Saturday, July 17, 1999
Retirement center looking certain
Twin Towers project likely to get an OK
BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MONTGOMERY — A $60 million to $70 million retirement community — the largest development in this northeastern Hamilton County city in at least 15 years — is expected to be approved by council next month, officials said Friday.
The project addresses a critical need for senior housing in the area.
“We provide very, very little opportunity for our older citizens who want to move out of their four-bedroom, two-story houses to stay in town and go into single-story (home) plans with smaller yards and less maintenance,” said City Manager Cheryl Hilvert. The Twin Towers' proposal is to purchase three tracts of land comprising 36 acres here plus another 20 acres of green space in neighboring Indian Hill to pave the way for the new retirement community.
Twin Towers is a 100-year-old, nonprofit retirement community in College Hill affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The new retirement village has not yet been named.
Twin Towers President Scott McQuinn said the organization recognized a significant need on Hamilton County's east side for a retirement community to provide housing for seniors ranging from full nursing care facilities to independent living units.
Twin Towers authorized demographic studies of the eastern suburbs including Anderson Township and Clermont County and discovered a critical need for senior housing within a 5-mile radius of Montgomery to also serve Madeira, Indian Hill, Symmes Township and Sycamore Township, Mr. McQuinn said.
Montgomery Community Development Director Kathleen Buckley said her research indicates seniors prefer to move into retirement communities within 5 miles of their homes or near the homes of their children.
Mr. McQuinn said Twin Towers is prepared to purchase the three tracts for about $10 million after council approves the facility. Development will be contingent on 60 percent reserved occupancy prior to groundbreaking — generally a 12- to 24-month process. Groundbreaking should occur in 2001 with completion in 2003, he said. Already, about 150 people have inquired about moving into the new community, he said.
Two of the parcels, or 22.9 acres, are on either side of Perin Road east of Montgomery Road — formerly home to the Thornton's Garden Center and the rear of the old Montgomery Drive-In — behind existing retail shops, said Mike Harbison, chairman of the city's planning commission.
The third parcel, 14.6 arces, is off Hopewell Road east of the city's swimming pool and safety center. Plans call for it to connect to the Perin Road campus by a path for motorized carts through Indian Hill green space pending approval by officials there.
The facility would provide a medical office building and wellness center facing Montgomery Road on the former Thornton's property. There would be 34 units with full nursing care, 48 assisted living units and 84 independent living quarters and 12 town houses on the Thornton site with another 60 town houses on the old drive-in site and 53 more plus a community center at the Hopewell site, Twin Towers officials said.
The center would accommodate about 400 residents and generate about 195 jobs.
Mrs. Hilvert said the facility would be billed for paramedic runs which studies indicate will increase by three or four a week — well within the capabilities of the city's paramedic service. The city also would benefit from inheritance taxes estimated to generate about $133,000 a year. .
The facility also would generate an as yet undetermined amount of tax income to the Sycamore School District with no additional enrollment, officials said.
Mrs. Hilvert said Twin Towers is willing to pay the city for recreational programs and the center would provide the community with a volunteer base of retirees to help with programs and events.
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