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This is The Life
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| Photographed by Brett C Vermilyea |
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By Timothy Lavin
Visitors to the Hallmark, an upscale senior residence in Battery Park City, could be forgiven for lingering. Choices for dinner on a recent night included strip steak and filet of salmon, served in a dining room that resembles a high caliber Midtown restaurant. Bottles of champagne sat on the bar in the large, festively decorated living room. The evening’s lecture, the second in a three part series, would be on “The Joys of Shakespeare.” For those disinclined toward English drama, other classes available that week included water aerobics, fitness, yoga, beginner’s bridge, computer class, 19th century literature, and acrylic painting. A swimming pool, gym, billiard room, art studio, beauty salon and Internet-equipped library also waited. Then there are the activities, which include frequent movie nights, bus trips to museums and theaters, cocktail parties, dances, a men’s club, a Yiddish club, and a sophisticated arts program.
In many ways, the Hallmark resembles a resort, yet other more pedestrian conveniences abound: A banking branch operates inside the Hallmark twice a week. A box office offers tickets to Broadway shows and other entertainment. In addition to the dining room, which is equipped with a private room for birthdays and holidays, a coffee shop and general store serves customers throughout the day. A nurse and doctor are on call in the health clinic five days a week. A van shuttles residents to the pharmacy, the bookstore, churches and synagogues, and other Manhattan locations. Each room is equipped with emergency pull cords and, in many cases, an enviable view.
“People don’t lower their standards just because they are over the age of 70,” said Mark Schulte, the chairman and CEO of Brookdale Living Communities, which owns the Hallmark.
Affording such standards is another matter, and Brookdale is clearly a for-profit enterprise. National Real Estate Investor ranked the company as the 12th largest owner of senior residences in the nation; they operate 68 properties in 26 states—and they’re growing. Schulte estimates that the company plans to acquire several thousand rental units in the first quarter of next year alone, and double its business by 2007. Of all their properties the Hallmark is the most expensive, primarily because Manhattan real estate is so pricey. Apartments, with meals and weekly housekeeping included, run from $4,130 a month for a studio to upward of $8,000 for some of the more capacious two-bedroom units.
Well before the Hallmark’s construction began, however, the company’s researchers had identified New York City as a market with great potential for a high- priced residence. “We realized that below 125th Street to the tip of Manhattan there were something like 68,000 people over the age of 75 who had annual incomes over $50,000,” Schulte said. “That’s an enormous population. And the vast majority of those people were living by themselves.”
The assessment was apparently astute. Despite the steep prices, air quality concerns four blocks from Ground Zero, and fears of another terrorist attack in the area, the $50 million, 14-story building sits at nearly 100% capacity, with about 225 occupants whose average age is 83.
Part of this success has to do with simple demographics, while another part results from smart business strategy and marketing. But the residents unanimously agree that what truly differentiates the Hallmark from its counterparts is the way services are provided.
“Earlier today I wanted to get a cup of coffee,” said Sara Match, a Brooklyn native who’s lived at the residence for four years. “So I came down here and got a cup of coffee. No one’s telling you what to do. If I want a sandwich, I come get a sandwich.”
Schulte agreed that his company learned important lessons about hospitality from the hotel industry—which helps explain the Hallmark’s resemblance to a resort, something many of the residents mention with enthusiasm. “No one at any stage of life really wants to be told what to do all the time,” he said. The Hallmark does offer 20 assisted-living apartments, which are staffed at all times with a home health aide, but most are independent-living arrangements. “My sub-motto around here is that we are not running old-folks homes.”
Much of the residence’s operation exudes this philosophy, from the deferential comportment of the 100-member staff to the diverse amenities. The beauty salon downstairs, for instance, really is a fully equipped salon—swiveling chairs, glossy magazines, gossip and all.
In keeping with the themes of independence and choice, each apartment comes furnished with a full kitchen, and the rulebook abides pets. Meal times and payment options are also flexible. What is more, a resident’s council convenes for regular airings of complaints, such as they are.
And they are few. Even Ann Kessler, who sits on the council and whose job it is to field the concerns of her peers, had nothing especially damning to report. Most of the criticisms she does hear relate to staffing levels of dining room service during certain hours, which are relayed to Hallmark management so that required adjustments can be made. Overall, she said, “I think most of the residents think it’s a lovely place to live.”
“The building and the people both have a lot of warmth,” said Leona Sonick, who moved in six months ago from Philadelphia. “I’m the new kid in town. But I’ve already made lots of friends here. I’ve found that many people here are of high intellect.”
In addition to the Shakespeare, there are classes on religion, architecture, film, art history and much else. And the Hallmark’s art studio has produced some exemplary work—earning residents an exhibit at NYU Downtown Hospital.
Yet for all of its charms, many seniors are still initially hesitant to join the community. In part this reflects the high rents, which, though roughly commensurate with the surrounding community, are still difficult to tolerate for those accustomed to owning a home or living in a rent-controlled apartment. But the resistance reflects deeper concerns as well. Many people think of a nursing home, even though contemporary senior residences more closely resemble college. Consider an environment in which people of roughly the same age from similar backgrounds, who are dealing with similar issues, can talk over meals about things that are relevant to them. Now substitute roasted cornish game hens for meatloaf surprise. Sound like any nursing home you’ve ever visited?
Tim Lavin is a freelance writer who lives in New York City.
