River Oak’s newest retirement community wants its residents to feel like they’re living on a luxury cruise ship.
MorningStar Senior Living, located at 2315 Richmond Ave, recently opened its six-story, 109,150 square foot property that offers resort-style amenities and hospitality services.
The community has 85 assisted-living apartments and 27 apartments dedicated to residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.
By providing independent, assisted living and memory-care options, the management of MorningStar and Hines – the real estate investment company that co-developed MorningStar – believe it is meeting a need in the River Oaks community. .
“River Oaks really needed a community like MorningStar,†said MorningStar Founder and CEO Ken Jaeger. “The people who grew up in River Oaks want to continue living there through their senior years, and their children, similarly, don’t want their parents to move to another suburb. “
“They want the active lifestyle that River Oaks has to offer right next door,†Jaeger said.
For between $ 5,850 and $ 6,300 per month, MorningStar residents have access to living space between 396 and 1,089 square feet, in a studio, one bedroom or two bedroom style unit.
MorningStar has an all-day restaurant-style dining room, ‘casual bistro’, salon and spa, massage room, fitness center, an art studio, a theater, a club room allowing residents to watch sports matches and participate in the cooking. demos, a sky-terrace and a landscaped courtyard.
“When you walk into the community this is a world class property where we will bring life and enrichment to the seniors of River Oaks,†Jaeger said. “We will reach [residents] socially and mentally, physically and spiritually.
“When a resident arrives, they are suddenly going to have 50 granddaughters and 50 grandsons because all of our caregivers are now family,†Jaeger said.
According to the Population Reference Bureau, the number of seniors in the United States is expected to increase dramatically to 69% by 2060.
“They’re all going to need a really good place to live,†said Hines senior general manager John Mooz.
Mooz said living standards for seniors have changed over the past 15 years, so Hines imported what they learned from building multi-family spaces into senior living spaces.
According to Mooz, Hines hired Munoz + Albin Planning & Architecture as the design architect for the project, a company known for its residential and commercial architecture.
“We wanted to bring their skills into living spaces to marry them with our best operating partner,†Mooz said, “and we think of the proofs in the pudding when you walk around.â€
Hines senior residences and healthcare director Meg Meliet said Munoz + Alban designed a playground for a great sense of arrival, floor-to-ceiling windows, stone exterior limestone and high ceiling heights.
“Elements that usually don’t exist in senior communities, we have implemented them here,†said Meliet.
Jaeger said MorningStar’s rooftop terrace is a place where residents can really feel like they’re on a cruise.
“You can go upstairs for a glass of wine or an ice cold beer and order a cheeseburger, the Houston skyline is right in front of you and it takes your breath away,†Jaeger said. “It will be a place where you find that special place on a cruise ship, where you say ‘this is where I want to relax, morning, afternoon or evening or weekend with the little ones -children “.”
Jaeger said MorningStar’s dining room has a kitchen with chefs who can cook tenderloins for residents and some of the best steak Houston has to offer.
“We like to say that we have a hyper-landscaped environment wrapped in a benevolent mission,†Mooz said.
MorningStar will host an open house during its opening weekend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday December 11 and Sunday December 12.
