Paric Corporation has completed its fourth project for Ballwin's Meramec Bluffs retirement community, completing an eight-year, $84 million master building project in West St. Louis County.
The continuing care retirement community now is home to more than 450 older adults. The site's 350-member staff assists seniors in a wide array of living options, from independent living apartments and patio homes to residential care, skilled nursing and memory care.
Meramec Bluffs will celebrate the completion of its master building plan with a special program and reception at 10 a.m. Wednesday (October 22). The event will welcome hundreds of Meramec Bluffs residents, staff, families and friends to the community's chapel for a look back on the history of this unprecedented project.
The development is located on a 50-acre bluff-top site overlooking the Meramec River at Sulphur Spring and Vance Roads. All residential groupings are nestled in the forested topography of the bluffs and offer panoramic views of the Meramec River valley and Castlewood State Park. Currently, Meramec Bluffs features 223 apartments, 25 patio homes, 56 assisted living apartments, 20 memory care units and an 88-bed skilled nursing facility.
The final $10.7 million phase of the project adds a new four-story wing which includes an additional 103,000 square feet of living space. The 13-month fourth phase of the project added an additional 46 independent living apartments and additional garage space to what is already one of the largest and most comprehensive senior living communities in metropolitan St. Louis. Paric completed a 66,000-square-foot skilled nursing facility as part of Phase III in 2006 and 122,000 square feet of independent living apartments for Phase II in 2005. Paric has worked with Meramec Bluffs' parent organization, Lutheran Senior Services (LSS), since 1999.
As design-build contractor, Paric joined the project at the onset, helping LSS evaluate several campus layout options, which reduced costs on the project and offered the opportunity to re-grade the site to remain at or below a 6 percent grade to accommodate leisurely strolls throughout campus.
"We have become invested in this community during our eight-year relationship on this project," said Paric President and CEO P. Joseph McKee. "We are proud to have been able to contribute to a project that will enrich the lives of so many of our seniors. It has been a privilege to work with such an outstanding, caring organization as Lutheran Senior Services."
While Lutheran Senior Services has developed 19 senior living properties in Missouri and Illinois, Meramec Bluffs is the first of their communities to use the design-build approach to construction. The project's size and the site's complexities led to this decision, said LSS's Vice President of Construction Mark W. Schoedel.
"We chose the Paric design/build team because of its experience in developing and building continuing care communities," said Schoedel. "We have been happy with our decision. Paric completed this project two months ahead of schedule and under budget."
Over the past 10 years, Paric has been awarded more than 20 retirement community projects in the St. Louis area.
Paric, one of the largest St. Louis-based firms, pairs design/build services with construction management and negotiated general construction to offer its "next level" experience. Founded in 1979, Paric specializes in senior living, industrial and institutional facilities, office interiors, historic renovations and the construction of healthcare facilities, hotels, commercial buildings and environmental systems.
A faith-inspired not-for-profit organization, Lutheran Senior Services specializes in housing, care and supportive services for each stage of older adult life. In 2009, LSS will celebrate 150 years of service to older adults as it continues to carry out its Christian mission of "Older Adults Living Life to the Fullest."