Chestermere's newest senior living facility is slated to open later this month, helping to fill a gap in the city's need for more senior housing options.
Lakeshore Manor is a repurposed assisted senior care and independent living facility located at the intersection of Windermere Drive and Marine Drive. The facility was previously a Best Western Hotel.
Tom Hong, owner representative and director, said the repurposing of the Best Western into a senior care home stemmed from the hotel’s economic struggles resulting from the 2016 recession.
“The recession lasted a lot longer than we anticipated,” he said. “As well, compounding the fact was that there was a tremendous amount of hotels that were added to the supply in the market, which resulted in the economic conditions worsening and worsening for the hotel industry, as well as this property. It was not able to stabilize as we’d hoped, from an economic standpoint.”
In the fall of 2019, he said the hotel's owners applied for a land use amendment from the City of Chestermere to convert the hotel into a senior living facility. City council approved the land use amendment in February.
According to Hong, the City’s senior housing needs assessment in 2018 identified a lack of housing for the elderly and a growing senior demographic.
The need for improved senior housing options was also one of the results of a report published by the Chestermere Seniors Task Force in January 2020.
“The mayor of Chestermere had put together a senior’s task force comprised of professionals from all over and they had a report that identified a need in the community for senior housing,” Hong said. “We reviewed that report as well and that’s where we made the decision. There weren’t any other proposals being proposed to the City of Chestermere.”
Given Chestermere's shortage of housing options for the elderly and the growing demographic of seniors in the community, Mayor Marshall Chalmers said the City is excited about the opening of Lakeshore Manor. He added that people over the age of 65 accounted for 5.3 per cent of Chestermere's population in 2011, according to Statistics Canada, but 6.9 per cent in 2016.
"In addition, many of our seniors had to leave when they could no longer live on their own, so it’s difficult to track the real growth of that demographic locally," he said. "The Lakeshore Manor will help meet the needs of our residents who would like to stay in Chestermere and would like or need extra support."
After some delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lakeshore Manor is set to open later this month, Hong said. He added the facility will provide 80 individual suites, with rental rates starting at $2,600 a month.
“That includes the room as well as the meals, housekeeping and utilities, internet and cable,” he said.
In order to repurpose the Best Western, Hong said the hotel’s pool and exercise room were converted into a kitchen and dining area, while one of the meeting rooms was transformed into an exercise area. The former breakfast room was also expanded and converted into a lounge, he said.
"We also did extensive landscaping that includes an outside patio area and a synthetic grass bocce court,” he said.
H&H Total Care will operate the facility, Hong said. The company’s staff will provide food services, nursing care, social interaction, entertainment and exercise options.
“They are the main operators of the property because they do have quite a bit of history and experience,” Hong said. “They own and operate nine locations across British Columbia and Alberta, and there’s a total of 1,055 beds within that portfolio. They’re a very reputable company in the operation of senior housing. They’re very well qualified to operate our facility, and that’s why we chose to work with them.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
