Published May 2005

Luxury Living
From its chef-prepared meals to planned group trips,
Washington Oakes provides ‘Five-Star Fun’

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT Chef James Belasco and General Manager Tad Kasuya enjoy conversation at Washington Oakes’ new Bistro coffee bar and lounge area, adjacent to a new TV room added as part of the retirement center’s recent $1 million improvement project.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

There’s a luxury resort in a quiet neighborhood in north Everett, disguised as a retirement community.

Outside, the stately old, renovated building still carries the Washington School name on its 1908 façade, but two arched canopies over the entrances proclaim its new role since 1988 as home to the Washington Oakes Retirement Community, a Leisure Care facility that redefines the image of a retirement residence.

On the former playground around the school, where some of today’s residents once played as students, north and south multi-level buildings provide the majority of today’s 152 senior apartments. Neatly planted flowerbeds and trimmed lawns add to the tranquil setting.

Inside, the reception desk, fireplace and reading chairs in the lobby, new television lounge and recently added Bistro coffee bar and social area look and feel like a luxury, five-star hotel. The dining room’s tablecloth-covered tables, salad bar, chandeliers and comfortable chairs provide the ambiance of an upscale restaurant.

At one table, new executive chef James Belasco, a New York Culinary Institute of America alumnus with years of major hotel experience, chats with residents about the week’s meals, which range from beef tenderloin tips and honey mustard-glazed broiled chicken to baked salmon, top sirloin steak, barbecue chicken, pot roast, grilled sole and roast leg of pork.

“We serve healthful food and familiar meals that people love,” said Belasco, a “people person” who enjoys visiting with residents in the dining room and the new Bistro between meals.

Even more than the luxury accommodations — the rooms that range from 450-square-foot studios to 1,050-square-foot two-bedroom apartments with kitchens and the professionally prepared food — it’s the friendliness of the staff and the friendships that residents find among themselves that really make Washington Oakes a success story that lives up to Leisure Care’s promotional literature, said General Manager Tad Kasuya.

With 20 years in the luxury hotel industry, including Hyatt and Nikko hotels in San Francisco, Kasuya knows what luxury accommodations and service are like and how much people appreciate it. That’s the quality Washington Oakes has, he said, noting that readers of The Herald have voted it their “number one choice for best retirement and assisted-living community in Snohomish and Island counties.”

From “move-in coordinator” Roxie Crawford, who helps residents with their transition from their homes to the retirement community, to the PrimeFit trainers, the hair salon staff and those who provide housekeeping services, transportation for medical appointments, wellness care, computer classes and concierge services, the staff at Washington Oakes is focused on personal, luxury care.

Aside from providing the basics of living, the staff also spends a lot of time providing fun.

“We like to call our lifestyle ‘Five-Star Fun,’” Kasuya said, “and we mean it when we say that Leisure Care makes retirement fun.”

Along with making use of the facility’s piano room, billiards room and fitness center as well as its social card games and gatherings, residents hit the road in the Washington Oakes van for trips to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, Rusty Relics classic and antique car shows, area casinos and various destination outings, such as Chuckanut Manor.

Beyond that, many residents take advantage of Travel by Leisure Care opportunities, signing up for group trips such as a Panama Canal cruise, a visit to the Mexican Riviera, a San Francisco getaway, an Alaskan cruise, trips to Hawaii and, of course, Branson, Mo.

Even though the average age is 84 — an average weighted by two 100-year-old residents — the retirement community at Washington Oakes is an “on the go” group. Marketer Judith Strand said that the community’s age average will begin dropping soon as the huge “baby boomer” generation begins retiring to places like Washington Oakes in search of an active retirement lifestyle.

Despite all of the luxury surroundings, pampered care and personal “extras,” Leisure Care centers like Washington Oakes have to remain competitive, Strand said. Rates begin at $1,820 per month for studios, ranging upward to $2,210 to $2,420 for one-bedroom apartments and $3,060 for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment, plus $450 for double-occupancy. Pets, too, are welcome.

“Over the next 20 to 30 years, the ‘baby boomers’ will have a huge impact on the retirement industry, improvements in service and competition,” Kasuya said. “For us, it will mean working even harder to stay ahead of the pack, to remain a leader. For others, it will mean trying hard to catch up with us.”

In Snohomish County, Leisure Care also operates Brighton Court in Lynnwood and Brittany Park in Woodinville. For more information, visit the company’s Web site, www.leisurecare.com.

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