Developer spending $15M to build senior villas on 86th Street

A senior housing community on West 86th Street is expected to undergo a $15 million expansion over the next year that will add several dozen independent living residences to the property.

Indianapolis-based developer Leo Brown Group will add 50 one-story villas to its existing 120 memory-care and assisted-living residences at the Traditions at North Willow community, 1703 W. 86th St. Work on the Villas at North Willow addition could be finished as early as fall 2019.

Founded in 2006, Leo Brown operates at least 15 senior living communities across Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, consisting of more than 2,000 dwelling units and more than 1 million square feet of space. The company is the Indianapolis area's 17th-largest developer of commercial real estate, according to IBJ research.

Most of the company’s facilities, including its North Willow Campus, are managed by Leo Brown subsidiary Traditions Management.

The new villas will have full kitchens and attached garages, with most offering two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The community also will include an enclosed dog park, a clubhouse with a fitness center, gathering spaces, an emergency response system and gated security.

The campus also will share the existing amenities found at the assisted living part of the campus, including dining, social activities, events and scheduled transportation.

“This expansion enables us to operate as a continuum-of-care community where our residents will have the ability to age in place from independent living to assisted living to secure memory care, if needed,” Traditions at North Willow executive director Shelly McFall said in a news release.

The original, 98,000-square-foot part of the North Willow community opened to residents in 2017, east of St. Vincent Hospital campus at 2001 W. 86th St. Leo Brown in 2015 acquired two parcels of land totaling four acres for the Traditions and Villas projects, for about $1.7 million..

The facility’s assisted-living areas range from studios to one- and two-bedroom units–measuring between 394 square feet to 508 square feet and to 718 square feet. The property also has 363-square-foot memory-care studios.

Leo Brown’s portfolio has grown steadily in recent years. In 2014, the company announced plans to spend at least $66 million on developing four complexes, including two in the Indianapolis area and one each in Ohio and Kentucky. Most of the firm’s projects fall under the Traditions banner.