Major Expansion at The Villages Planned

Construction Expected to Start 2009!

Already a leader in providing a comprehensive range of services and housing options for seniors, Unity Health System is ready to take its premier retirement community, The Villages, to the next level. A major expansion of The Villages, located on the Unity Park Ridge Health Care Campus, is planned in response to the need for more senior housing options and specialized care, and to ensure that today’s residents – and those of tomorrow – have the choices and services they truly desire.

“This has been a very exciting process,” said Sandy MacWilliam, executive vice president, Center for Aging and Continuing Care at Unity.

First opened in 1990, and later expanded with construction of Woodland Village, The Villages complex currently includes 302 independent and enriched senior living apartments.

The Villages expansion project will:

• Convert The Hamlet, the existing enriched living center, to a 20-apartment memory care center
• Add a new 40-apartment enriched living community
• Build a climate-controlled connector between all parts of The Villages
• Create a “Main Street” of services (beauty/barbershop, convenience store, etc.)
• Build a media center and computer rooms for residents
• Add an exercise room for yoga, weight training, aerobics, and other activities
• Add a dedicated chapel/meditation-room
• Build a community room for dining and recreational activities

The master plan for The Villages shows the new and expanded facilities (shaded in gray) among the existing buildings. Exciting new features include a Community Center, a climate-controlled walkway connecting all the parts of The Villages complex, a new Memory Care Center, and Enriched Living Community.

By 2010, the focal point of The Villages complex will be the Community Center (left) with a glass-enclosed walkway spanning one side of the tree-lined Village Green. The existing Hamlet will be redeveloped into a Memory Care Center with a new Enriched Living Community (center right).

According to MacWilliam, the new facilities will allow residents to personalize their own apartments to a greater degree. Residents will also be able to upgrade their units, select kitchen components, carpeting style, and other interior features.

“We recognize that the senior population is changing,” said MacWilliam. “Seniors want control over their daily lives. They have preferences and so they want to have choices.” She added, “We are positioning ourselves for the future in senior living.”

Currently, there are 302 housing units in The Villages, in addition to 50 HUD-subsidized apartments at Park Ridge Commons. The redevelopment will add 30 units of senior housing.

Ground-breaking on the $21 million project is scheduled for 2009, with completion expected in 2010.

The Villages
1477 Long Pond Road
Rochester, NY 14626
(585) 723-7442
(585) 368-4047 fax

The Villages Expansion Flyer (PDF) >>