St. Clare Commons hopes to open in Oct.

$40M, 136K square foot senior living center nears completion

This was Phase One, in May, of St. Clare Commons, a continuing care retirement community owned by Franciscan Living Communities.

A $40 million, 136,000 square foot senior living community is coming to Perrysburg on Five Point Road just east of State Rt. 25 that will initially house 160 seniors and employ 125. 

St. Clare Commons is hoping to open its doors to seniors in October. Right now the facility that has 60 skilled rehab and nursing suites, 36 memory care studios, and 56 assisted living apartments is waiting to get its state licensing and making the finishing touches on construction.

Right now most of the commons is open, and it already passed health-care inspections. But the assisted living apartments are still only drywall and have to be finished.

"We have a different model, not just a medical model," said Shawn Litten, executive director of the commons. "We have a social model where the medical [care] just happens to be around you."

The social aspect includes a Starbucks, piano bar, chapel,  salon, spa, fitness center, library, patios, garden, and six dining halls [some with stone fireplaces].

The $40 million facility is using about nine acres in phase one of an eight-year plan that the commons is looking at. At the end of those eight years it wants to use the other 41 acres of vacant land the commons has for ranch homes and villa apartments. It would have 500 residents and 300 employees.

The 50 acres of land was given to the Sisters of St. Francis by the Catholic Diocese of Toledo. The St. Clare's Commons is under the umbrella of Sisters of St. Francis.

"We accept all faiths," said Jessica Derkis, director of marketing. "Reverence, service, and stewardship is what we try to give to every person we are blessed to work with."

The mission of St. Clare Commons is to be a Catholic living community guided by the Gospel message to provide quality housing and services for elders of all faiths. 

Ms. Derkis said rooms in assisted living start at about $120 a day; it can cost up to $280 a day for a nursing care room.

Dana Larson, the director of nursing, went through a stack of 1,500 applications to fill the facility's nursing positions. She said they have filled the positions and have "the cream of the crop."

The nurses will have a month of training before residents come in, including work with a respiratory therapist and physical therapist.

Ms. Derkis, who started in July of 2012 at this location and watched the start of construction, is excited to finally have residents living in the commons this fall.

Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.