Assisted living housing has a reputation for being offered only in large structures that feel more like facilities than true communities.
Fortunately, many developers are working to change that model with smaller footprints.
The latest entry into this category is The Lodge of New Hope, a 31-unit community tucked into a residential area just a block from the CVS at Winnetka Avenue and Medicine Lake Road.
It’s a smaller, more intimate setting than you’d typically see in the assisted-living market, said housing manager Daniel Reinke, who added: “It’s much more conducive to building relationships and enjoying a variety of activities.”
Managed by the not-for-profit Good Samaritan Society, The Lodge is attached to the society’s award-winning Ambassador facility, a skilled nursing and rehab center that cares for individuals after hospitalization due to injury, illness or elective surgical procedures. Good Samaritan also offers in-home and outpatient services such as physical, occupational and speech therapies around the Twin Cities.
Living room at the Lodge New HopeThe Lodge is the first community of its kind for the Good Samaritan Society in the metro area. Other Lodges are located in Taylor Falls, Howard Lake, Mountain Lake and Winthrop.
Throughout Minnesota, the society offers a variety of services and housing options, including home health care, independent living, specialty care and skilled nursing.
Marketing coordinator Mary Bunnell said the community was stylistically designed to be an “urban lodge — nestled into a quiet neighborhood, yet conveniently close to shops, restaurants, entertainment and health care.”
“There are no tennis courts, karaoke rooms or candy stores. And there are no long lines at the elevator or miles of floor space to navigate,” Bunnell said. “The focus is not on fancy amenities, but quality care, comfort and community.”
Bunnell said the society — founded in 1922 as the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society — offers the “expertise and stability of a company that’s been caring for seniors for almost 100 years.”
TV room at The Lodge
Amenities
- Scheduled activities (social, recreational, spiritual)
- Barber shop/beauty salon
- Exercise room
- Library lounge
- Two outdoor patios and a rooftop deck
- Personal emergency response systems (pendants and wall units)
- 24-hour staffing / health monitoring
- Priority access to Good Samaritan Society’s adjacent nursing and rehab facility known as Ambassador.
The Lodge of New Hope
Where: 2765 Virginia Ave. N., New Hope
Opening date: October 2018
Ages welcome: 55 and older
Number of units: 31 apartments with 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom/2-bath options
Cost range for a single resident: $3,800–$4,500 per month (no entrance fees). Rent includes three meals a day plus snacks, cable TV and Internet, weekly housekeeping/linen changes, personal services and base-level health care. Additional care levels and costs are determined with a health assessment.
Property owner: The Community Asset Foundation and Development Group of Chaska owns The Lodge. It’s managed by the Good Samaritan Society, which is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., and operates more than 200 locations in 24 states.
Info: good-sam.com/newhopelodge or 763-417-4625
Do you know of a new or interesting senior housing option — brand new or long-standing — in the Twin Cities that might make a good Housing Spotlight? Write Minnesota Good Age editor Sarah Jackson at [email protected] with the subject line #HousingSpotlight.