WELLS — Two separate projects intended to expand senior housing in Wells will face Planning Board approval in the coming months.
The first, Sea Landing II, is the second of a two-stage project – the initial stage of which has been approved and is already under construction.
Barbara Trimble, the president and founder of Extended Family, which developed the “ageless lifestyle community,” said it is designed to include all of the elements that aging seniors need while keeping the residents independent. The Wells community will be the first community to use this system.
“We think of it as independence, but there are services there when you need them,” Trimble said.
The website describes the system as “an active, lively community where people have not lost their ‘purpose’ and where they are encouraged to exercise, learn, and stay socially active.”
The 16-unit subdivision will include a fitness center as well as a registered nurse who will check vital signs of residents trying to stay healthy or who need the service, as well as advocate for residents during medical appointments.
“They also have supervised events, tickets to go to the playhouse, outside cookouts – it’s like a community having everyone” working together, said Arthur J. Pappas, whose real estate company represents the owners. “It blows your mind how active they are.”
The units themselves will be detached homes with their own yards.
“We’re finding people request a garage, a wellinsulated (heating system) that’s cheap to run, a full cellar for junk, a nice yard to plant flowers that’s a short distance to the beach,” Pappas said.
The company has been seeing a rise of younger seniors who are looking to live closer to care rather than waiting until they experience aging problems, according to Trimble. She says she imagines people in their 60s and early 70s who need a little support here and there looking to purchase homes in the community, and staying there.
“Many of our clients, we’re with them through hospice,” Trimble said.
The second senior housing project slated for Wells is a 70-bed nursing home with a medical clinic proposed by Avita.
Called a “memory care clinic,” the home would specialize in the treatment of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and require a higher staff-topatient ratio. Avita has 179 “life guidance communities” across the U.S. and Canada; the nearest location is in Kennebunk.
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