Alzheimer's and memory disorders. Community amenities will include a double-sided fireplace, salon, beauty parlor, bistro, media room, interior...

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Senior Living: Meeting the Changing Needs

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Interface Conference in Atlanta proposed some interesting questions with possible answers.  Everyone talks about the first baby boomers turning 72, intimating that this is a positive for senior living.  But the average entry age for senior living properties is about 85, depending on who you talk to, so there is a long time to wait for the first baby boomer.  Not surprisingly, developers are starting to think about how to attract baby boomer retirees.  Minimal, à la carte services in an affordable, yet reasonably sized apartment is one.  Home health care can be layered on at a later date.  One provider is using food trucks for his kitchen, a different truck, with different types of food every night.  It’s amazing to me to see the number of people my age retiring.  Though they are closer to 60, there is a discussion of downsizing, lower maintenance, more freedom, and more...

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The Douglas Company Announces Completion of Stonecrest of Rochester Hills Senior Living Community

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, has completed construction of the new Stonecrest of Rochester Hills Senior Living Community in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Stonecrest of Rochester Hills marks The Douglas Company's second senior living project completion with owner and developer, NorthPoint Development. "Stonecrest of Rochester Hills is a beautiful complement to the area, and we are proud to have been part of this project team," said Preston Knecht, Project Coordinator of The Douglas Company. The upscale 78,342 square foot assisted living and memory care community, is comprised of 87 private apartments; including a single-story, 32-unit memory care building in addition to a two-story assisted living building offering a total of 55 assisted living one and two bedroom suites. This $15 million upscale, elegant community features a variety of amenities for seniors; including an arts and crafts room, beauty salon, movie theater, cyber cafe, and exercise room. The exterior layout consists of an outdoor...

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YourLife / Clarity Pointe Specialized Memory Care Community

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, is excited to announce completion on the construction of Clarity Pointe Specialized Memory Care Community in Tallahassee, Florida. Clarity Pointe Specialized Memory Care Community is a 59,694 sq. foot $11.2 million community, specializing in treating those with Alzheimer's and other memory impairments. The Douglas Company worked with Olson Land Partners and architect, Leo A. Daly, to provide an engaging, tranquil community. The 74 unit, Clarity Pointe-Tallahassee community is constructed in four sections, each with its own theme, ensuring that every neighborhood has an individualized, homelike quality. The interior has a bright, open layout with many elegant finishes. Amenities include activity rooms for arts and crafts, and therapy classes, a salon and spa, theater room, putting green, and an interior courtyard that is beautifully landscaped with butterfly gardens and a rock waterfall. "We are proud to have been part of the project team to bring the vision of this...

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The Douglas Company, General Contractor, Announces the Completion of the Beach House Assisted Living and Memory Care Community

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, has announced it has completed the construction of the Beach House Assisted Living and Memory Care community at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Beach House Assisted Living and Memory Care is a 96,000 sq. ft. assisted living and memory care community just outside of Tampa in Wesley Chapel, Florida. This $14.65 million project was completed in November 2017, making it the second project completed for Prevarian Senior Living, and among many with the architect, Architectural Concepts, Inc. The two-story facility offers 100 units, all of which take into consideration the comfort and safety needs of the potential residents. The community has many resort-like amenities with an open and sun-lit style layout in the Wiregrass Ranch area that offers shopping and restaurants nearby in a dynamic neighborhood atmosphere. The three landscaped courtyards promise plenty of time for relaxing in the beautiful Florida sunshine. There are endless opportunities...

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The Douglas Company is Proud to Announce the Completion of Construction of Peregrine’ Landing at Onondaga Hill

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, is proud to announce the completion of construction of Peregrine' Landing at Onondaga Hill, a Memory Care Community located in the beautiful residential area in Onondaga Hill of Syracuse, New York. The new $7.5 million memory care community is owned by Peregrine Senior Living / Onondaga Senior Real Estate, LLC and features 64 units offering specialized memory care for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Designed by MWT Architects PC, the single story, 35,760 square foot community features numerous on-site amenities, including a chapel, ice cream and soda shop, full-service commercial kitchen, common space living rooms, restaurant-style dining rooms, salon, therapy rooms, spas, community gathering areas, and enclosed courtyards. "With our experience in senior housing construction, we are proud to be part of the team involved in creating this new senior living community in the Syracuse area. It offers an unsurpassed standard of memory...

