Two such projects include the recently unveiled loft living arrangments to be found in the Press Building or Steeple View Lofts, restored warehouses planned just walkable blocks from city culture and amenities. “It’s so exciting to be able to have a historic building in such a grand location,” says Logan Patterson of the Press Building (www.lancasterpressbuilding.org). “We are basically two blocks from Gallery Row. Two blocks south of Clipper Stadium and Central Market. It’s all so walkable.”
The Fulton Theatre, City Hall, the Amtrak station, and Lancaster’s many cafes and restaurants are all walkable from the Press Building at the intersection of North Prince and West Lemon streets. Patterson is liaison for the Press Building, originally built in 1907 as one of Lancaster’s ubiquitous tobacco warehouses and later used as a home to a medical journal printing firm. Today, it’s slated for restoration into 44 loft spaces for active adults, with construction set to begin when 33 residents have committed to live there.
The Press Building plan came to life when developers Lancaster Press Partners approached Garden Spot Village, the New Holland-based retirement community, about joining an effort to infuse stylish, city-centric homes for age 55-plus adults in the heart of Lancaster.
“People who lived in the suburbs are looking to move into urban environments,” says D. Scott Miller, Garden Spot Village’s director of marketing. “The suburbs seem to be converging on cities.”
Tippetts/Weaver Architects, Lancaster, laid out each Press Building apartment differently, reflecting the quirks that developed from the building’s century of use. Some may have sunken living rooms, garden terraces or skylights.
“You cannot assume that if you’re in apartment 204 that 404 is going to be necessarily the same,” says Patterson.
All will preserve such features as exposed brick walls and spectacular concrete columns that still bear markings and measurements scribbled by long-ago pressmen. Eight-foot-square windows allow natural light through double panes screened with filtering privacy blinds.
Press Building residents can buy a shared-appreciation option (a kind of condo agreement that yields the increased value when they’re sold) or transfer options to Garden Spot Communities. With construction yet to begin, new owners have the luxury of customizing—dark or light cabinets, perhaps—with upgrade options, as well.
“More Than Just a Place to Live”
Restored warehouse living is catching on in Lancaster, as Landis Communities, a division of the well-known Landis Homes (www.landishomes.org), has partnered with a Pittsburgh developer to create Steeple View Lofts at the site of the former Radel & Stauffer building at 118 N. Water Street. The building will house 36 apartments for residents 55 and older. The project is notable for its intention as “more than just places to live,” says Larry Guengerich, director of communications and church relations for Landis Communities.
“Rather than shoehorning as many apartments as possible into the space, we’re being intentional about community spaces for games and art projects,” Guengerich says. Landis Homes drew up the project after hearing two messages from area retirees—that they didn’t want to pay sizeable upfront fees for retirement living, and that they wanted to stay in the city, close to educational and cultural attractions.
“This is a huge group of people,” says Guengerich. “There’s going to be a need for new models of how people choose to live out their retirement years. Many want to live in their own space as long as possible, and these are designed with that in mind.”
Like the Press Building, Steeple View Lofts will showcase the assets of a historical structure that most recently housed a gift and home accessories store and was once a tobacco warehouse. The first floor will feature retail space and the offices of Landis At Home, Landis Communities’ in-home care services. Melanie LeFevre, principal at LeFevre Funk Architects in Lancaster, says that each apartment will feature easily accessible overhead storage, ample light, an open floor plan, and exposed beams, showing off the old but solid building’s “very, very strong bones.”
Front doors don’t face each other directly across hallways, and a central elevator shaft—another advantage of the existing structure—is in close proximity to every apartment.
“The way the existing building is conformed really allowed us to have a lot of variety in the layout, so they’re not cookie cutter at all,” says LeFevre. “They’re designed so if someone has a larger breakfront, they can bring it in.”
