Paric Corporation is just one of many area businesses benefiting from the construction boom of assisted living facilities in the region.

"We first noticed some significant opportunities in this segment in 1996," said Joe McKee, president of Paric. Within the past year, Paric has been involved in retirement community construction projects totaling $118 million.

Like so many trends of the past decade, McKee said, the boom of construction work is being driven mostly by demographics, specifically the aging of baby-boomers.

"Baby-boomers have a different expectation of their golden years," McKee said. "They are much more active. We often think of retirement as age 65. Some people are relocating to these communities in their early 60s, while others aren't even thinking about becoming residents until they reach the age of 70 or 80."

When building for the retirement community market, certain features are important for the facilities' aging inhabitants, such as step-in showers, wider hallways, cabinets that don't require stepladders, and few stairs.

However, recent luxury retirement communities have incorporated far more. Indoor swimming pools, fitness centers, ice cream parlors, beauty salons, laundry services and panoramic balconies are just a few of the features that have been incorporated into these high-end developments.

Meramec Bluffs, a 51-acre campus with 25 patio homes, a two-story assisted living facility, a three-story skilled nursing facility and a 567,000-square-foot "grand-hotel" style apartment complex for independent living. It is the largest retirement community in the St. Louis area and  covers more than 750,000 square feet.

The campus' residential groupings are surrounded by woods and offer panoramic views of the Meramec River and Castlewood State Park. Apartments include a full kitchen, living room, dining room and private laundry. Each unit is equipped with an alarm system and has a balcony and den. "It is truly like a resort hotel," McKee said.

Meramec Bluffs is one of several senior retirement community project in the St. Louis area built by Paric. The firm was also involved with Cape Albeon, a $19 million project in southwest St. Louis County, completed in 2001; The Hallmark of Creve Coeur, a $28 million Brookdale Senior Living complex currently under construction; and River's Edge Retirement Community, being built in St. Charles.