Beatitudes Campus Redevelopment Transformational for Residents, Staff and Community

Artist’s rendering of the new apartments that will be part of the renovations at Beatitudes Campus.

Community means everything to the UCC’s Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix. As the older adult campus continues to implement its multi-year master plan of redevelopment that will add around 250 new residences, it is ever-mindful of the people and businesses in the immediate area.

“Our investment in this master plan is not just an investment in Beatitudes Campus,” says Michelle Just, president and CEO. “It is an investment in our community. As one of the Top 100 employers in the Phoenix area, we feel a profound responsibility to ensure the success of our neighborhood in North Central Phoenix and to the greater community. That is why we choose to partner and conduct business whenever possible, with organizations and businesses that are headquartered in Arizona.”

The first phase of the plan includes the addition of 34 single-level patio homes, and will be completed in 2020. In Phase 2, slated for completion in 2021, 132 rental units and 72 Promenade residences — entry-fee units — will be built, along with renovations to the campus’ Town Hall. Phase 3 will add an additional 72 Promenade Residences along with the renovation of an existing 54-year-old apartment building, reaching completion in 2022.

Future renovations, to be completed between 2023 and 2025, will include another existing rental apartment building, an existing assisted living building, and the existing health care center. The redevelopment “will help strengthen and nourish Phoenix and Arizona,” says Barbara Wood, director of development. “Currently 750 residents live at the campus or take advantage of our home services. When the master plan is complete, we will serve 1,000 residents on campus and off.”

Wood credits a lot of Beatitudes’ success to the relationships it has built in the greater community. Staff and residents volunteer almost 20,000 hours annually in the Phoenix area. They love their home and the greater community, and the feeling is reciprocal.

“This master plan is not just about bricks and mortar,” says Wood. “It’s about people — our partners, our government officials, and our board who believe in our mission and who believe that this campus can have a transformative effect on aging services.”

But the highest priority for Beatitudes Campus is the care and well-being of its residents. “Most importantly, this redevelopment is about our Beatitudes family — our residents,” Wood adds. “We have the profound honor to be part of their lives. They inspire us each and every day to carry on this work.

“The residents have inspired us to dream big. It takes courage to redefine senior living as Beatitudes Campus is doing, but the joy we have when we watch people transform and thrive is life affirming.”