Downtown loft apartments expand the range of options traditionally available to retirees and those approaching retirement, says Guengerich. “There need to be options for people at a variety of levels of need and a variety of different financial abilities. It is a part of a spectrum for providing good quality accommodations for people that allow them to be where they want to be.”
Seniors on the Move
But not all recent developments in Lancaster’s senior living sector are emerging within the city limits. In fact, one project of note includes a historic property located within the city limits—The Long Home—and its residents’ recent move to the Long Community at Highland in Manheim Township (www.longcommunityhighland.org), just a few miles outside the city limits.
The Long Community at Highland, a Presbyterian Senior Living community, is still under construction but has already filled its 32 personal care and 52 independent living units. Residents have access to onsite medical, vision and dental care, including specialists in podiatry and audiology, says campus administrator Paul Taylor. There’s a beauty salon onsite, daily transportation to community hotspots such as shopping centers and medical facilities, and plenty of gathering spaces, including four-season room, Florida room, fitness center and café.
The goal is to “layer in amenities” so that choices are at hand and residents are happy.
“Would you rather go out for the day and spend an hour and a half sitting in a doctor’s office, or spend an hour and a half sitting down to a nice lunch and maybe doing some shopping?” says Taylor.
The scheduled in-house amenities will be augmented by activities designed by and for residents as they move in.
“The historical aspect of senior care was to develop programming and then put it out to the masses,” says Taylor. “We want the masses to tell us what our programming should be.”
The intent is to connect with the larger world, not isolate like an island.
“We want to be part of the community,” says Taylor. “We want to be involved.”
Long Community residents enjoy retirement on their own schedules, in a “resident-focused, resident-centered style of care,” Taylor says. The “natural wake medication system” allows flexible delivery of meds, and licensed home care services such as housekeeping and cooking are delivered when residents want them. Day and night access to country kitchens allows anytime snacking, and a café serves breakfast, soups and sandwiches.
“It smells so great on the char broiler when they’re doing burgers,” Taylor says.
Long Community traces its roots to a 19th-century home for indigent women, and along with the personal care and independent living options, subsidized apartments are an essential part of the community. Many services and amenities match those seen in for-profit communities, but “we try to keep costs under control to be able to provide no entrance fee, to provide the subsidized care and still offer a high-quality product,” Taylor says.
Making the Most of Life
At Landis Communities, officials are talking with local colleges and cultural institutions about educational and entertainment options for Steeple View residents.
Press Building residents will have access to Garden Spot Village offerings, and building liaison Patterson can order tickets to local performances or help with other needs.
Today’s 55-plus adults want to make the most of their time, Patterson notes. “You’re tired of all this landscaping, mowing and blowing, and the whole weekend goes into that and it’s Monday, and you never traveled.” The Press Building, she says, “is going to develop its own personality.”
Whether it’s a facility discussed here or the many other options around the region, today’s senior living is about designing housing for the needs of aging residents without skimping on contemporary amenities. Wireless capabilities complement wide hallways and spacious turning radii. Closets and storage spaces are abundant, and energy-efficient appliances and features keep utility costs low. Adaptations and modifications can be made as needed to accommodate residents with physical impairments. Most sites offer temporary or long-term help with the tasks of daily living through their associated retirement communities’ in-home care services.
“You can stay here for the rest of your life,” notes the Press Building’s Miller.
Or as Patterson puts it, “Get rid of stuff, and start living your life.”
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Photos courtesy Presbyterian Senior Living
Presbyterian Senior Living
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Photos by Jeremy Hess
Garden Spot Village’s Press Building
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Photos by Jeremy Hess
Garden Spot Village’s Press Building brings a new concept of 55+ loft-style renovated warehouse living to downtown Lancaster.
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Photos courtesy Presbyterian Senior Living
The Long Community at Highland is located just beyond the city limits and now offers a full spectrum of care under the network of Presbyterian Senior Living.
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Photos by Jeremy Hess
Garden Spot Village’s Press Building
