Big Rock Partners and Greenbrier Development are working on a project that could represent a new format for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs).

The partners are co-developers on a project currently dubbed Green Cay Life Plan Village, a $250 million project in Boynton Beach, Florida. As planned, the to-be-named project will have more than 200 residences, more than three-quarters of which are slated to be independent living.

The type B entry-fee community is designed to have all of the trappings of a CCRC save for one: Skilled nursing units. And that is intentional, according to Big Rock Managing Partner Richard Ackerman.

“Past CCRCs had nursing, but that’s kind of gone by the wayside,” Ackerman told Senior Housing News. “Now, you’re looking at an almost active adult model where it’s bigger apartments, more amenities and people stay longer.”

The South Florida project — along with another underway south of Charleston, South Carolina, on Kiawah Island — are the culmination of Big Rock’s years of experience in the sector. Kiawah and Green Cay represent the company’s second and third entry-fee CCRC.

Even more unique, Ackerman and Big Rock spearheaded a bill that was signed into law in May to help pave the way for the CCRC and others like it in South Carolina.

Years of experience at work

The community is set to arrive with a list of amenities that includes a variety of dining and drinking venues, integrated smart tech, fitness and wellness centers, a yoga studio, salon, movie theater, a pool, patios and outdoor areas. The community also has access to the adjacent Green Cay Nature Center.

The project team for the Boynton Beach project includes boutique architectural firm PRDG and Moss & Associates as design and pre-construction consultant. Together with the project partners Big Rock and Greenbrier, they conceptualized a community that is the culmination of more than five years of CCRC design and development trends, Ackerman said.

“It’s designed more like a condominium,” he added. “The finishes are higher, the spaces are bigger … and people can customize their units.”

In addition to its co-developer role, Greenbrier Development is also marketing and managing the Green Cay community.

Big Rock expects to break ground on the project in 2024 with a completion date in 2026. The community’s pre-sales office is planned to open later this year.

Big Rock is also putting that forward-thinking philosophy to work at Seafields at Kiawah Island, which Big Rock is touting as the first luxury life plan community at the resort island in South Carolina. As planned, the $180 million community is slated to have 90 one-, two-, and three-bedroom residences, as well as 16 units for residents needing assisted living and other continuing care services.

While the project is humming along now, that is partly thanks to a recent piece of legislation that Big Rock and Ackerman helped come to fruition.

Before the law, it was unclear whether the state of South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs was authorized to issue preliminary licenses to CCRCs during the development and construction phase.

The problem was akin to a Catch 22, where CCRCs like Seafields were unable to get financing without a preliminary license, but also unable to get a preliminary license without financing. The state also lacked a clear mechanism for collecting resident deposits ahead of construction.

So, the Seafields team got to work — with help from Leading Age South Carolina — crafting legislation that would amend the CCRC statute to authorize a two-tiered licensing system. In May, those efforts were fruitful with the signing of General Bill R 223.

“I’ve never been in a position in my 40 years of doing this where I have had to change a statute,” Ackerman said.

Looking ahead, Ackerman sees a future where more CCRCs resemble active adult dwellings or condos, not health care facilities. And given its recent projects in Florida, South Carolina and elsewhere, he believes that Big Rock is well-prepared for that day.

“I would say that’s the biggest trend,” he said. “It’s more like people’s homes, with less of a focus on health care.”

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