SOUTH PORTLAND — A new senior housing project in South Portland marks the first project undertaken in Maine by its developers.
The $40 million project, HarborChase of South Portland, is a 116,000-square-foot facility on Running Hill Road. Senior housing project developer Confluent Senior Living, based in Denver, Colorado, and Florida-based senior living development and management company Harbor Retirement Associates have partnered to build the complex. It is the first project for either company in Maine.
“It has been a long-term goal to expand our footprint in New England and we have been evaluating opportunities within the region for several years,” said John Reinsma, managing director of Confluent Senior Living.
The new facility will include 83 assisted living and 40 memory care apartments with one or two bedrooms. The company declined to indicate the price of individual units. The facility also offers nursing care, restaurants, a bar and lounge, fitness center and other facilities. Charlie Jennings, chief development officer of HRA, said both companies have experience partnering on similar projects in other states.
“As our partnership’s eighth community, HarborChase of South Portland will reflect the expertise of two established and experienced teams,” Jennings said in a release about the project. “This is a meaningful market for HRA and we’re pleased to support the demand for senior living in the area.”
City officials granted final approval for the project on Dec. 11, 2019, with a groundbreaking on Jan. 27. The developers plan to open the facility in the summer of 2021, Jennings said.
Reinsma also said this week that the market for senior living was part of what drew the companies to the area.
“We are seeing strong demand in South Portland for quality senior living options, and we feel confident that we will bring a distinct project to the market,” Reinsma said.
South Portland Planning and Development Director Tex Haeuser said it was “significant” that the new complex was almost across the street from the Sable Lodge retirement community, which opened in 2018.
“We didn’t have any in the city for a long time, then all of a sudden we’ve got two,” Haeuser said.
Haeuser said both communities offer different services, but “in many ways, they overlap.”
Sean Murphy (207)780-9094