CAYUGA HEIGHTS — Kendal at Ithaca, a nonprofit continuing-care retirement community in the village of Cayuga Heights, recently announced plans for a $39 million expansion project launching late this summer. The project will create about 20 new jobs at the facility, according to Kendal at Ithaca. The construction operations will employ between 250 and 300 […]
CAYUGA HEIGHTS — Kendal at Ithaca, a nonprofit continuing-care retirement community in the village of Cayuga Heights, recently announced plans for a $39 million expansion project launching late this summer.
The project will create about 20 new jobs at the facility, according to Kendal at Ithaca. The construction operations will employ between 250 and 300 workers for varying durations during the two-year construction period, the nonprofit said in a news release.
The village of Cayuga Heights planning board has reviewed and approved the site plans, Kendal said.
Kendal at Ithaca is also finalizing the construction plans and has filed applications with the state for the necessary approvals.
The organization wants to build a new one-story nursing home near its existing nursing home.
The new skilled-nursing home will increase the number of rooms from 35 to 48 and reconfigure them into three separate wings, each with 16 private rooms, says Betsy Schermerhorn, director of marketing and admissions at Kendal at Ithaca.
“We’ve known for a long time that we probably needed more accommodation in our skilled-nursing area,” says Schermerhorn.
The Business Journal News Network spoke with Schermerhorn on April 14.
The facility has wanted to move to more “person-centered” approach to care, so Kendal is referring to the wings as “neighborhoods.”
In Kendal’s case, a neighborhood has 16 private rooms, each with a private bath and a shower, “which is a big change,” Schermerhorn says.
“Not everybody wants their shower at 6 o’clock in the morning. So, if you have a shower in your room, it’s a lot easier for the staff to accommodate your particular desire, and that’s what person-centered care is all about,” she notes.
Each of the three wings will include a central kitchen, dining and living room, and adjoining outdoor space.
Besides the new nursing home, Kendal also wants to build a two-story building with 24 apartments near an existing swimming pool.
The new apartment building will bring the total number of residences living independently on site to 236, Kendal said.
“When you do a project like this, as a continuing-care retirement community, one of the ways you help pay for it is to build new revenue-generating units,” Schermerhorn says.
Kendal at Ithaca has to pre-sell the apartments.
“Those new entry fees … provide a significant amount of the funding,” Schermerhorn notes.
Besides the fees, Kendal at Ithaca is financing the project through a “combination” of sources, she says, including bonds and organizational assets.
The project will also create a centralized entrance and reception area closer to North Triphammer Road.
The new entrance and reception area will include a new café for dining and new rooms for a fitness center and aerobics, according to Schermerhorn.
“We’re adding some new space up near the new café, which is right near the pool, for that kind of programming,” she says.
Once a contractor builds Kendal’s new nursing home and the residents move into it, the contractor will then renovate the vacated space to house its residents’ care clinic and health services.
Once those services have moved, the contractor will renovate that space into “greatly improved” offices for human resources and facility services, Schermerhorn says.
“So, it’s like a dominoes game,” she adds.
When asked about if the facility had chosen a contractor, she could only reply, “We’re really close.”
Two architectural firms, New York City–Perkins Eastman and Chiang O’Brien Architects of Ithaca, are working together to design the project, Schermerhorn says.
The project plans evolved over more than two years as the project-planning committee of the Kendal board of trustees studied the need and feasibility through discussions with residents, prospective residents, and staff, Daniel Governanti, executive director of Kendal at Ithaca, said in the news release.
“We concluded that both expansion and enhancement were needed. Our goal is to ensure Kendal at Ithaca’s viability well into the future by making the community an even better place to live, work and visit,” Governanti said.
The campus currently includes 212 independent-living residences, which includes 166 cottages, one farmhouse, and 45 apartments. Additionally, the campus also has 36 assisted-living residences and the 35 skilled nursing rooms.
Kendal at Ithaca is one of Ithaca’s larger employers with almost 250 workers, the nonprofit said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com