Type: Senior housing
Size: 31,000 square feet
Beds: 66
Developer: JEA Senior Living
Architect: Lenity Architecture
Details: A national builder of senior housing for those with Alzheimer's disease is preparing to establish its first Minnesota facility in Blaine.
Vancouver, Wash.-based JEA Senior Living, which operates 20 memory care facilities across seven states, is aiming for a spring construction start on the 66-bed Blaine Alzheimer's Special Care Center in a commercially zoned part of the city just west of Hwy. 65 and north of 117th Av. The City Council last week voted unanimously to change the zoning of the spot, just behind a Goodwill store, from "planned business district" to a "development flex" designation in order to accommodate the project.
The building is a hybrid of a traditional senior living apartment complex with security elements to protect residents with dementia and memory impairments. It features an enclosed central courtyard, which is designed to allow residents to go outdoors without compromising their safety.
JEA says the Blaine facility will offer round-the-clock individual care and programs for residents. Services such as three daily meals, housekeeping, laundering and private bus transportation are also among its planned amenities. It will employ up to 40 full-time workers.
Building materials include weatherwood roofing, red brick, stucco, trim board and residential-style glass.
Don Jacobson is a St. Paul-based freelance writer. He can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.
