‘Model Towns’ Treating Dementia Set for Abandoned Big-Boxes, Strip Malls

Senior Helpers, a major provider of in-home senior care services, has launched a nationwide franchise concept called Senior Helpers Town Square.

The concept involves the adaptive reuse of older commercial properties being transformed into specialized treatment centers for dementia. The spaces evoke an earlier period in a dementia patient’s life. Namely, midcentury America.

Toward that end, the George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers created the prototype Town Square in Chula Vista, California, in partnership with the San Diego Opera Scenic Studio.

The development, which opened this summer, occupies 9K SF of otherwise unremarkable warehouse space on the town’s Main Street.

A second location is under construction near Baltimore in a former Rite Aid in White Marsh, Maryland, Citylab reports. Senior Helpers will own that facility, which will open in early 2019. A third location is planned for the Chicago area.

https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/healthcare/old-industrial-and-retail-space-gets-new-use-as-places-that-look-old-93244#0