Carmel senior-living project to create 340 jobs

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard on Tuesday unveiled details of a multimillion-dollar project expected to create more than 340 jobs over the next two years.

He was joined by representatives of St. Vincent Health and The Barrington of Carmel, an 18-acre senior-living community being developed at 116th Street and Guilford Road. The 320,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in 2013.

The project is expected to generate 200 construction-related jobs. When the facility is completed, it will employ 140 full-time workers with estimated annual compensation totaling $6 million.

Billed as a “one-of-a-kind partnership,” the community and St. Vincent are collaborating to offer Barrington residents access to health care services at a flat, monthly rate.

St. Vincent and the Barrington "share many important philosophies and approaches when it comes to serving Indiana residents,” Raymond Goodman, CEO of Mayflower Communities Inc., the not-for-profit developer of the community, said in a prepared statement.

The Barrington will offer a range of other support for its residents, from skilled nursing care facilities and a dedicated memory-support unit to assisted- and independent-living apartments.

The number of Americans age 65 and older will explode by 76 percent over the next 20 years, according to a 2008 projection by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of senior Hoosiers should grow by 52 percent in that same time span.

That growth will take seniors from being one in every seven people now, to one in every five.

The Barrington already has invested more than $10 million to prepare for construction. The total project cost was not disclosed.

Brainard said the operation will spend about $2 million a year on local goods and services after it opens.

“The development of The Barrington in Hamilton County will substantially benefit the economy, creating job opportunities and increasing economic spending,” Brainard said in the statement.