News at the Allegro

For Immediate Release

Construction of New Senior Memory Care Housing

The Accolade at Fleming Island

March 8, 2007
Orange Park, Florida

Hallmark Senior Housing, the developer of The Allegro at Fleming Island on US Highway 17, announced the construction start for a new sister property specially designed to provide superior housing for seniors needing higher acuity assisted living services, with two floors planned for the special needs of memory care. Love Management Company presently manages The Allegro, and will also manage The Accolade.

“We know there is a tremendous need,” commented Margot Cooke, Sales & Marketing Director of The Allegro, “for two reasons. The first is that our existing property The Allegro consistently runs at or near 100% occupancy, thought that alone would not be conclusive. But The Allegro was designed for independent living for seniors, even though it also includes a wing that lets us provide a little more assistance should our residents need a little extra care.”

The Accolade at Fleming Island — View Larger

“That extra care, however, is related to physical frailty. Because of our reputation and location, we regularly receive inquiries from the adult children whose parents have some mental frailty, such as early stage dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. While The Allegro is a wonderful property, it was not designed to be appropriate for those needs, and we routinely have to refer people east across the St. John’s River to properties as much as 25 miles away. This is simply heartbreaking, to have to suggest referrals so far from family and friends in Clay County. And when The Accolade is complete, we won’t have to.”

The Accolade has been designed by PQH Architects of Jacksonville, and the general construction contract has been awarded to Auld and White Constructors, also of Jacksonville, Florida. Financing for the $12 million project was arranged by Robyn Cunningham of Love Funding Corporation in St. Louis, MO.

The Accolade features three floors of full masonry construction and will be completed as an addition of the north side of The Allegro at Fleming Island. The building will provide 69 units of new housing, bringing the total for the combined development to 158. Total conditioned space in The Accolade will be 51,804 square feet.

“Senior housing isn’t about one stop shopping,” Mrs. Cooke explained, “We care about making each day for our residents a good day, and this implies concern for good nutrition, active social programs, gentle assistance tailored to each specific resident, and properly designed physical facilities. Yet there is a comfort both for our residents and for their adult children in knowing that as aging goes on and our residents perhaps come to need a little more care, that between The Allegro and The Accolade we will be better able to provide appropriate service levels.”

Construction will start the week of March 5th, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2008. Detailed additional information, preliminary charge levels, and individual floor plans will be available to The Allegro starting this summer.