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Prompt Payment and Risk Management

Posted on | by jyoakam

An interesting study was published recently on the impact of slow payments in the construction industry. It estimated that the average payment cycle for subcontractors is 54 days, and that is costing the industry over $40 billion dollars each year. That's a staggering figure, but one that makes sense when you consider the cost of construction rising and the amount of financing it takes for subcontractors to stay in business. This added cost comes from a number of sources:

  • Finance charges from lines of credit subcontractors must take out to afford materials.
  • Late fees assessed by suppliers when subcontractors can't pay bills due to non-payment.
  • Lost revenue from liquid assets being stuck in accounts receivable versus short-term investments.
  • The inability for subcontractors to obtain discounts from their vendors for prompt payment.
While this stresses the importance of making prompt payments on construction projects for the benefit of subcontractors succeeding, there is...

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A New Primrose Memory Care Community in Lancaster, Ohio

Posted on | by jyoakam

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, announces the completion of the new Primrose Memory Care Community in Lancaster, Ohio. The $5 million memory care community, owned by Primrose Retirement Communities, was thoughtfully designed for memory care residents facing the early stages of Alzheimer's and dementia. Primrose Memory Care Community, designed by WAI Continuum, includes high-end architectural and design features, bringing a distinguished level of finish and detail to memory care in the Lancaster area. It is designed to address the level of care needed by memory-impaired individuals while creating an atmosphere for them to engage in an active lifestyle. The 24,912 square foot community features 24 private suites and amenities, including a spa and beauty salon, coffee bar, library, dining and living rooms, fireplace, and an interior courtyard with a fountain to create a homelike atmosphere. "This marks the third successful completion with owner and developer, Primrose Retirement Communities. Our partnership is truly about...

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The Douglas Company Begins Construction on Charter Senior Living at Oak Openings

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, announces construction on Charter Senior Living at Oak Openings, a new senior living community in Sylvania, Ohio. The 48,882-square-foot facility, developed by EBS Sylvania, LLC, will deliver a combination of 52 assisted-living and memory-care suites for residents. With the anticipated completion in November 2018, the $8.6 million project was designed by M+A Architects to bring a new, modern standard in senior living to Toledo area residents. The one-story, contemporary community will feature first-class amenities, including full-service kitchen, billiards room, bistro, fitness room, salon, spa room, living rooms, activity areas, as well as, exterior courtyards and patios "We are proud to be part of the project team that will contribute in meeting the needs of the local Toledo area seniors with this new senior living community," stated Zach Kiser, Project Manager with The Douglas Company. The Douglas Company The Douglas Company is an industry-leading general contractor specializing in senior living...

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Modern Senior Living Communities: Embracing the New

Posted on | by jyoakam

I am continuously amazed at the quality of environments our clients are hiring us to construct and the fantastic services they are providing for our senior population.  Outstanding socialization opportunities, healthy diets, exercise programs, and support for meds and other health issues legitimately extend both the quality and duration of the lives they serve.  But many seniors fight the opportunities to move into these bright, airy, social environments in favor of staying in their dark, lonely homes.  I can say I don’t fully understand this. As a general contractor specializing in senior living solutions, I have a distinct advantage to see all of the new options available.  The senior living environments we are building today far surpass those of even 10 years ago.  These ‘holistic’ environments are innovative. They not only provide for the medical and physical needs of the individual. They take special care to plan and build spaces that...

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Construction Schedules

Posted on | by jyoakam

It is getting increasingly difficult to keep almost all senior projects on schedule during the construction phase of the projects. Some of the hurdles that impede schedule achievement are as follows:

  • Limited manpower available from most subcontractors
  • Quality of the manpower due to lack of proper training
  • Poor or no supervision being provided by subcontractors
  • Material delivery timelines
  • Poor design documents
  • The number of government inspections and the timing of the inspections due to reductions in the number of inspectors by a lot of government agencies
  • The quality level of most senior projects the last five years has increased to almost a resort level of finish
  • There are ways to help control or help minimize these schedule impacts that The Douglas Company employs on every project:
  • Design check to help prevent drawing coordination issues
  • Put material purchasing based lead times including shop drawing review for all material on each construction...

