In celebration of our milestone 70th year, WesleyLife will break ground this fall for a $29.5 million upscale senior living community in Johnston, WesleyLife president and CEO Rob Kretzinger announced today.
The community will be WesleyLife’s fourth in the Des Moines metropolitan area and eighth statewide.
Brio, a WesleyLife Community for Healthy Living will open in fall 2017 just southwest of the intersection of Northwest 86th Street and Northwest 70th Avenue in Johnston, about a mile west of the Iowa National Guard’s Camp Dodge headquarters.
The community will offer independent living, assisted living, a skilled residential environment designed for those with memory loss, and short-term skilled care/rehabilitation for adults age 55 and older.
“Brio means ‘gusto,’ which is defined as ‘vigor or vivacity of style or performance,’” Kretzinger said. “No matter a person’s stage in life, he or she is entitled to live with spirit and vigor. We couldn’t be more excited to offer Iowans another option to live this phase of their lives as healthfully, actively and purposefully as they desire.”
Kretzinger said Brio will serve not only its residents, but older Iowans in a tri-county area.
“At WesleyLife, we recognize Iowans 65 and older make up nearly 16 percent of our population,” Kretzinger said. “By 2030, when that number has risen to 20 percent, our primary objective as the market leader in Iowa will continue to be helping Iowans live independently wherever they call home. So it’s our intent that Brio will function as the hub of a comprehensive health and wellness network of services serving northern Polk, Story and Boone counties.”
In keeping with WesleyLife’s designation as Iowa’s only Blue Zones-affiliated senior living community, Brio is being designed and constructed around the organization’s Communities for Healthy Living model. All WesleyLife locations were honored in 2015 as Blue Zones Work Sites™ for creating environments that promote and encourage well-being.
The Blue Zones concept is based on a study that identified nine demographic or geographic areas of the world in which people live measurably longer lives. WesleyLife uses its affiliation to turn those shared traits into actionable steps to enhance the lives of residents, clients and team members.
“We take our affiliation with the Blue Zones seriously and view it as a great privilege to pass it along to our residents, clients and team members,” Kretzinger said. “With its unparalleled focus on activity designed to promote well-being, Brio will be something different for the Des Moines metro area, and we expect it to be a model for other communities to come.”
Kretzinger added he’s excited about the location of the new community.
“We’re honored to be working with the city of Johnston to deliver superior services in a warm, friendly and compassionate manner by keeping our focus on what’s really important – the way in which our residents and clients wish to live,” Kretzinger said.
For more information, please contact Lisa Ryan, director of network marketing and communications, at (515) 414-0517 or lryan@wesleylife.org.
