Published June 2002

Garden Court
nears full bloom
South Everett retirement community expected
to open by early September

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

With its in-house theater, exercise room, restaurant and beauty/barber shop, Garden Court sounds more like a resort hotel than a retirement community. And its grand lobby — with old-fashioned street lamps, a coffee and juice bar and wrought-iron tables and chairs — plays on that theme.

But make no mistake, the 148-unit facility in south Everett is, indeed, a retirement community — one that happens to be focused on creating a relaxed, enjoyable environment for its senior citizen residents.

“In research, I spent just oodles of time speaking to operators of these (communities), talking with staff, administrators, beauty salon people,” said Richard Mietzner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Everett-based Metco Development, developer and owner of the project.

“We found the best of the best, and we made it better,” he said of the $20 million project expected to open in early September.

Garden Court is Metco’s first retirement community, but the company has more than 25 years of development and construction experience — primarily building single- and multi-family homes in Snohomish and King counties.

That experience comes through in the apartment units, which range from studio apartments to two-bedroom units, and include full kitchens, with full-size kitchen appliances; wall-to-wall carpeting; window treatments; washers and dryers in most of the apartments; and walk-in closets in nearly all of the apartments.

“We studied the market for several years and found there was a need for good, quality retirement facilities,” Mietzner said. “And then we were lucky enough to find Legacy Management and just thought it was a perfect fit.”

While Garden Court is Metco’s entry into retirement living, Everett-based Legacy Management Group Inc. has been in business since 1989, providing management services to residential communities catering to seniors. Currently, Legacy oversees more than 30 such communities, including Windsor Square and Windsor Pointe in Marysville and Evergreen Court in Bellevue, said Lou Buren, Corporate Director of Marketing.

Of the 148 units, 125 will offer congregate care — independent living that includes meals, transportation and activities — and 23 will be licensed for assisted-living care, which includes a variety of services, from medication reminders and management to personal hygiene and appearance.

Deposits already are being taken, and response from the community has been good, Mietzner said.

Especially from the senior citizens, Buren said.

“Most of the responses to our advertising so far have been from the seniors themselves. Usually you get the adult children (responding),” he said. “These are active seniors that are calling us, driving in, walking, whatever, to sit down and talk.”

What they’re finding is a retirement facility with a number of amenities, including:

• A community restaurant serving three meals a day. Breakfast and dinner are included with the monthly lease rate. Lunch can be had for a small additional charge.
• A private dining room to be used by the residents and community groups for parties or meetings.
• An activity room for arts and crafts.
• A game room with card tables and a pool table.
• A community library.
• A two-chair beauty/barber shop.
• A visiting physician exam room, which residents’ doctors can use free of charge, Buren said, adding that “we saw a real need in the marketplace to encourage visits by people’s physicians in our building.”
• Laundry facilities.
• A three-station computer lab with high-speed Internet access.
• Staff on hand 24 hours a day.
• Weekly housekeeping and flat-linen service.
• Free scheduled transportation.
• A Life Enrichment Program overseen by an experienced director.

It’s through the Life Enrichment Program that Legacy will be implementing innovative activities to enhance residents’ lives, Buren said.

For instance, there will be opportunities for residents to volunteer through the Garden Court Volunteers program, he said.

“There’s such a need in every community for volunteering, for people to volunteer their time and energy, and we will be having an organized volunteer group for our residents who want to give back to the community at large,” he said. “We will provide, obviously, transportation, but we’re (also) going to be actively seeking opportunities for our residents to volunteer.”

Also in the works are classes in the Feldenkrais Method — developed through 40 years of research by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais — that help a person expand his or her range of movement.

For example, a certified Feldenkrais instructor will teach participants how to get up out of their chairs more easily, how to walk more easily, even how to fall more safely.

“All that basic motion stuff we all take for granted (until it) starts to abandon us in our later years,” Buren said.

“I think it’s going to be a real breakthrough,” he said, adding that classes will be open to Garden Court residents as well as any senior 62 or older.

But Garden Court Volunteers and the Feldenkrais classes are just the beginning of the Life Enrichment Program, Buren said. What comes next is really up to the residents themselves.

“We’re going to have a pretty active crowd over here,” he said. “We don’t want to dictate to them; we want them to tell us how we can make their lives more interesting and rewarding.”

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