Tudor Oaks, a 30-year-old continuing care retirement community with senior apartments, assisted living and skilled nursing residences, is planning a $93 million transformation of its 110-acre campus in Muskego. With the redevelopment, the complex will be renamed The Crossings at Tudor Oaks.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2007 and be completed in 2008.
Currently, Tudor Oaks has 165 independent apartments, 16 assisted living units and 61 skilled nursing rooms (17 private and 44 double-occupancy).
During the redevelopment project, about half of the existing complex will be torn down, eliminating 80 of the independent apartments. The remaining 85 independent apartments will be renovated, and the 61 skilled nursing rooms will remain. New construction will add 138 more independent apartments, 16 independent living cottages, 48 assisted living rooms and 16 memory care rooms for residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
When the project is done, there will be a total of 364 rooms, compared with the current total of 242.
The facility’s owner is Eden Prairie, Minn.-based American Baptist Homes of the Midwest.
"This is the largest redevelopment project for American Baptist Homes in the Midwest," said Jaime buege, spokeswoman for The Crossings at Tudor Oaks. "They are redeveloping the Crossings because of the national trend with adults age 62 and older living longer and with more active lifestyles than mature adults 30 years ago. In addition, today’s seniors are seeking more space, more ability to carry out an independent lifestyle, but want the peace of mind in knowing their future health care needs will be met."
Irving, Texas-based Graystone Communities Inc. was hired to be the developer for the redevelopment project.
"Graystone, they’re the experts," Buege said. "They have extensive experience in developing and managing continuing care retirement communities. They have the know-how about what the mature market is looking for."
After the project is done, The Crossings at Tudor Oaks will not only be bigger, but its rooms and common areas will be better, said Kathrine Peterson, marketing director for the complex.
All of the independent living apartments will have walk-in showers in the master bathrooms. Walk-in showers are much safer than a bathtub for frail elderly people to get in and out of. Each of the new apartments also will have a washer and dryer.
The new apartments will also have larger beds, for couples living together, and larger closets.
"We are realizing that today’s mature market is different than the mature market of 30 years ago," Peterson said. "It’s a gigantic upgrade."
The new apartments will also feature underground parking, a unique amenity for a retirement community, Peterson said. The underground parking area will also have a place where residents will be able to wash or work on their vehicles. The current independent apartments have exterior garages, which force residents to go out in the cold during the winter to get to and from their vehicles.
The common areas of the complex will also be refurbished during the project.
American Baptist Homes of the Midwest is a nonprofit organization. The organization allows people to stay at Tudor Oaks even if they run out of money, Peterson said. The organization has a foundation to provide funds to for people who cannot pay for their rooms.
"We will care for them should their financial resources be depleted," she said. "That is how faith-based, not-for-profit organizations operate."
In addition, at a continuing care facility, couples can live in the same complex, even if they require different levels of care.
Residents must be at least 62 years old, but they do not have to be Baptists, Peterson said.
"Our goal is to help the residents continue to live independently as long as possible in the safest environment and under the safest conditions possible," Peterson said. "The whole redevelopment is really about meeting the expectations of today’s mature market."
The Crossings at Tudor Oaks
location: S77 W12929 McShane Dr., Muskego
owner: American Baptist Homes of the Midwest
Web sites: www.thecrossingsattudoroaks.com, www.tudoroaks.com
