Evendale council to discuss Erickson impacts

A report on the possible impacts of a 1,200-unit Erickson Retirement Communities complex on the Village of Evendale will be discussed tonight in front of the village council.

Erickson has proposed the 69-acre, $175 million retirement complex for the 165-acre Landmark Church property off of Glendale-Milford Road, which straddles the villages of Evendale and Glendale along I-75.

The 1,200 independent living units are expected to bring 1,800 new residents, 529 of which would live in Evendale - a 17 percent increase over the current population.

Erickson also plans a Renaissance Gardens assisted living facility, which would add 96 living units and 48 skilled nursing beds.

According to the study, which was prepared by the Economics Center for Research and Education at the University of Cincinnati, the average age of a new resident is estimated to be 79.9 years. It concludes that EMS runs could increase by as much as 28.3 percent and that the police department would see a 6.3 percent increase in service calls, possibly requiring the hiring of an additional officer.

However, this could likely be offset by the expected $604,425 per year in additional revenue from income from the campus' 600 employees and estate taxes from deceased residents.

Twenty-nine acres of the property are in Evendale, with the remainder in neighboring Glendale, making joint service agreements necessary to any development.

Construction on the project would begin in September 2009, and buildout would occur in 2015.

The expected timeline is as follows:

* Neighborhood 1: Four four-story buildings, 38,400-square-foot footprints, with 540 total units, and a 101,000-square-foot community building. Breaks ground in September 2009, first units open in September 2010. Buildout in two to three years.

* Neighborhood 2: Five to six four-story buildings, 38,400-square-foot footprints, 627 total units, and a 101,000-square-foot community building. Breaks ground in 2011 or 2012, first units open by the end of 2012. Buildout in three to four years.

* Renaissance Gardens: Breaks ground in 2013, first units open in September 2014. Buildout in three years.

The campus would be gated with on-site service and entertainment facilities and would contain 2,200 surface parking spaces.

No decisions will be made tonight, but the discussion will lead to the scheduling of future meetings on the proposal.

If the retirement community is not ultimately built, Glendale may choose to build a scaled-down community, Evendale could build an office development, or the land could remain undeveloped - though no specific proposals are currently on the table.

Erickson currently has the property under contract.

Erickson Retirement Communities currently operates 20 facilities in the United States, has approximately 11,000 employees and has annual operating revenues around $1 billion.

Open to the public. 7 PM. Village of Evendale Administration Building, 10500 Reading Road.

Previous reading on BC:
Glendale: Erickson Retirement Community (6/6/07)

Glendale: Erickson Retirement Community

(NOTE: I wrote this story yesterday. The Enquirer is going to have a story about this project in their Wednesday edition, which includes some quotes that this story lacks. Anyway, here's my version, which includes info on Erickson's other activity in Ohio.)

An informal presentation regarding the possible redevelopment of the Landmark Baptist Church property in Glendale will be held June 13.

Erickson Retirement Communities has expressed interest in building on the site, which is situated along Oak Road and straddles the villages of Glendale and Evendale.

Erickson, in the midst of an aggressive building program, currently has 19 lifestyle communities in the United States, including two in Michigan and two in Pennsylvania. The developments are generally gated, campus-styled, and upscale.

In 2006, they explored the possibility of opening their first Ohio location in Dublin, just outside of Columbus. Their plan for 1,500 units on 95 acres promised 1,000 jobs and $200 million in construction costs.

After Dublin rejected them for not fitting in with the planned Central Ohio Innovation Center development, they called on nearby Hilliard, promising 800 to 1,000 jobs from an 80 acre campus with an annual payroll of $30 million. Hilliard looks prepared to okay the development in the Ansmil district, which has been vacant since its rezoning in 1998.

In order for the development to work here, Glendale would have to increase the number of living units per acre allowed from its current number of ten.

Evendale would be required to rezone their part of the property to residential, meaning that it would require approval from both the Planning Commission and the Village Council. Officials with the village have already expressed doubts about whether the retirement community fits into the village's master plan.

An adjacent 40-acre chunk of the Landmark property had been proposed as the site of the Crossings of Glendale power center, to be built by Bear Creek Capital. Their plan contained several big box stores and outlots arranged parallel to I-75, with an ocean of parking in between.

Negotiations between Bear Creek and Landmark were going on as late as spring 2006, when things mysteriously broke off and Bear Creek removed the project from their website.

Erickson's interest in the land became widely known in March of this year.

The June 13 presentation, which is a joint session of the Council of the Village of Glendale and the Glendale Planning and Historic Preservation Commission, begins at 7 PM in the Glendale Town Hall Auditorium. It is open to the public.

Erickson Retirement Communities website

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