New senior community campus joins projects slated for Exit 13

Artist rendering of Ocation, Avamere;s senior community at Sienna Hills off Interstate 15's Exit 13 in Washington City. The project broke ground Sept. 28, 2018. | Image courtesy of the Avamere Family of Companies, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – A new senior housing community joins other developments pegged for the area just off Interstate 15’s Exit 13 in Washington City. The announcement continues a recent explosion in projects slated for an area that city officials have long touted as a pending development hot spot.

The Oregon-based Avamere Family of Companies announced last month it will be building a ‘first-of-its-kind” senior campus in Washington City this fall as a part of the Sienna Hills master planned community.

“This development will be very different from any other senior housing currently available in the St George area,” said Gary Wart, Avamere Health Services CEO. “Our vision is to deliver an unparalleled combination of service, amenities, culinary arts and technology on a campus style development.”

The Avamere development joins other announced and incoming developments set on the eastern side of I-15 off Exit 13. These developments include a Black Bear Diner, which is currently being built, as well as a Best Western Plus hotel, as well as the large, 80-acre Grapevine Crossing commercial development.

Read more: ‘Grapevine Crossing’ to bring large commercial development to Exit 13

Property off Exit 13 and along Washington Parkway has been eyed by developers for years, as a potential hot spot for on the I-15 corridor between Provo and Las Vegas, Washington City Mayor Ken Neilson said.

“We’re starting to see a lot more interests there,” he said.

Neilson credits the recent surge in projects at Exit 13 to the success of the neighboring Sienna Hills residential subdivision.

Interested developers look at rooftops, Neilson said, adding that Sienna Hills is doing a lot of homebuilding lately. The more rooftops – or residential dwellings – a part of a city has, the more attractive they become to commercial developers, he said.

The Avamere senior community will be a part of the overall 740-acre Sienna Hills development. Construction is expected to begin this fall with completion set for late 2019.

Called a “continuing care retirement community” by the developers, the Avamere project will feature 150 independent living units, 90 assisted living units and 60 memory care units.

“We intentionally selected (the St George area) for the rollout of our new concept because the active lifestyle in this region,” Wart said. “We’ve completed a great deal of baby boomer research and this is about having an operational model that matches the values of the local market – and St George celebrates wellness, the outdoors and staying active.”

The company plans to roll out similar developments in multiple western cities over the coming years at a rate of up to one per quarter.

Avamere operates senior communities across four states.

Ed. note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Avamere operates senior communites across four states and not 15 as originally reported.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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4 Comments

  • utahdiablo February 19, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    Aww heck…bulldoze down the Tortoise reserve, plenty of room for more homes there….we have to build until we can’t build no more!

  • Uncle Lenny February 20, 2018 at 10:55 am

    I’m curious to know if the developers actually live here. Do they have family living in these developments?

  • No Filter February 20, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    That is all we need is another retirement community. We don’t have enough doctors to take care of what we already have and now they want to add more people that will need frequent health care. Either Intermountain better start paying more to their doctors so they will move here or they better get another hospital in town that will. Better get your rent payments in a contract otherwise no one will be able to afford to live here to take care of the old folks.

  • Thecadean February 20, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    sounds like the perfect match for Washington city driving- hundreds of seniors and traffic circles.. can’t wait.

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