Residents start moving into completed senior living community

Now that the assisted living portion of The Village at LifeQuest is now open, residents have started moving in.

And on Dec. 13, the Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening.

The newly constructed community is part of a massive $300 million mixed-use project that incorporates health care, residential and retail uses in Milford Township off Route 663 east of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Quakertown.

While the 123-unit senior living community is complete, future development at the site includes regular and age-restricted apartment living, as well as space for retail, professional office and restaurants on 261 acres.

The project will include an expansion of the LifeQuest Nursing Center.

It’s all part of developer Del Markward’s master plan to create a project that allows for the interaction of different age groups in an intergenerational community.

“It’s a change in aging for seniors,” said Roger Hiser, president of LifeQuest in a statement. “It’s affordable, nutritious, social and respectful.”

The assisted living community has a 141 resident capacity and can accommodate 140 at the nursing center next door, said Shane McGuire, chief financial officer at LifeQuest. Overall, LifeQuest employs about 340 people across its different locations, he added.

The first resident moved in on Nov. 15 and The Village at LifeQuest has five assisted living residents so far, with a sixth one moving into the 140,000-square-foot facility on Tuesday, McGuire said.

The assisted living building includes a main dining room, continental café, salon and spa, fitness center, bistro, bar with a small kitchen, library, physician room and one-bedroom suite for guests, he said.

The building also offers nurses on staff around the clock, McGuire said.

As a rental community, The Village at LifeQuest offers care to residents at both the fully independent and assisted living levels.

Daily rates for apartments are $135 for a studio, $145 for a one-bedroom, and two-bedroom companion apartments for $128 per person.

The project also received some funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for the assisted living portion since the federal agency considers the property a rural community.

“I do think the economic development, increasing workforce, and sustaining jobs is huge,” said Danielle Bodnar, executive director of the Upper Bucks Chamber. “I know it’s important for community members and chamber members to have a place to call home.”

She said the development could also help with the improvements people are seeing on Route 663.

“I think it’s helpful to improving infrastructure in this region,” Bodnar said. “With the growth, they are making improvements to this area and we think that’s beneficial as well.”