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Senior affordable housing complex in Vernon Hills to open first units in January
Jeff Schultz works on laying tile at the new Pathways Senior Living in Vernon Hills on Dec. 30. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 6, 2012 8:17AM
Vernon Hills’ dreams of bringing more senior affordable housing to the community are soon to become reality.
Construction work is nearing completion on the proposed Victory Centre of Vernon Hills, a five-story 231-unit supportive living and senior apartment community on Phillip Road.
Jerry Finis, CEO of Pathway Senior Living of Des Plaines, the developers of the project, said he expects the first senior apartment units will be ready for occupancy by late January and some of the supportive living units by late February. The units are targeted for seniors ages 62 and older, most of whom are looking for affordable housing.
“There haven’t been that many of these types of projects built in Lake County,” said Finis. “We think there’s a pretty large unmet need out there.”
The complex will include two attached buildings, one consisting of 111 senior apartment units and the other building with 120 supportive living units for seniors requiring a greater level of care. The supportive living building will include a commercial kitchen and dining room serving residents three meals a day, on-site staff to assist with resident care, a hair salon, exercise rooms, meeting and activity rooms, and other amenities. The apartment units are designed for seniors who are more independent, and each unit will have a kitchen, parking and specific design features for seniors such as wider hallways and grab bars in the showers.
‘Great addition’
There will be an outdoor courtyard area in between the buildings, along with walking paths connecting with the nearby Aspen Drive Library.
“I think it will be a great addition to this area,” said Finis. “We love the location being right next door to the library.”
Village officials are impressed by the new senior complex and look forward to its completion and opening.
“The buildings turned out great,” said Vernon Hills Building Commissioner Mike Atkinson. “It exceeded my expectations. It’s a masonry building with different colored brick and also includes some stone. It’s got nice cornice detail at the top. The design is complementary with the new library next to it.”
Vernon Hills had identified the need for more affordable senior housing as a top priority in its long-range master planning efforts in recent years. Pathway acquired the 3.5 acres of property near Phillip Road and Deerpath Drive from Vernon Hills in 2010 for the senior housing project.
“It fills a need for the community and also accomplishes one of the board’s goals for the village, which was to provide more assisted living facilities at affordable rates,” Atkinson said.
Pre sales of units have been going on for the last few months. Nicole Bartecki, vice president of sales and marketing for Pathway Senior Living, said they’ve already received applications for about 60 percent of the senior apartment units and about half of the supportive living units.
Pathway Senior Living has a temporary leasing office at 175 Hawthorn Parkway, Suite 100 in Vernon Hills for residents who want to learn more about the senior units or they can call (847) 806-1600.
