Construction for Senior Housing to Begin this Fall at Henry Ford Medical Center-Cottage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GROSSE POINTE FARMS – Construction to develop onsite senior housing at the Henry Ford Medical Center-Cottage is expected to begin this fall.

A purchase agreement was signed March 16 between American House Senior Living Communities, REDICO and Henry Ford Health System, paving the way for a unique development that will provide a much needed resource for seniors and their caregivers in the Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods and St. Clair Shores communities.

Plans call for 38 housing units to be located on the second floor and 40 units on the third floor at Cottage, 159 Kercheval. Residents will have a separate entrance, elevator access, roof-top garden and rooms with a picturesque view of the Grosse Pointe Hill business and restaurant district.

“We’re excited about our partnership with American House,” says Paul Szilagyi, Henry Ford’s regional vice president of Primary Care & Medical Centers. “The senior housing will compliment our medical services offered at Cottage, as well as those services offered next door at the Henry Ford Medical Center-Pierson.”

Cottage will continue to operate as an outpatient medical center and offer its wide-ranging portfolio of medical services: 24-hour emergency care, women’s health, ambulatory surgery, lab services, radiology, infusion services, sleep clinic, rehabilitation and cancer care. Behind Cottage is the historic Newberry House, which will soon become the new home of the Services for Older Citizens, which offers social, cultural and health services and support.

At Pierson, American House residents and their caregivers will have access to other medical services that include cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, internal medicine, orthopedics, rheumatology and the Assessment Center for Seniors (ACS), which previously was housed on the second floor at Cottage. The ACS, now located on the second floor at Pierson, assesses the medical, social and psychological issues of seniors 65 and older, and makes recommendations for improving their quality of life.

Szilagyi says services at Cottage will continue to operate seamlessly during construction. Completion is slated for late 2013. REDICO, a national real estate development company headquartered in Southfield, will lead the project.

American House CEO Dale Watchowski says the Cottage development represents an innovative direction in senior living.

“This forward-thinking business model is unique where seniors reside independently in their own apartments, yet are surrounded by medical services, retail stores, banks and restaurants within walking distance,” Watchowski says. “This convergence will ensure that by working collectively, each element – the senior housing, retail shops and medical facilities – will foster an environment that benefits the development as a whole, and provides a breadth of services so very important to senior citizens.”

American House serves more than 2,700 seniors in 27 free-standing housing properties in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee and Washtenaw counties. It provides independent apartment living, living assistance, memory and respite care living options.

The housing floor plan at Cottage will feature:

• One- and two-bedroom private apartments and studio units on the second floor for independent seniors.
• One- and two-bedroom private apartments and studio units on the third floor for seniors who require assistance with daily living and seniors with Alzheimer’s and other memory-related conditions.

American House will own and operate nearly 92,000-square-feet of the 236,402-square-foot Cottage property. It will also occupy space on the lower level for a kitchen and laundry area.

American House residents will have their own separate entrance, formerly the valet entrance on the north side of the building. Cottage will continue to maintain entrances on Kercheval, Muir Road and behind the Emergency Department.

For more information about the housing units and their availability call 248.203.1800 and ask for Barbara Barrel at extension 237.