Senior Housing Expansion Projected to Create 600 Local Jobs

Officials broke ground today on a $48.7 million senior housing development that project representatives said will usher in hundreds of new construction jobs throughout the next 18 months.

Lutheran Senior Services (LSS) plans to add a new four-story, 80-unit apartment building to its senior retirement community in Webster Groves. A second new building will add 60 private rooms to its nursing facility.

Julie Leight, assistant to St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, thanked LSS representatives for filling a growing need for senior housing in the community and congratulated the organization on its mission. 

"South County is known as having a heavy concentration of seniors," she said. "Plus, bringing 600 construction jobs to the St. Louis County area—that's music to our ears."

The buildings at the site were constructed in the 1920s, serving as the Sisters of Mercy convent. In 1972, it became Lutheran Convalescent Home and since then, Laclede Groves has grown into one of the region's largest continuing care communities with a 64-acre campus.  

"It's our crown jewel and the oldest and largest community we have," said John Kotovsky, LSS president and CEO. "It's helped define who we are. But the best is yet to come, and our new apartment building is already 70-percent sold."

Webster Groves Mayor Gerry Welch thanked the organization and said she was thrilled. The availability of senior housing in Webster Groves—which is mostly a single-family residential community—has been problematic for residents in the past.

"We have a lot of residents who live in the city and (when they grow older) don't want to leave," she said. "So now you never have to leave Webster Groves."

In addition to the new apartments and private rooms, the project also includes a town center, which will serve as a hub of activity for residents and family members.

"We're calling the project a process of community renewal," said Valerie Cooper, Laclede's executive director.

The St. Louis area ranks fifth in the nation in the percentage of persons 65 and older, according to the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. Pittsburgh, Miami, Cleveland and Philadelphia top the list.

The project, which has already begun, is expected to be complete around June 2013. When finished, Laclede Groves will have 332 apartments, 105 assisted living apartments, 256 skilled nursing beds and 54 patio homes for independent living.

LSS operates 19 senior living communities in Missouri and Illinois.