New Retirement Community Opening in Highlands Ranch in June Expected to Provide Some Warmth to Region's Cooling Economy
Wind Crest is creating jobs, supporting local businesses,
and encouraging movement within the real estate market
HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO (May 30, 2007) - Next week, the first of more than 350 "pioneer residents" will move into
Wind Crest, the region's newest full-service retirement community, which is located on 84 acres south of West County Line Road in Highlands Ranch, Colo. The first resident is scheduled to move in June 6, and 350 people will be living in the community by the end of the year.
In addition to helping to meet the local need for affordable retirement housing, Wind Crest is helping to bolster economic growth in Douglas County by creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and encouraging movement within the real estate market.
- Creating jobs: Wind Crest is expected to spend approximately $3.1 million in salaries and benefits in its first year. By the time the community opens, Wind Crest's presence in Highlands Ranch will have created more than 120 permanent full- and part-time jobs, a figure that includes approximately 30 positions filled by local high school students who will work part-time in the community's on-site restaurants. An additional 300 people are currently working in construction at the campus. Wind Crest is zoned for further expansion based on market demand, so the number of employees will continue to grow as more jobs are created in fields as diverse as dining services, fitness/wellness, accounting, information technology, management, and health care.
- Supporting local businesses: It's estimated that people who live and work at Wind Crest will together spend thousands of dollars weekly in support of local businesses, particularly nearby merchants such as Aspen Grove, Home Depot, Café No No's, Town Center Shopping Plaza, and Park Meadows Mall, which are all located close to the community.
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Wind Crest Expected to Provide Some Warmth to Region's Cooling Economy, p. 2
- Encouraging movement within the real estate market: Despite the nation's cool housing market being felt in Denver and throughout the state, because Wind Crest's 100 percent refundable entrance deposit is attractive to retirees, the community is providing a boost to the local real estate market as future residents sell their houses and prepare to move. The first 145 people who are moving to Wind Crest this summer represent approximately $36 million in real estate transactions. Of Wind Crest's "pioneer" resident population, significant numbers are moving from Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Centennial, and many other towns in the Denver metro area.
Wind Crest offers 1- and 2-bedroom apartments; its 100 percent refundable entrance deposits begin at $174,000 and monthly fees start at $1,530. The monthly fee includes all utilities except telephone (heat, air conditioning, electricity, water, sewer, trash removal); maintenance (appliances, major repairs, landscaping, snow removal, etc.); property taxes; use of swimming pool and fitness complex; access to convenient clubhouse amenities (restaurants, lounges, country store, computer lab, craft room, class rooms, billiard room, music and game rooms); access to Erickson Health SM, the nation's largest and most completely integrated wellness and health care system for people over 62 years of age; regularly scheduled transportation; one meal per day in community restaurants; cable television; and 24-hour security.
The first residential building at Wind Crest is 98 percent reserved, and the second building, which will open this fall, is already 93 percent reserved. Because the public's response to Wind Crest has been so strong, the community's developer/manager,
Erickson Retirement Communities, is currently looking for a site on which to build the company's second community in the Denver area. Erickson, which is based in Baltimore, has recently started a westward push and is currently looking for land in the Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento, and Los Angeles areas as well. On the whole, Erickson is looking to grow to more than 50 communities in the next ten years.
Construction at Wind Crest began in June 2006 and will continue in phases based on market demand. According to U.S. Census estimates, there are more than 204,000 people age 65 and over currently living within 25 miles of the Wind Crest campus.
About Erickson Retirement Communities
Based in Baltimore Md., since 1983, Erickson develops and manages campuses in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, which are home to 20,000 people. The company is also currently developing new campuses in the Kansas City area and Ashburn, Va.
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GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION (Tuesday, June 19): The grand opening will include tours of the community, refreshments, and remarks by Erickson Retirement Communities founder and CEO John Erickson and Wind Crest Executive Director Craig Erickson. Clarence Burton, the first person to move into Wind Crest, will take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the community.
This event is invitation-only and is not open to the public. Media is invited to attend. The Wind Crest grand opening will be held Tuesday, June 19, 2007 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All attendees will be available for photos and interviews.
SIGNIFICANCE: The 84-acre Wind Crest campus is located south of West County Line Road on the western perimeter of Highlands Ranch. Spurred by the success of Erickson Retirement Communities' 16 other campuses in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, Wind Crest is Erickson's first development in the state of Colorado. The public's early response to Wind Crest has prompted Erickson to start looking for a second site in the Denver area.
WHERE: Wind Crest is located at 3480 West County Line Road, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129. Directions:
http://www.ericksoncommunities.com/wcd/directions.asp.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kate Newton Schmelyun, 410-402-2025 (office), 410-627-2150 (cell),
kate.newton@erickson.com.