A new residential opportunity for seniors is open at Liberty Park, in a community built by Birmingham’s Robins & Morton for Atlanta developer Braemar Partners LLC.
The 95-resident senior living facility, called Longleaf at Liberty Park, features upscale amenities and is located in a panoramic setting, on a hillside overlooking the Cahaba River. It’s contiguous to the 4,000-acre residential and mixed-use subdivision of Liberty Park in Vestavia Hills.
“It’s a fabulous location for the residents,” says Richard Heisler, Robins & Morton’s senior project manager. “And, considering the housing market that is out in Liberty Park, it’s also a real value for those homeowners to have this facility, in the same location, for their parents and relatives.”
Finding such a location is one of the investor checkmarks of Braemar, which says its particular niche of the senior housing market is “constantly challenging the senior living marketplace, never settling for status quo, always protecting the future of our residents, their families and our investors.”
Longleaf is a residential community that offers specialized services, including memory care and respite care.
The 85,000-square-foot facility is also outfitted with a senior-centric fitness center, multiple dining venues, salon and day spa, sports lounge, cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, library, creative arts studio and movie theater.
And the location and environment are foremost among the amenities. Creating a space that feels like home, says the developer, “is critical to helping residents maintain independence and inspire connection.”
Protecting the area’s environment was a key objective for the builder, especially protecting the Cahaba River, the longest free-flowing river in the state and one of the most biologically diverse water sources in the country. Stringent erosion control measures were put into place and monitored closely throughout the project, says Bill Stevens, senior superintendent on the project for Robins & Morton.
“It’s a unique geographic setting,” says Stevens, “built into the side of a mountain, with the Cahaba River below it.”
Foundational construction, noted Stevens, had to be conducted during the wettest winter on record in the region. Crews worked weekends to make up time following lost days due to rain.
