Developers Wayne McCall and David Kirkland plan to build the $23 million, 119-unit Anthem Lakes in the Mayport area, envisioned as a potential national model for veteran-friendly senior living.
Kirkland, retired president of St. Louis-based Allegro Senior Living, said Anthem Lakes is not limited to veterans, but is positioned to serve retired or returning military.
Kirkland and McCall consider the military an area of focus and opportunity.
It would offer assisted- and independent-living units as well as a building for memory-care and dementia residents.
His group commissioned two feasibility firms to assess demand for the facility and they found “substantial need” for additional units. Kirkland said the East Arlington and Beaches areas both were found to be “under-bedded.”
Both studies also reported they expected the attractiveness for veterans would substantially increase the natural trade area, he said, although neither could determine how much additional need might be present from the veteran community.
Kirkland said by working with veteran-related organizations and creating a “veteran-friendly” culture, the group could “craft a national demonstration project.”
For example, one wing of the memory-care building could be used to assist returning military personnel with mild brain trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder, he said, which have been increasing since 9/11.
“It serves a real need,” he said.
McCall, based in Jacksonville, and Kirkland, of St. Charles, Mo., formed Anthem Lakes LLC in August to build a 91-unit, two-story center for assisted and independent living and a 28-unit building for memory care and dementia patients.
He said the 20 units available for independent living will allow those residents to stay in their unit “and avail themselves of assisted-living services if and when needed.”
Kirkland said construction should start in July for completion in 14 months.
“We will do a lot of outreach once we start construction,” Kirkland said, including to American Legion groups and other veteran-related organizations.
Kirkland believes the concept can be replicated, given the number of returning veterans. He said while 75 is the average age of entry into a regular senior living center, the age is lower for existing and returning veterans.
“This will continue for an extended period,” he said. “That need will be there for a number of years and nobody has really addressed it.”
Anthem Lakes is planned on 14.54 acres at 905 Assisi Lane, which is 1.4 miles south of the entry to the Mayport Naval Station. The site includes creek frontage and shoreline along a 4-acre lake.
The two buildings will total 92,868 square feet.
Kirkland said the location near the base and directly opposite the exit from the Mayport Naval Station commissary “clearly lends itself to a special outreach to veterans.”
He said it also is near the Fleet Landing retirement community, which has attracted military veterans and their spouses.
Kirkland said $18.12 million in financing is being obtained through Robyn Cunningham, senior director in the St. Louis office of Love Funding Corp.
The construction team comprises contractor Perry-McCall Construction, of which McCall is CEO; PQH Architects; JBC Planning & Engineering for civil engineering; and Janet O. Whitmill R.L.A. Inc. for landscape design.
Kirkland said during his time with Allegro it developed senior living centers in Fleming Island and St. Augustine. Anthem is unrelated to Allegro.
Kirkland said he has been working with McCall on Allegro projects and also has been working on a proposed nursing home and memory care facility in St. Louis.
He said he is working there with the Veterans Administration and other organizations that serve veterans to create special-needs beds for veterans.
Kirkland said he has been visiting Jacksonville since 1975 and has owned a second home in Ponte Vedra since the mid-1980s. His work with McCall for more than 10 years led to the Anthem deal.
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing the plans, which shows the site for three buildings along Assisi Lane, west of Mayport Road and south of Florida A1A.
The master site plan shows an assisted living building and memory care building, along with a sales and information building at the entrance.
McCall is a manager of Anthem Lakes LLC. He also is managing member of Bull Gator Property Investors LLC. Bull Gator Investors LLC owns the site.
Other managers include Carson McCall, Heath McCall and Kirkland, of St. Charles, Mo.
Kirkland also is an author. He says on his davidleekirkland.com that his “Rising Tide” novel has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
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