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To Bid or Not to Bid Your Senior Living Project

Posted on | by jyoakam

During the height of the recession, I wrote a blog on the same topic.  Times have changed since then, so circumstances have changed, and it’s worth revisiting.  Prices keep increasing, making projects more challenging.  As construction activity has increased, the number of trade subcontractors and skilled workers has increased only nominally, and supply and demand are pushing up prices, including for materials.  With all the challenges of price increases, owners are asking themselves if they should competitively bid their project to get the best prices. To best understand this, it is important to look at the underlying processes.  Development is a complex endeavor, and risky.  Though it is tempting to think that the best price comes from competitively bidding, what is on the drawings is 85%-90% of the cost of a project, so critically important.  The key is to understand and control what is on the drawings to reduce and control...

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Price Increases in Senior Living in a Post Hurricane Environment

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

A number of clients and prospective clients have asked me what we are seeing in our Florida market for prices in a post-hurricane environment.  I don’t blame them for being concerned.  I am too.  Past hurricanes have had a devastating impact on pricing, so the concern is legitimate.  The interesting thing about this hurricane is that the hype was significant, the damage to structures was not.  It is surprising how few blue tarps I have seen in my travels, indicative of this. The two exceptions to this are drywall and metal studs.  Drywall will have controlled distribution to suppliers (allocation) starting 1/1/18, and though no one knows for sure how much that will affect pricing, speculation is material prices will go up 10-20%.  This would equate to about 60 cents per square foot of building area.  Not a surprise due to the destruction in Texas, which will demand board.  Metal stud...

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What is Right in Senior Housing?

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

The future of senior housing is important to The Douglas Company and its clients.  As such, statistics matter.  We receive and attempt to interpret the NIC data, which shows incremental increases in vacancies, which is a concern.  But National Real Estate Investor Magazine, a respected source, does a survey each year, which is projecting more growth in the next twelve months for senior housing.  Some of the trends quoted are as follows:
  • The number of boomers hitting retirement creating a shortage, even now.
  • Outdated facilities, in terms of what seniors want.
  • A large number of underserved markets.  For example, 30% of last year’s new supply was in seven metropolitan areas, with 12% in Dallas and Minneapolis alone.
  • Rising rents.
  • Eager buyers of stabilized properties.
  • The availability of both equity and debt capital for experienced, capable providers.
  • Relatively stable, good acquisition pricing.
Let’s hope National Real Estate Investor is right, for the...

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A Worm’s Eye View of The NIC Senior Conference

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

People have told me that senior living development is slowing down, and they may be right.  But having recently returned from the NIC conference in Chicago, I can tell you that over two days we had the good fortune to meet people from 39 different companies, a record for us. All of these people were working on their next project or the next several projects.  Though there was little complaining about tightening of debt markets, all of them were optimistic and excited for the opportunities in front of them. This makes me excited for the opportunities, and what 2018 should bring.  The time and interest from all these professionals was appreciated.  And it’s a credit to all of the people in The Douglas Company who are working hard to create a reputation, with the goal to be the best senior living builder in the country.  Let’s us hope that my read from...

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Nursing Homes and the Aging of America

Posted on | by Bob Ritter

The current number of residents in nursing homes today is approximately 1.6 million.  The average age of residents in nursing homes today is 82.6 years old.  The average occupancy rate of nursing homes is 85%, and the average age of current skilled nursing facilities is 23.5 years.
By 2030, the number of Americans over the age of 65 will be 70 million and 8.5 million will be over 85.  It is projected that 5 million people will reside in nursing homes in 2030, or an increase of 313%.With these population demographics and the aging skilled nursing facilities, that will require substantial renovation or replacement, it is clear that there is a growing need for new skilled nursing facilities, as well as, the need to modernize much of the current nursing home inventory. For much of the past 40 years, The Douglas Company has been focused on all aspects of the...

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