couple in front of high-rise building

A pandemic is not preventing Moorings Park Grande Lake in Naples, FL, from opening.

Moorings Park Institute closed on the sale of the first phase of the luxury continuing care retirement / life plan community with the London Bay Development Group on April 13.

“This has been a very unusual time to open a new community,” Moorings Park Institute CEO Daniel Lavender said. “Truthfully, we thought about pushing the opening date back, but several of our residents had already sold their previous homes and needed to move right away.”

The company developed protocols and procedures to facilitate the moves, he added.

The first phase of the community consists of three buildings with a total of 47 residences; all but three units have sold. Residents have begun moving and will continue to move in over the next three months.

Entrance fees start at $1.5 million and are 70% refundable. Assisted living, memory care and concierge physician services are included.

The pandemic does not appear to be negatively affecting sales, either.

“Sales have gone wonderfully,” Moorings Park Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tom Mann said. “I’m pleased to say that we have closed over $77 million in sales during the last two weeks.”

The second phase of residences was just released. The company currently is not taking in-person appointments but is speaking with potential buyers on the telephone, Mann said.

In other coronavirus-related news:

  • Some lay media reporters, Argentum and the American Seniors Housing Association said Monday, “make a common but meaningful error in conflating nursing homes with the broader spectrum of senior living communities that support independent living, assisted living and memory care.” The organizations cited a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that found that senior living communities “may be in a better position to contain the spread of the disease” compared with nursing homes, because of their ability to foster greater social distancing. “It is critical that we secure funding and priority access to testing and [personal protective equipment] in order to continue to protect both residents and staff,” ASHA President David Schless said.
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to disclose the names of assisted living communities and skilled nursing facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 is “the right decision in the interest of public health and safety of Florida’s seniors,” LeadingAge Florida President and CEO Steven Bahmer said Saturday. “COVID-19 remains a rapidly spreading virus with known community spread and because of this, transparency regarding the locations and names of facilities where cases have been confirmed is critical to public health and safety,” he added.
  • New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy should direct members of the National Guard to staff assisted living communities and nursing homes in the state, where needed, to help clean, feed and manage medications for residents, Princeton, NJ, geriatrician David R. Barile, M.D., said Friday in an open letter to the governor. “Last weekend I was notified that one of my patients in a local assisted living facility tested positive for COVID-19,” wrote Barile, who said he makes rounds at ALFs and SNFs in the region. “When I arrived at the facility, I found the patient in the common dining area with no mask and in close contact with employees and elder residents. When I inquired how this could possibly happen, the response was due to ‘lack of staffing,’ ” he added.

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