New P’town senior living center attracting younger residents

June 04--PROVINCETOWN -- This is planning for the future, says a tanned and muscled Scott Donahue as he exits the gym at Seashore Point.

A lawyer from Boston, Donahue bought a condo at Seashore Point six weeks ago and went from "city mouse to country mouse" because he loves Provincetown. He also loves the amenities offered at Seashore Point, an 81-unit senior living community that offers 24-hour staff, a dining room and a full line of a la carte services if you need help with meals, housecleaning, transportation or taking your medicine.

Condos at Seashore Point start at $375,000 for a one-bedroom unit. And residents pay a minimum of $1,200 in condo and concierge fees, which do include meals or services such as a home-health aide or cleaning.

Donahue, 68, still works part time. He has no need for any of the extra services, except perhaps the gym.

Why buy into this type of community when you need so little assistance?

Donahue said he did it to get settled so he'll make friends and feel at home when and if he needs extra help.

"You don't want to be abruptly pulled out of your home and into an unfamiliar situation where you don't know anyone," Donahue said. "I don't want to be jerked out of my home and into a nursing home.

"So it's a nice, organic way, when someone like me who is still active comes here, I can still plan for my future," he continued. "I don't want to become a burden on my family."

Deaconess Abundant Life Communities bought Provincetown's town-owned nursing home and replaced it with Seashore Point in 2008. But the company adjusted its original model of a traditional retirement community and created a hybrid -- a place where people in their 50s could live but then could pay for more services as they required them, said Kevin Comick, executive director of Seashore Point.

And now, the place is 70 percent sold out, even though nearly half of the units were only completed a few weeks ago, Comick said.

Seashore Point does have a nursing facility attached to the living units, but most of the beds are used for temporary stays, not long-term nursing care, Comick said.

The model of independent living is to keep the residents in their units, by bringing whatever care and supervision they need right to their doorsteps, he said.

More people seem to be searching for this model, rather than traditional assisted-living, which costs thousands a month, mostly not covered by insurance. Massachusetts' assisted-living monthly costs are the fifth highest in the nation, at $5,247 on average, according to a 2014 survey by Genworth Financial, which sells long-term care insurance.

That figure not only includes rent, but services a resident might not need.

The model offered at Seashore Point, as well as some other senior communities, is based on an a la carte system of independent living.

"Independent living is an alternative that allows people to move before they really need help, before the wheels come off the cart," said Chris Wise, developer and CEO of Wise Living, which owns communities in Harwich Port, Chatham and Orleans. "Half the battle is convincing people they can move out of their home and still be in the game and independent."

There's such a stigma about senior housing, Wise said, that people don't realize the model is not more costly than owning a home, comparing home maintenance costs with a $1,200 monthly fee. And it provides socialization, a community, and extra help -- but only if you need it, Wise said.

"We have people moving in at 50, 60, 70 years old," Wise said. "Ninety percent of our residents say they could have moved in 10 years ago."

Marilyn Lober Colucci, 57, and Joanne Colucci, 55, recently moved into their unit at Seashore Point and are officially the youngest residents, Comick said.

The two New Yorkers chose Seashore Point because it made them feel more secure about their future. Joanne Colucci</person> said she has rheumatoid arthritis and had been worried that Marilyn Lober Colucci would be burdened or left alone if something happened to her.

Once they secured a spot at Seashore Point, that fear vanished, and she was able to shed 40 pounds because of less "emotional eating," she said.

"We like living with the older people, and we're not in denial about our aging," Lober Colucci said.

Follow K.C. Myers on Twitter: @kcmyerscct.

___

(c)2014 the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.)

Visit the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) at www.capecodonline.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services