By Elizabeth Wood West

The Castle Rock area will soon have three new senior care facilities for Douglas County’s aging population: Bonaventure Senior Living, Metzler Memory Care Assisted Living Residences, and Solterra Senior Living Castle Rock. All three of the facilities will offer a variety of services and flexible living accommodations for individual needs and circumstances.

Bonaventure Senior Living, based in Salem, Oregon, is planning a new 9.3-acre continuing care campus located at 1855 Low Meadow Boulevard, near The Meadows development in Castle Rock. The project will offer 16 different floor plans, and include 89 active retirement units, 55 assisted living units, and 12 memory care units. The 156 upscale suites will range in size from 600 square feet to 1,000 square feet, and feature stylish architecture, high ceilings, ample storage, and use of natural light. According to Bonaventure CEO and Owner, Kelley Hamilton, construction for the project should start this June and be completed in 2012.

Metzler Memory Care Assisted Living Residences, located at 864 Barranca Drive in Castle Rock, is being designed and built by a small partnership of Douglas County residents. The 28,000 square foot two-story facility will sit on 1.33 acres and have 48 secured memory care units. Forty of the units will be semi-private (every two units will share one bathroom) and eight units will be private with their own bathroom. The facility will be divided into four pods, classified according to stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Each pod will have 12 resident rooms with direct access to a living room, activity area, dining area, and therapy kitchen, as well as an outdoor interior courtyard. Managing Partner Dennis Southwick estimates that construction should begin in April and be completed before the end of December 2011.

Solterra Senior Living, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, purchased the Castle Rock Care Center (CRCC) in 2010. CRCC was built in 1950 and is currently a skilled nursing/memory care facility, located at 4001 Home Street, adjacent to the Silver Heights community just north of Castle Rock. CRCC lies in a Douglas County overlay district that is currently governed by an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the Town of Castle Rock and Douglas County. The IGA is intended to coordinate land uses between the county and town, so that the development complements each other’s master plans.

According to Town Project Manager Jason Reynolds, “Solterra is asking the town to consider amending the IGA with the county so that they can be permitted to expand under county jurisdiction (rather than going through an annexation process).” Douglas County’s Assistant Director of Planning Services, Steve Koster, estimates that the IGA amendment process may take three to four months, followed by another three to four months for the rezoning process, which will include public hearings, to determine whether planned development zoning will be allowed for the property.

If all goes as planned, Solterra hopes to begin a $15 million renovation in the spring of 2012 and be completed by the end of 2012. The 7.7-acre project will be done in three phases, resulting in an updated and sophisticated facility that will include 65 assisted living units, 40 rehabilitation/recovery units, and 36 memory care units.

For information about Bonaventure Senior Living, please visit www.bonaventuresenior.com. For information about Metzler Memory Care Assisted Living Residences, please contact Dennis Southwick, 11211 E. Arapahoe Road, Suite 100, Centennial, Colorado 80112 or call 720-273-9251. For information about Solterra Senior Living/Castle Rock Care Center, please visit www.solterraseniorliving.com or call 303-688-3174.