The latest addition to The Gatesworth senior living community is open. The 15-acre Gatesworth campus now includes a brand new 3-story, 102,000-square-foot building at McKnight Place Assisted Living. The building features 90 new, upscale apartment homes, and is debuting with an 80% occupancy rate. An additional 90 -100 new jobs will also be added on The Gatesworth campus, which now encompasses more than a million square feet.

The newly completed expansion is designed to increase capacity, while also offering larger apartments and more floor plan options that include roomy suites and one-bedroom apartments with kitchenettes. Assisted living apartments feature four floor plans ranging in size from 376 to 783 square feet. All apartments in the new building offer a host of upscale amenities, including entry foyers with wood style flooring; crown molding; kitchens with brushed glazed wood cabinets, granite countertops, and full-sized refrigerators; spacious, luxuriously appointed bathrooms; nine and 10-foot ceilings; ample closet space and ducted heating and cooling systems with individual thermostats in each apartment.

Additional amenities within the new building’s common areas include a stately new assisted living entrance; a gracious community living room and lounge area with a view over the beautifully landscaped courtyard featuring a fountain; an elegant main floor dining room, café bistro and a private dining room; a large fitness/wellness gym; a 45-seat theater/chapel; card rooms; a billiard room; a full-service beauty salon; an art room; a greenhouse, and landscaped gardens with pergolas and a fountain. All of the new amenities enhance the existing robust schedule of entertainment, activities and social outings, while residents will also be able to continue to enjoy the supportive services that make life easier and more convenient, including on-site physical and occupational therapy and nursing care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There will be a licensed nurse on site 24 hours a day.

“It’s with great pride that we celebrate the opening of this new expansion,” said Bob Leonard, Director of Operations for The Gatesworth Communities. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to see the craftsmanship and amenities that will be evident in each and every apartment and throughout the common areas of this amazing new space, providing an unsurpassed setting in which to offer our unparalleled services."

The addition is part of a $32 million expansion of McKnight Place Assisted Living that is unfolding in two phases. With the first phase completed, work is now ramping up on the second phase, which includes a complete renovation of the existing 74,000-square-foot McKnight Place Assisted Living building. Upon completion in March 2018, the renovated space will feature 18 additional assisted living apartments and the debut of dedicated memory care at McKnight Place. Twenty-seven separate memory care apartments will be accessed via a separate memory care entrance for residents with cognitive impairments, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

The McKnight Place expansion will increase the footprint of The Gatesworth campus to over one million square feet and further enhance the comprehensive level of the continuum of care services available to the residents. Within the 15-acre Gatesworth campus, seniors will have access to independent living options at The Gatesworth, as well as extended care, assisted living and memory care services through McKnight Place.

“The Gatesworth campus has always been a sought-after retirement community, and with this new expansion, we are now able to meet the needs of more seniors than ever before,” said Charles Deutsch, co-owner of The Gatesworth. “The new and renovated buildings expand our capacity to provide more of the all-inclusive, high-quality services McKnight Place has come to be known for over the past 25 years.”

With more than 500 employees, the locally owned and operated Gatesworth campus is estimated to be one of the largest employers in University City, and the number of staff members is expected to grow by almost 20 percent with the openings of the new and renovated assisted living buildings. An additional 50 new employees are being hired this year to staff the new building, with another 40 employees to be hired in early 2018 for positions at the renovated assisted living and memory care building. With the new construction and continuing renovation phase, the project has been keeping 80-100 construction workers busy daily.

Serving as general contractor on the project is GateCo Development. Chris Leonard, VP of Development and Construction for GateCo, leads a team of senior housing development experts that handles all new construction and renovation projects within The Gatesworth campus. Additional members of the project team include the Lawrence Group which is serving as architect; the Sterling Company, which is handling civil engineering; Alper Audi, Inc., which is handing structural engineering; Jarrell Mechanical Contractors, which is the Mechanical Design-Build Contractor; Guarantee Electrical, which is the Electrical Design-Build Contractor; Plumbing Planning Corp. which is the Plumbing Design-Build Contractor; and Ahern Fire Protection, which is serving as the Fire Protection Design-Build Contractor. Funding for the project comes in the form of financing from Greystone Mortgage of Manhattan, NY, and a HUD-insured mortgage.

More about the ribbon cutting:

Members of the project team and residents and staff of the Gatesworth Community were on hand for the ribbon cutting event, which also featured brief remarks by project owners and University City Mayor Shelly Welsch. A warm welcome was extended to Connie Mann and Gil Gans, two of the inaugural residents who will be among the first to call the new building home and participated in the ribbon cutting. 

Pictured left to right: Bob Leonard, Director of Operations, The Gatesworth Communities; David Smith, Co-owner of The Gatesworth; Tracy Cecil, Executive Director, McKnight Place Assisted Living; Mary Adams, Executive Director, University City Chamber of Commerce; Connie Mann, resident; University City Alderman Terry Crow; The Honorable Shelly Welsch, Mayor of University City; Mike Doyle, Chief Financial Officer, the Gatesworth Communities; Gil Gans, resident; Alderwoman Paulette Carr; Alderman Rod Jennings; Zack Deutsch, Administrator, The Gatesworth Communities; and Charles Deutsch, Co-owner of The Gatesworth.