TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—Capitol Seniors Housing, a leading senior living investment and development firm, has broken ground and started construction on The Chelsea at Washington Township, an assisted living and memory care community.
The 76,700-square-foot, two-story community for adults requiring assisted living and memory care assistance will offer 85 residential units at 620 Pascack Road, the site of the former Washington Township Tennis and Fitness Club, which has fallen into disrepair.
The community is designed by Meyer Design with KBE Building Corporation as general contractor. Scheduled to open in early 2023, it earns the township 10 affordable housing unit credits, owing to Medicaid beds at the facility.
The developer says the community is “just steps from the quaint township’s Schlegel Lake, Senior Park, and community center. A short commute to New York City, the community’s placement also puts The Chelsea at Washington Township’s future residents within minutes of a wide variety of retail shopping and restaurants in the Washington Town Center shopping center.”
Capitol Seniors Housing principal Joe McElwee said Oct. 21, “We’re excited to break ground on this top-quality senior living community in Washington Township, a community with great history where many want to remain close to their families for the remainder of their lives.”
He added, “We are very thankful to the community and local leaders who have worked with us on this amazing project. We are most appreciative of the immediate neighborhood who worked so hard with us to come up with a beautiful site plan.”
McElwee said residents and visitors “will appreciate the community’s exclusive hotel-like amenities that seniors and their families desire, along with a vibrant social life encouraged by a thoughtful calendar of events, activities and outings.”
The Chelsea at Washington Township will feature a variety of one-and two-bedroom luxury residences “with many amenities thoughtfully designed for northeastern New Jersey’s senior adults desiring a full continuum of high-quality services and care.”
Amenities will include a bistro, sports bar, theater, multi-purpose room, club room, private dining room, and courtyards designed specifically for both assisted living and memory care residents.
We’ve been following this application at public meetings, when it was envisioned as The Chelsea at Pascack. The developer drew praise from prospective neighbors who said the applicant met with them to help resolve any issues.
In July 2020, an applicant traffic consultant told a virtual second ZBA hearing that an analysis he conducted showed the facility “is a good complement to the roadways around them.”
He said he based the analysis on a 100-bed facility and emphasized that assisted living facilities are “not major trip generators.” He said the analysis accounted for nearby townhome development Washington Commons’ traffic volume, and 2,600 vehicles per peak traffic hour at the Pascack Road–Washington Avenue intersection, which is due for a county overhaul in spring 2022.
The consultant said anticipated facility traffic volumes did not warrant the installation of a traffic signal.
In the meeting’s sole public comment, resident Diane Ferrara commented on the attractiveness of the project. She said the applicant was doing a “phenomenal interfacing job” with residents and that she was “very pleased with what they’re doing.”
Based in Washington, D.C., CSH is a private equity-backed real estate acquisition, development and investment management firm founded in 2003. The firm says it has acquired or developed more than 120 senior housing communities and deployed over $2.5 billion of investment capital.
For more information, visit capitolseniorshousing.com.
