The parlor at Boylston Place in Boston features a baby grand piano and views of a central courtyard.
The days of assisted-living complexes looking more like sterile nursing homes than traditional residences have long passed, as competition in the industry has heated up and developers offer more refined living quarters with greater amenities.
At the Boston area’s newest assisted-living complex, however, managers of the property have taken the idea of offering more amenities one giant leap forward.
What is being billed as “the only five-star assisted-living residence,” Boylston Place at Chestnut Hill, recently opened in a prime location in the upscale community, with hopes of attracting a niche market of upscale residents that has yet to be tapped.
“The ownership really wanted to press the envelope with this one,” said Barry Freid, treasurer of The Point Group, owner of the complex located on Route 9 opposite the Chestnut Hill Mall. “We felt there was a need not being filled with the other communities.”
That need, he said, came from older residents accustomed to a luxury lifestyle who now need some extra help in their daily routines but don’t want to sacrifice that to which they are accustomed. “Chestnut Hill was one of the few locations where we could do this,” Freid said.
The result of The Point Group’s “pushing the envelope” is Boylston Place, a 48-unit, 150,000-square-foot assisted-living/skilled nursing complex with a construction budget that pushed the $53 million mark.
Most visitors to Boylston Place say they feel like they’re walking into a luxury hotel, according to Andrea Doherty, vice president of marketing for Commonwealth Communities, the company that manages the property.
Just off the main lobby is a library with a fireplace, and nearby is a gift shop featuring many items typically found in hotel shops, along with items like toiletries for residents who need to make a quick purchase.
Across from the full-service bar and restaurant – which features the former chef of the Ritz-Carlton in Barcelona, Spain, a tuxedo-clad waitstaff and maitre d’ – is a parlor with a baby grand piano and fireplace. A spa, salon, private dining room and country kitchen with Internet access complete the ground floor. Amenities including a cinema, fitness center, whirlpool bath, game room and sun decks are located on upper floors.
Residents can take advantage of fresh towels daily and a nightly turn-down service for their beds. For trips into town, a black stretch limousine sits parked at the front entrance to the complex, and valet parking in an underground garage is included for residents and their guests.
“This is for the upper clientele, who can afford just about whatever they like,” Freid said.
“It’s for the type of people that are still interested in trips to the symphony, but now they have a little trouble getting there,” Doherty said. “It’s for people who, at 80 and 85 years old, want to live the lifestyle they’re accustomed to, but the big thing for them is to be able to stay in Chestnut Hill with their 02467 ZIP code.”
A Grand Scale
Living at Boylston Place does not come cheap, but Doherty said that isn’t a problem for the clientele they are targeting. All of the 48 units are rental units, with no purchase involved. Because many services are offered on an a la carte basis, rents attached to each unit can vary widely. Prices for each of the 16 studio units, which total 400 to 500 square feet, range from $4,600 up to about $8,000 per month. The 26 one-bedroom units, ranging from 600 to 800 square feet, rent for anywhere from $6,800 to $10,000 per month.
Two-bedroom units, which measure up to 1,200 square feet, rent for anywhere from $9,500 per month to $13,000 a month “at the really high end with all the services,” Doherty said.
Just as they have taken assisted living to another level, Doherty said the marketing of the property also had to be stepped up a level.
“We market toward the adult child,” she said. “Generally they’re between 45 and 65, and they are usually female because they are generally the ones that have the burden of care. But with affluence often comes a healthier 80-year-old – though not across the board – and they definitely have influence.
“The adult children are saying ‘send me a brochure,’ but here they are also saying ‘send one to my mom down in Florida,'” Doherty said.
Additionally, while the complex was still under construction, a computer-generated virtual reality tour was created for marketing purposes, and tapes of the tour, complete with narration, were sent to prospective residents.
Residents were especially interested in the common areas of the building, Doherty said, and while the virtual videotape tour was effective, many prospective residents needed to see the site in person.
“Most of them liked to see and feel what we’re talking about … so a lot of our marketing couldn’t start until the common areas were completed,” she said. “We really had to raise the bar. This had to be on a grand scale.”
Upscale marketing was used as far back as the conceptual stages of the project, Doherty said. When developers conducted focus groups with seniors to see if the idea of a five-star facility would be well received, they beyond the traditional meeting in a community room. “We did our focus groups at places like the Capital Grille and Legal Sea Foods,” Doherty said.
Though touting the luxurious amenities is important, Doherty said focus is also on the healthcare component of living. The facility has a nurse on staff 24 hours per day, seven days per week, she said. And adult children can make sure their parents are getting the amount of care they paid for through a system where physical therapists and other assistants carry electronic wands that are scanned when they enter and leave a resident’s apartment to keep track of time spent with the client.
“People also wanted the assurance of having skilled nursing” that is next door, Doherty said. “They don’t want to be put in a nursing home, but it’s comforting for the adult child to know that it’s available.” The skilled nursing part of the complex features similar luxury amenities.
One third of the units are spoken for, and five residents have already moved in since the facility opened about 10 weeks ago.
While demand may eventually prove greater than supply, Freid and Doherty said the number of units was kept low to ensure personal service and an intimate ambience, and there are no plans to expand. “If there were a hundred units, you would loose that personal perspective,” Freid said.
“They way it is right now, it feels like a boutique-style hotel like you find in Europe, which is very popular,” Doherty said.
