Chestermere Seniors Lodge

CHESTERMERE – There were a lot of people interested in an information session at the Lunch and Learn last Thursday at the Whitecappers Centre. The LUNCH ‘N LEARN series are hosted by the Chestermere Community Services the first Thursday of every month from April to September. The Lunch ‘N Learns, are free and normally you just bring a lunch and listen to a presenter. There is a wide range of topics that are covered over the 5 month period, enough diversity to peak anyone’s curiosity. The session last Thursday was well attended by some 60 people who had a special interest in this development project and this time lunch was provided by George Trutina. This presentation was about the New Senior’s Lodge in Chestermere. The lodge will be located directly north of the new Strip Mall on Rainbow Road and Rainbow Falls Drive and is being built by Truman Development Corporation. The 180 unit building is an “L” shape and is 4 stories high. In addition, it has a 2 story “Amenities” building adjacent to a curved driveway entrance. The Amenities building will have large glassed in area that faces the Rainbow Creek Elementary School and a roof top terrace. Not a shovel has turned any soil on the site yet as the plans for the Seniors Lodge design is being adjusted to create more green space on the north side of the complex.
This beautiful looking building has a courtyard and lounge area that opens up to a green space, a dining room for up to 140 residents, fitness and games rooms and several smaller areas where you could go and read a book, watch TV or visit with others. There is also, a private area for parties and family gatherings if you would like to plan a dinner for example.
The lodge is a predominately an independent living focus but also has some units for those who may require assisted living. The facility will have an adequate number of nurses on staff and will meet the minimum health standard, the ratio of a certain number of nurses per person.
This is a nice feature, all of the units are handicap friendly, meaning, should your health status change where you might require a wheelchair, you wouldn’t have to move out of your current unit into a handicap unit. Each and every unit will be supplied with an Emergency response system as well.
Resident parking space at the lodge has exceeded the Town of Chestermere’s requirements by supplying a stall for every 3-4 units.
There are only 4 – 2 bedroom units at 934 square feet, and they also have a large balcony. You’d have to snap up those desirable units right away. There are other 1 and 2 bedroom units that have a French balcony; one that opens up but just has a railing and nowhere to stand.
And although the term Life Lease is new to me, according to Samantha Lancaster, the ownership program goes like this: a Life Lease is where you can put a down payment on a unit for as little as 10% of the value of the unit or as much as 80% of the unit. The larger the down payment the smaller the monthly fees and vice versa for the smaller down payment you would pay a higher monthly fee. It’s an investment and just like a house or condo, your estate can resell the unit. All property taxes are included in the month fees by the way.
There are lots of websites that will give you much more information than this article and here is one for example: Life Leases – Laws for Tenants in Alberta
In addition you’ll need to decide if you want to eat in the dining area and for how many meals per day. That too will affect the monthly payment. Stephen Aird, one of the designers of the facility, says this lodge has more amenities than any of the other seniors’ homes he has worked on. George always does it up in style. The Lodge is scheduled for completion in December 2013 and they are contemplating creating a website for the lodge. Stay tuned for more information; we’ll pass it along as we get it.