Work Starts on $21M Senior Housing Project

The facility, Hillcrest Village Homes, is a development of La Verne-based Brethren Hillcrest Homes. The project is being constructed by the Phoenix-based Southwest Division of the Weitz Co., which is headquartered in Des Moines.

The new senior center, due to be finished in 2005, will be at 2705 Mountain View Dr. It is part of a 33-acre site where Brethren Hillcrest Homes already has housing facilities for 370 seniors.

Larry Mohr, Southwest Division president of Weitz, says the facilities will total 167,000 sf in four buildings. The 167,000 sf will include nearly 11,000 sf for the aquatic and fitness center and about 85,000 sf for the apartments. The remaining space will be dedicated to the meeting house, which will include a kitchen, gift shop, library and cafe. The apartments will be close to the facility's dining area, an important consideration in the design of senior facilities, according to Linda Harding, a development official for the 56-year-old Brethren Hillcrest Homes.

Harding tells GlobeSt.com that the Hillcrest continuing care retirement community has been recognized as the first nationally accredited facility of its kind in California by the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. Hillcrest provides levels of care including residential, congregate, assisted living, skilled nursing, dementia care and a host of related services.

Irwin-Pancake Architects of Huntington Beach, CA designed the project. It will be wood frame with stone veneer, stucco and wood siding, with the project to include carports, covered walks and gazebos. The facility is one of a number of projects now under way by the Southwest Division of the Weitz Co.