Erickson plans 1,500-unit, 300-bed senior community in Westminster

WESTMINSTER — Erickson Living LLC, a Maryland-based developer of communities for seniors, is planning a 1,500-unit, 300-bed campus in Westminster.

A concept plan review for the project — located on a vacant 74-acre parcel east of U.S. Highway 36 and Westminster Boulevard and south of West 104th Avenue — is scheduled for Westminster City Council’s meeting on Monday evening. 

The 1,500 units would be for independent-living residents over the age of 62 and would include one- and two-bedroom apartments, according to a Westminster planning document. 

“The health care beds may include a combination of assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing,” the memo said. 

Amenities would likely “include a medical center, pharmacy, fitness centers, movie theaters, classrooms, restaurants, cafes, and a pool among others,” planning documents said. “The project is proposed to be built in phases. Buildings will be four to five stories in height and arranged in a campus-like setting.”

Erickson expects the community to employ about 350 full-time workers with an annual payroll nearly $20 million at buildout. That buildout process is expected to be performed by more than 1,400 construction workers, according to a presentation expected to be provided to city officials on Monday.

Erickson has seemingly eyed the U.S. Highway 36 corridor for years. The company put forth a proposal for a similarly sized 1,500-unit community in an earlier plan for the Redtail Ridge development in Louisville.

The Redtail Ridge project has evolved several times over the past four years, and the Erickson proposal is no longer part of the proposal, nor is any other residential development. Chicago-based developer Sterling Bay LLC now plans to add more than 2 million square feet of commercial space to a long-vacant site.

However, Redtail’s original developer, Brue Baukol Capital Partners LLC, initially sought to turn the parcel into a 5.22 million-square-foot live-work development anchored by a new corporate campus for medical-device maker Medtronic Inc. and a senior-living community operated by Erickson. Additional planned components included offices, retail space and apartments.