More Details Emerge on Plans for Assisted-Living Facility

Plans for senior housing at the former Riverbrook Restaurant site were scraped in 2008 after the recession hit, but village officials announced this week they will take another crack at it under a proposed $15 million to $16 million assisted-living development touted by a Chicago-area firm.

Pathway Senior Living LLC is proposing the development, which would include 48 one-bedroom and nine studio apartments in a four-story structure. It also would include three memory-care units serving 42 seniors suffering of Alzheimer’s or other memory disorders in a two-story and one-story building.

The facility would offer housing on a rental basis, as opposed to a buy-in model.

Pathway Principal Robert Helle said the proposed facility, on a 3.2-acre site on the south side of the 1100 block of East Capitol Drive, between the Milwaukee River and the Oak Leaf Trail, would also include a communal kitchen and dining area, activity center, physical therapy center, medical examination room and salon.

“We tend to go to the upper extreme in terms of community space,” Helle said at a village Community Development Authority meeting Friday morning. "Assisted-living fills a niche for a more independent lifestyle, but also for a resident who has needs, and is not able to live alone."

The main entrance to the facility would be on the west side with a covered drop-off area, closest to the Milwaukee River, with a courtyard on the eastside of the property, closest to the Oak Leaf Trail.

The proposal also includes walking paths along the Milwaukee River and a new street that would constructed by the village on the west side of the property. Helle added the development would include roof terraces and green roofs. Additionally, the housing will be set back from the sidewalk, allowing for plantings and green space.

Apartments on the property will be demolished to make way for Pathway's development, but the project doesn't include the Milwaukee PC building that lies vacant to the south of the property.

The Des Plaines, Ill.-based firm operates 13 campuses including roughly 2,000 units, 1,200 of which are assisted living in both the Chicago area and Wisconsin, Helle said.

Officials say the only costs identified on the village’s end would be the purchase of riverside portion of the property, construction of a roadway along that land, removal of some electrical poles and administrative and legal costs. Officials said they would flush out the numbers as the project moves forward.

"The cost to the village based on our initial talks are purchasing the remnant of property, which isn't really a cost from this project; it's just purchasing the land for future development and construction of the road," Community Development Authority Chairperson Pete Petrie said. "It has very high leverage."

Pathway has proposed about 40 surface parking stalls on the new street and 49 underground parking spots, though officials said they would look further into how many spaces are truly needed. Helle said since the facility is "off the beaten path," it will likely offer shuttle bus service, as the company does at many of their assisted-living facilities.

If the development were to be approved, Helle said construction would likely take 12 to 14 months to complete.

Village officials took no action Friday morning at a CDA meeting, but simply heard a presentation from Pathway.

The parcel was from Sunrise Senior Living Inc. for $1.5 million. Helle said the company has signed a letter of intent to purchase the property from Wangard.

Senior housing on the property isn't a new idea. Sunrise proposed a $16 million senior housing development at the site in 2008, but scraped the plans after the recession hit. The building laid vacant until would reimburse the village through a special assessment on its tax bill.

Shorewood has since recouped the funds, as Sunrise paid back the $60,000 as part of closing the deal with Wangard.

Village officials have previously said they would like to see when the market improves.

The site was the popular Pig 'n Whistle for more than 50 years, until it became Riverbrook Restaurant in 1992.

, both of which are mixed-use retail and apartment structures.