CHICAGO-A venture of the Kendal Corp., the city of Chicago and developer Greystone Communities will officially break ground today on a $202 million new retirement community here. This 31-story Admiral on the Lake tower, going up at the south side of Foster Avenue and Marine Drive, will be the Kennett Square, PA-based company’s first foray into the Chicago market.

Kendal will manage the project for the Admiral group, a non-profit organization dedicated to caring for the city’s elderly residents. Kendal is also a non-profit group, a 35-year-old organization that developed and manages 14 retirement communities in six states. The two groups signed an agreement in July 2009 to build this facility. “We have a new and very similar opportunity in the City of Chicago,” said John Diffey, president and CEO of Kendal. “This promises to be an exceptional new urban retirement living community.”

The Admiral group first began in 1858, known as the Home for Aged and Indigent Females. Over time the organization allowed both men and women of all faiths and nationalities, and in 1960 took over an 11-story hotel, then called the Admiral, with the group taking on the facility’s name as well. In 2007, residents moved to temporary quarters in nearby host facilities, and a redevelopment plan began.

The new property will be a continuing care retirement community offering life care retirement living, with 200 apartments, 39 assisted living and 17 memory support accommodations, as well as 36 private skilled-nursing rooms. Many of the former residents have signed on to live in the new building, which is now 81% committed, and the project should be complete by fall 2012.  

Bovis Lend Lease is the general contractor on the project. Ziegler Capital Markets assisted with the bond financing.