A University-Based Life Plan Community Is Being Planned

Arizona State University, in collaboration with the ASU Foundation and Pacific Retirement Services, will develop a university-based life plan community near the corner of University Drive and Mill Avenue on ASU’s campus and within steps of downtown Tempe’s restaurants and cultural venues.

The facility will engage older alumni and retired faculty, staff and friends by providing lifelong learning, a continuum of health-care services for aging adults and an environment rich in performing arts, social, athletic and research activities. Plans for extensive amenities include on-site physicians, fitness, dining, estate planning, on-campus educational and mentoring opportunities, and concierge services, as well as intergenerational child-care programming that has been shown to improve academic performance in children and emotional and physical health in aging adults.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to provide intellectual stimulation for senior members of the ASU family — and in an altogether new way,” said Rick Shangraw, CEO of the ASU Foundation. “The ASU community will certainly benefit from their presence, as we hope they will from their return to the campus of the nation’s most innovative university.”

An influx of 77 million Baby Boomers approaching retirement age is driving demand for housing that delivers conveniences and aging-in-place accommodations at the intersection of hospitality, health care and real estate.

Currently, there are about 100 similar university-based communities in the United States, including at Penn State University, Duke University, the University of Texas at Austin and Dartmouth College. About half of ASU’s 60,000 graduates age 65 or older live in Arizona — a state that ranks as one of the most popular destinations for retirees — and that figure is expected to double in 10 years.

To meet this growing need and to provide innovative and exciting options for senior members of its community, ASU is exploring potential partnerships between the forthcoming living facility and the Mayo Clinic, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and ASU’s nursing, health innovation, nutrition, arts and design and teaching programs.

With support from the City of Tempe, the ASU Foundation selected the experienced not-for-profit Pacific Retirement Services to co-develop and operate the project, which is expected to feature 20 stories consisting of 291 independent, assisted, memory-care and skilled-nursing units inspired by the urban Mirabella communities in Portland and Seattle. The site will be LEED-certified and will utilize solar power.

ASU, the ASU Foundation and Pacific Retirement Services are conducting a marketing and feasibility study about the facility, which is subject to ground lease approval from the Arizona Board of Regents. Assuming it proves viable, construction is expected to begin in 2018, with occupancy predicted in spring 2020. The development team includes Ankrom Moisan Architects and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. PRS has secured a committed lender for the project, Cain Brothers, a pre-eminent investment bank focused exclusively on health care.

Interested future residents should contact 1-844-542-6061. 

ASURA Needs Your Old Books!

Are your bookshelves too full? Are you downsizing your office or your home and don't have space for all of your books?

Donate your used books to us, and we will work with our partner, Friends of the Phoenix Public Library, to sell them. We'll use proceeds of the sale to support our programs. The ASU Foundation, a separate nonprofit organization that exists to support ASU, will provide you with a gift receipt for tax purposes.

Half of the proceeds will be invested in our endowed scholarship fund, and half will be used for our Video History project. Earnings from the endowed scholarship fund are earmarked for our ASURA Scholarship.

If you have books you can donate, please visit our website at https://asura.asu.edu/BookDrive and print our donation form.  Complete the form and either scan and fax or email to Mary Stevens, chair of the Book Drive project or mail it directly to the ASURA office.

For more information contact:  Mary Stevens, (602) 758-3750, [email protected]

Lend ASURA A Hand and Have Some Fun While You Are At It.

ASURA Committees are already planning for 2016-17 and they need and would welcome new volunteer members.  You can be as involved as little or as much as suits your schedule.  You can be involved a few hours a year or a few hours a month.  The choice is yours.

When you complete your membership renewal form be sure to take a look at the list of possible ways to get involved and check a box or two to let the Board know how you’d like to lend a hand by getting involved in a committee.  If you’d like to talk to ASURA’s President Barbara White to find out more information, you can e-mail her at:  [email protected].