Goodwin Living To Add More Senior Housing Amid Demand In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As demand for senior housing continues to grow, senior housing operator Goodwin Living is responding with plans for a new senior housing community in Alexandria.

In June, the future Goodwin House Seminary Road community received approval from Alexandria City Council. The senior living community, geared toward adults 55 and older, will provide 217 independent living apartments and 16 assisted living apartments. Seven of the units will be designated as affordable housing.

Located near Seminary Road and Beauregard Street, the new development will have two residential towers connected by a two-story lobby. There will also be a dedicated memory care area, Medicare/Medicaid-certified health care center with skilled nursing, short-term rehabilitation, long-term care and a rehab center.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027. Goodwin House Seminary Road is aimed to open in 2029 and will serve an estimated 300 to 250 older adults.

Goodwin Living is a faith-based not-for-profit senior living operator with locations in Alexandria, Bailey's Crossroads and D.C. Rob Liebreich, president and CEO of Goodwin Living, said the U.S. is experiencing one of its greatest growths of older adults. He pointed to a 60 percent growth of 65-year-olds from 2010 to 2020 and nearly 40 percent anticipated from 2020 to 2030.

"This growth is occurring, and what's not happening is we're not building a lot of new products, housing options for these older adult individuals," Liebreich told Patch. "So we're behind, if you will, providing the market with what they're going to want, what they want."

Goodwin House's life plan communities currently have high occupancy rates and a 900-person priority list awaiting spots, according to Liebreich. He says residents looking to move in now could be waiting as much as eight years.

"We know that for a lot of people, there is pent-up desire to move into a community that is focused as we are, on reinvesting in our residents, reinvesting in team members, reinvesting in community," said Liebreich. "I think that's really compelling for folks, and they want to have a peace of mind and not put a burden on family members to have to worry about making decisions later on in crisis."

This is the first time since 1987 that Goodwin House will be building a completely new senior living community. Goodwin House Seminary Road will be on the site of The View Alexandria, the company's rental-based senior living apartments. The View Alexandria was formerly known as Hermitage Northern Virginia before Goodwin Living acquired it in 2022.

Goodwin Living first established its presence in Alexandria in 1967 with Goodwin House Alexandria across the street from The View Alexandria and the future Goodwin House Seminary Road. Liebreich noted that Goodwin Living received a land donation across the street to establish Goodwin House Alexandria from the same family that donated land for the former Hermitage Northern Virginia.

"That [former Hermitage Northern Virginia] building was built in 1961 so we're super excited that, along with building a new building that we'll be able to reinvest in the existing building because of this project in a way that we wouldn't be if we didn't embark upon a new one," said Liebreich.

According to Liebreich, a core point of Goodwin Living is to keep residents involved in the community and help them showcase their talents. One highlight of the upcoming senior living community will be an urban arboretum to highlight the diversity of local trees and plants. Residents will also have amenities, programs and activities to support mental, physical and spiritual wellness, including a full gym, pickleball court and more.

"Having physical, capable people, keeping people not just living longer, but healthier as they live, is going to be a core focus of this community," said Libreich. "Really engaging around the best practices for lifespan, but also health span that will be a big focus of this community."

The Goodwin Living CEO believes Alexandria has a variety of assisted living choices but lacks sufficient high-quality independent living.

"A lot of times when people move into our community, they're still working, they're still actively engaged in the community in a full-time or part-time capacity," he said. "And so I think folks want that opportunity to be in a community where they get to continue to thrive, but they also have the services and resources amenities provided in an environment that's thoughtful for their success."

The transition to independent living is a conversation Goodwin Living staff have with many of their residents. Liebreich suggests older adults have a plan with their family or friends, given the difficulty of being able to find senior living spaces. Independent living also provides the reassurance of assisted living support if residents should need extra care later.

"For people thinking about this, look at your budget today. Think about it," said Liebreich. "Don't think you can't afford it, because in a lot of times, people don't realize, for Goodwin Living, you can have less than $200,000 of an entrance fee and pay $3,300 a month, and getting the value and access to our community, and what that gives you is a chance to have care for life, in essence even if you ran out of money."

While responding to demand for senior living is a priority, another challenge for senior living operators is continuing to maintain staffing levels. Liebreich pointed to the drop in birth rates and immigration restrictions affecting staffing that the senior living field has relied upon. One strategy Goodwin Living has implemented is offering more paid internships to high school and college students and pairing them with a resident as a mentor. Liebreich says existing employees have also been useful for referring new hires.

"My leadership team, myself included, we're trying to think of ways to make sure we retain great people and find ways to better recruit," said Liebreich. "One of the things that we recognize is because we don't have new babies coming so much and because our immigration is getting limited, we need to be more present with the younger generation. We need to introduce ourselves to high school students, to college students, even middle school students."

As it stands today, Goodwin Living has about 1,450 employees serving its 4,000 older adults. The new Seminary Road facility is expected to have about 250 permanent employees working in dining services, facilities management, programming and amenities, clinical care, wellness, and business operations.

For residents eyeing their options for their golden years, Liebreich says Goodwin Living is about collaboration with residents and being open to innovation.

"We're a very strong faith based, not-for-profit. We're financially stable. We are mission focused," said Liebreich. "We are focused on reinvesting and opportunities for our residents and our team members and those that we serve to thrive and really to be better off in the future years than they are even today."

The sales center for the future Goodwin House Seminary Road community will open in August at 1800 N Beauregard Street, Suite 101, Alexandria VA.