For UCC’s Beatitudes Campus, Quality and Care Matter Most

The new patio homes will serve the needs of Phoenix-area older adults.

Baby Boomers are greying: each day, 10,000 new boomers reach age 65. To serve the needs of this growing population of older adults, the United Church of Christ’s Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix has developed a seven-year Master Plan geared to meeting the influx of potential residents. The plan includes both new construction and the redevelopment of existing buildings.

“Beatitudes Campus conducted extensive market research” before developing the plan, says Barbara Wood, director of development. The seven-year project “will make an impact on virtually every area on campus. When the Master Plan is completed, we will be home to approximately 1,000 residents.” The campus currently houses 750 residents.

Phase one of the plan includes the development of 34 new single-level, attached patio homes to go with the 11 already built. The patio homes were first on the agenda because they are the most sought-after option for older adults looking to settle at Beatitudes.

The new patio homes will be in the northern part of the CHHSM-member ministry, with the look and feel of a traditional neighborhood, yet with the same access to the regular social, lifelong learning, and health-care amenities available to everyone in the Beatitudes community.

“We’ve expanded many times over the years, and are looking to do that again,” says Michelle Just, president and CEO. The patio homes “stay in very high demand. We’re looking to expand that … to serve the community.”

Other renovations will include a redeveloped Town Plaza that will serve as the campus’ community focal point, and two new residential buildings, as well as renovations to existing residential buildings at Beatitudes.

“Beatitudes Campus is thinking about the future and planning for the next few decades with its Master Plan,” says Wood. Once the renovations are complete, “a variety of resident amenities, pedestrian walkways, and open spaces will be featured throughout the campus.”

The renovations also will make Beatitudes Campus the largest life plan community in Arizona in terms of numbers of residents served, Wood adds.

Despite the numbers, the bottom line for Beatitudes is the quality and service provided to residents, she says. Its master plan “ensures that Beatitudes Campus will be posed to deliver the conveniences and amenities that matter most to older adults who want to age in place.”