plans announced for construction of new senior living complex in phoenix

A senior living complex housing a total of 160 residential units could be soon going up on the far northeast side of Phoenix.
If approved, the complex on a 3.4-acre lot at 18010 N. Tatum Boulevard, would also house a small theater, art studio, swimming pool, chapel, lounge, and café.
To be developed by the Denver-based MorningStar Senior Living Corporation, the design for the complex, according to city documents, calls for a “contemporary Southwest character, building and landscape elements.”
Development documents submitted to the City of Phoenix in December described MorningStar’s typical resident as a “woman, approximately 85 years of age, who is mobile but needs assistance with approximately two to three activities of daily living.”
Construction of the complex would follow the demolition of a two-story, nearly 40 year-old, building that is currently the home of the New Vision Center for Spiritual Living.  Officials with that center are currently in the process of finding a new location.
As planned by MorningStar, the complex would provide independent, assisted living, and memory care units.
The project has sparked the opposition from residents living in the adjacent Tatum Manor and Tatum Heights who have expressed concerns that a senior residential complex would negatively impact real estate values.
Home prices in the upscale Tatum Manor and Tatum Heights neighborhoods average between $300,000 to more than $4 million.
 MorningStar develops, owns, and operates senior living communities primarily in the West, with a current inventory of more than 4,000 residential units.
The new Phoenix complex, if it secures final city approval, will be the company’s fifth location in Arizona.

By Garry Boulard

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