Construction Begins on $20.4 Million Senior Living

Construction is underway on the $20.4 million Senior Living at Cambridge Heights facility at 728 Biddle Street in St. Louis. KAI Design & Build is the architect, general contractor and mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineer on the 89,900-square-foot development.

With an anticipated January 2011 completion date, Senior Living at Cambridge Heights will feature 117 one- and two-bedroom apartments designed for older adults. Financing for the three-story building was secured through the Missouri Housing Development Commission, St. Louis Housing Authority, Enterprise Bank & Trust and Business Bank of St. Louis, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. St. Louis-based McCormack Baron Salazar is the project's developer.

"This capstone to the redevelopment of the former Cochran Gardens public housing site will meet an important need in the community to provide affordable, quality senior living and will serve to replace an obsolete and isolating tower building with a sustainable, universally-designed, low-rise facility," said Vince Bennett, executive vice president of McCormack Baron Salazar. "This development will also further the dramatic transformation of this community started with the Cochran Gardens HOPE VI and will support the revitalization efforts in the Columbus Square neighborhood."

The development will contain 75 public housing apartments, 36 apartments to receive project-based Section 8 assistance (nine of those are also Missouri Housing Finance Agency Home Investment Partnership Act apartments and eight are also Affordable Housing Assistance Payment apartments) and six Low Income Housing Tax Credit-only apartments. The facility also includes a common outdoor green space and approximately 51 private parking spaces. Common areas in the facility will include office space for the management agent and resident association, a community room with a fireplace, kitchenette, laundry facilities on each floor, a billiard room, beauty salon, fitness center and lounge areas throughout.

The apartments will range in size from 504-618 square feet for a one-bedroom apartment and 837 square feet for a two-bedroom apartment. The monthly rent for the apartments will range $572-$741.

Handicap accessibility and convenience were paramount to the development's design. Doorways, tubs and showers throughout the facility are designed according to handicap accessibility standards, and elevators and ramps instead of stairways will be utilized to access the three floors.

Minimizing the transfer of air between the outside environment and the inside of the facility was a major consideration in reducing the development's utility costs. KAI specified a sealing of the building's outer skin and openings to eliminate air infiltration and a double- layer seal underneath the wall plates to eliminate air flow between the bottom of the wall and the concrete floor. Additional fasteners to hold the drywall in place were also specified to stop air infiltration. Energy Star appliances will also be installed throughout the development to reduce utility costs.

KAI Design & Build used Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to manage the project's architectural, M/E/P engineering and structural information. BIM management is the process of collecting, managing and disseminating project design/build information in a virtual collaboration model. The process allows for better project management and coordination, enhanced visualization, increased discipline communication, better project design and less change orders during the construction process.

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