The Congress Cos. completes $10.6m expansion of The Village at Cedar Hill Continuing Care Community

The Congress Companies said that the expansion to The Village at Cedar Hill Continuing Care Community has been completed on schedule and is open for residents. Congress Building Corp. provided construction management services for the $10.6 million project. An open house was held on February 22 where tours were given of the 41,800 s/f addition. Founded in 1988, Cedar Hill offers a continuum of care ranging from independent and assisted living to skilled nursing, rehabilitative and Alzheimer's care, all on one campus. The community is owned by Mary Louise Sayles, a registered nurse and licensed nursing home administrator, and her daughter Patricia Horn, also a licensed nursing home administrator. "We are proud to be a member of the Cedar Hill construction team," said Congress senior project manager Stephen King. "Mary Louise Sayles and Patricia Horn of Cedar Hill, Mackenzie Architects, Red Capital, and the HUD people have exemplified a collaborative model of project delivery in a manner that we can all be proud of. Cedar Hill exhibits an exceptional design and end product that will meet our customer's quality of care standards and needs, and that this team also should be proud of. Red Capital and HUD delivered a quality financing package for our client, executed like clockwork, and again exemplified how to make the HUD 241 and 232 construction financing programs work beautifully for the right health care provider. Cedar Hill is a project we can all be proud of for a long time." Designed by Mackenzie Architects of Burlington, VT, the addition includes a 20-patient memory care unit and another 20 independent and assisted living apartments, tripling the space and resident capacity of the Cedar Hill Community. The original Village at Cedar Hill housed 21 one and two-bedroom apartments and common areas in 17,854 s/f. This expansion added a full two levels and increased the square footage to 59,720. Cedar Hill's Memory Care Center is the first of its kind in the area. One entire floor of the addition is dedicated to care for those with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia with 12 private apartments and eight semi-private apartments. Fully staffed and secure, it includes a large common area with a country kitchen, dining room, living room, multipurpose activity room, salon, greenhouse, art center and a secure outdoor garden area. The center also features solar tubes to capture natural sunlight, a whirlpool and an enclosed walking area. The center will be named in honor of Judith Brogren, RN co-founder of the Cedar Hill Continuing Care Community, who passed away in 2013. The new wing for independent and assisted living adds more one and two-bedroom and studio apartments to the center, all with walk-in closets, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms and large showers. Common areas feature spacious living room, dining room, pub, activity room, fitness center, salon, library and computer center spaces. This wing will be dedicated to the late Maria Louise Horn, licensed nursing home administrator and oldest daughter of Sayles and sister to Horn, who passed away in 2004. "Bill Nicholson and his team from Congress Construction Company have been very attentive and a pleasure to work with during the construction of a major addition to our Assisted Living Center this past year," said Mary Louise Sayles, president and owner of Cedar Hill. "Their company has the knowledge and experience to tackle any aspect of senior housing and senior care facilities construction. We are pleased with the results and would certainly recommend them to others as a general contractor for senior housing." The expansion project was funded in part through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development insured mortgage. The Congress Companies serves clients in New England, New York, New Jersey and beyond. With 60 plus years of building experience and expertise, Congress offers a full continuum of pre-construction strategy, construction management, design/build, development, and building commissioning services and specializes in the senior living, health care, and multi-family residential market sectors.