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Senior-living project rises in Bainbridge
(by Joan Demirjian - December 23, 2008)
Senior-living project rises in Bainbridge
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
South Franklin Circle, a senior living community, is taking form on a rise overlooking South Franklin Street in Bainbridge.
The first phase on the 88-acre site is expected to open in September 2009, said William Ferenbach, vice president of South Franklin Circle, a subsidiary of Judson Services Inc. He brings a variety of background experience to the development, including project management and landscape design.
When South Franklin Circle's two phases are completed, it will include 315 living units. Its main entrance is off South Franklin Street, a mile south of downtown Chagrin Falls.
The focal point of South Franklin Circle is its community center. It will feature a restaurant, indoor heated swimming pool, pub and market bistro, dining room, workout center, dance and fitness areas, weight room, computer classroom, fine-arts studio, beauty salon, spa, auditorium, business center and a bank, Mr. Ferenbach said.
The community center's third floor and half of the second floor include independent apartments that overlook the surrounding treetops and valley to the west.
Just below the community center is an enhanced wetland and pond that have been planted with native plants and trees, including river birch, sycamore and red maples.
Surrounding the community center are five apartment buildings that will be connected to the center by enclosed bridge walkways, making it convenient to walk to and from the center in any type of weather, Mr. Ferenbach said.
They will encircle a village green, which will feature trees, flower beds and a commons area where outdoor activities can be held. "It's an outdoor living room," Mr. Ferenbach said. "It's a wonderful space."
Parking garages are under the apartments, and a model suite is being completed for viewing in mid- to late January, Judson spokesman Robert Lucarelli said. The apartments' exteriors feature plank siding and stone veneer.
Thirteen townhouses will be ready in 2009, and the two-story units will have elevators and are grouped in three houses each. Cottages stand alone, and garden houses are grouped in twos.
"Every living place in the community has a fireplace," Mr. Ferenbach said. They all use gas logs, and fans go off automatically to circulate the heat.
There will be 40 assisted-living units in the first phase, Mr. Ferenbach said.
Names of roads in the community relate to the history of Judson, honoring individuals, including founders, board members and significant donors. In addition, Harris Farm Drive is named after the previous owners of the largest parcel that makes up the site between South Franklin Street and Chagrin Road.
There will be opportunities for residents to walk in the community. There will be five miles of walking trails, paths and sidewalks to make it easy to get around or just to exercise. "It's a little village," Mr. Ferenbach said.
A Cleveland Metroparks trail was relocated in a conservation area and is surrounded by wetlands and ponds.
Only a quarter acre of the original wetlands were impacted, Mr. Ferenbach said. And there are other enhanced wetlands on the site of about eight acres. He said three additional acres of wetlands from the site were reconstructed elsewhere within the Chagrin River watershed.
"But they are mostly here," Mr. Ferenbach said. Native plants have been planted and nonnative plants were pulled out, he said. Two other ponds were built for storm-water detention.
Mr. Lucarelli said South Franklin Circle is "not a typical development, where a developer comes in, mows down the trees and natural terrain, making it a generic development and creating their own landscaping.
"With the conservation easements and preservation of wetlands and natural terrain, it feels like it's always been there. There are slopes and trees that are 50 to 100 years old," he said. "It looks lived in and comfortable as opposed to being stark and stripped of natural features."
Bainbridge Township zoning restrictions are placed on the development, Mr. Ferenbach said. "A typical developer wouldn't have touched this site." The development is limited to 40 percent coverage of the site. The rest is in green space with 40 acres in woods.
It will not be a gated community. "We've fully integrated ourselves in the community," Mr. Ferenbach said.
And with the types of active people living there, they will be involved in Bainbridge and the Chagrin Valley, he said.
South Franklin Circle's second phase is part of the original plan and includes homes and two apartment buildings. That phase will be built at a later date.
When fully built, the development will house 350 to 400 people and employ 75 to 80 full-time employees. There will be 206 apartments, 20 garden homes or duplexes, 19 town houses and 30 cottages in addition to 40 assisted-living suites.
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