Submitted by: Lissa Woods, Resident Advocate/Project Admin

The world of senior living is changing and so are the buildings. Shiel Sexton is currently working with Marquette, located on the Northwest side of Indianapolis, to build onto an existing facility to continue to provide some of the highest quality of living. A unique aspect of this project is working with not only the owners of the project, but also the future residents and striving to meet their needs to ensure that they will be happy in their new homes. At Marquette the residents can chose from 12 floor plans, choose their flooring, as well as the other surfaces. This is certainly a departure from many preconceived ideas about senior living facilities as being one size fits all. The overall success of this project will be measured by satisfying the individual standards of the future residents.

There have been some challenges involved with constructing a facility on a site with an existing living facility. One of our biggest hurdles was how to efficiently move forward with the project, while creating minimal disruption. We were able to mitigate the inconvenience to the residents by completing the project in stages. As we have moved through one stage to another we have created temporary rooms and common areas as construction crews and equipment occupy these spaces. The construction consists of a new 4-story building called "The Terraces" which will hold 48 independent living, built-to-suit, apartments that are currently being roughed-in. A new resident life center will be constructed along with numerous renovations to the existing buildings. The project is about 60% finished and is planned to be completed in December 2010. Over the past two years it has been a thrill to watch the project take shape. For me, the most rewarding part of this project has been interacting with the current residents and future tenants as we work to accommodate their needs and wishes for their future homes built just for them.