Mainebiz

March 5, 2018

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V O L . X X I V N O. V M A R C H 5 , 2 0 1 8 16 H E A LT H C A R E A map of 80-acre OceanView at Falmouth shows the evolution of retirement living in Maine. It opened in the mid-1980s with the Main Lodge — one large building — and 20 duplexes with 800-square- foot apartments. Next came single-family homes, square footage increasing with the decades. e complex, off Route 9, now has more than 230 units of indi- vidual living, 80 assisted care and 24 memory care units. Potential residents want options; they ask about energy efficiency. e newly built Schoolhouse Cottages are a little smaller than the 2,000 square feet of the other most recent addition at the site, but they include amenities like solar panels and sunrooms. "People say to me, 'Oh, you build assisted living, you build nursing homes.' But it's more complicated than that," says Chris Wasileski, development manager for Sea Coast Management Co., which developed OceanView. e state's "Plan on Aging 2016-20" says, "As Maine's population ages, there is a greater interest in aging and active retirement, which may delay an older adults' need for physical assistance." Retirement communities, many offering continuing care, are finding ways to accommodate the desire of the state's population to age well in a place they can call home. Complexes, from high-end to low- income, are no longer your grandparents' old folks home. Sea Coast owns OceanView in Falmouth and Highland Green in Topsham. It is also a partner in the Portland project to renovate the for- mer St. Joseph convent into 88 apart- ments. A 52-house development on Tuttle Road in Cumberland is in the planning stages. "irty years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of having yoga, tai chi, a bis- tro, fine dining," says John Wasileski, Chris Wasileski's father and founder and president of Sea Coast. An evolution in how seniors live OceanView has evolved over the decades, so people can age in place and stay in their homes, but the home isn't an old farmhouse with a leaking roof and high heating bills. On a tour of OceanView, Chris Wasileski points out its growth, including the newest project, the 34-apartment renovation to for- mer Plummer school. e company bought the school and adjacent for- mer Lunt school from Falmouth in 2012. Plummer opened late last year after a $6.5 million renovation and addition. e apartments range from 600 to 1,100 square feet, with rents starting at $1,200. ere's a waiting list for OceanView's sold-out 48-house Schoolhouse Cottages, which were also recently completed. In the decade he's worked for Sea Coast, Chris Wasileski, 35, has seen a radical change. With past generations, "when they retired, they were retired." "Baby boomers are telecommuting, they're driving electric cars, they're out there doing things," he says. OceanView has two electric car charging stations, a bistro cafe, and expanded its fitness room at the request of residents, among other things. Sense of community When John Wasileski built OceanView in the early 1980s "it was basically an experiment," to see if Mainers wanted to stay, rather than retire to Arizona or Florida, he says. But Wasileski was also driven by something more personal. His father had died at 65 of a heart attack, but his mother lived to be 100. His parents had discussed down- sizing, moving into town in Auburn, N.Y., where his father had a dental practice. But his mother resisted — she liked living on Owasco Lake, where she'd raised their five children and had her gardens. It was her home. "It's a fact of life that most women outlive their husbands," Wasileski says. "My mother lived 36 more years after my father died." It taught him that people should plan for life as they age. It also taught him that people want to be in a place that feels like home. Part of the evolution from "old folks home" to the type of retirement communities that Wasileski and others are building in Maine stems from the growing focus on aging in place. Affordable options Retirement living is now about gaining a community that will offer social support, as well as helping residents transition to greater care as their health fails. Low-income and affordable developments, while offering amenities on a much smaller scale, are focused on that, too. P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O C E A N V I E W Not your grandparents' old folks' home Retirement communities evolve as Maine's population looks to age well B y M a u r e e n M i l l i k e n F O C U S TOP TO BOTTOM: At OceanView, there are amenities like pet friendliness, swim classes and a convertible roof to allow for year-round swimming.

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