A senior living community approved by the city of Golden plans to bring the latest technology to the Denver-metro foothills.
“We’re really using technology for monitoring seniors and keeping them connected to their families and medical providers,” said Charles Gee, owner of Boulder-based Senior Living Logic, which is planning the 110-unit apartment development in north Golden. “These seniors are the ones who created the first technologies we use — they are going to be heavy users of it.”
Gee said the NewStar Golden community — named after a mine that was in the area at the turn of the century — will be rental apartments in a community focused on wellness and independent living.
NewStar’s design plan will need to go through Golden’s planning commission and council for review before it begins construction, but Gee said the vision includes underground parking, a hotel-style lobby and nearly half an acre of community gardens on a total of 4 acres.
The community won’t be a “meal plan type of thing,” Gee said, adding that it will focus on amenities for seniors who want to live independently.
“You’re going to see a lot of innovative service offerings that promote wellness,” Gee said. “That’s a huge, huge attractive feature that this age group is looking for, for mind, body and soul.”
The 13-acre site at the northwest corner of Colorado 93 and is slated for a mixed-use senior campus that will potentially include a memory-care facility in addition to the housing. However, Gee said that NewStar will look for a partner to separately develop and manage the memory-care facility.
Another player in the industry of aging, StoneGate Senior Living, is developing a transitional-care facility next door to Panorama Orthopedic and Spine Center on Golden Ridge Road. It will not be a residential facility but may house patients for rehabilitation for up to 20 days, said Doug Harper, senior vice president for StoneGate Senior Living.
Construction for that project is expected to begin in early 2016 and last 12-14 months if all goes as planned, Harper said.
Golden has a residential growth cap of 1 percent that , transit-oriented and senior housing until 2013, when City Council voted to phase them out in 2014 and lower the growth cap from 1 percent to 0.9 percent starting in 2015.
NewStar grabbed Golden’s final senior housing exemptions through two public hearings and . However, the exemption covers only 33 of the 110 units named in the plan presented to council. The rest are covered by a plan also approved by council that allows NewStar to use allocations for housing units meant for 2016.
Gee said NewStar was attracted to Golden primarily for its location, with views of the foothills and the Denver metro area.
“We anticipate our seniors to be highly active,” he said. “Many will still be working and volunteering in the community.”
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JosieKlemaier
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For progress on the Newstar Golden project and others in Golden, visit .
