The Roland Park Place retirement community is the latest property owner on West 40th Street to plan a major multi-phase expansion.

Preliminary plans, confirmed at a meeting held in an area church last night, call for the construction of 60 new “independent living” residences, a four-level garage with approximately 175 parking spaces, a 2,500-square-foot multi-purpose center, and “specialty care” areas including memory support, short-stay rehabilitation and long-term skilled nursing care.

If approved, the expansion would be carried out in two phases over the next four years.

The largest new building in the plan is an eight-story structure containing five levels of residences over three levels of parking above-ground and one level of parking below-ground.

The entire expansion would be built on the community’s eight-acre property at 830 West 40th Street. The eight-story structure would rise on the east side of the community’s property, parallel to Kittery Lane.

What’s the Overall Impact?

With its initiative, Roland Park Place becomes the latest of several organizations to undertake major redevelopment projects along 40th Street between Keswick Road and Roland Avenue.

Others include Johns Hopkins University with its acquisition of the former Zurich Insurance Company headquarters, the Keswick Multi-Care Center, and Hekemian & Company with its construction of nearly 350 residences and new retail space at the Rotunda.

Some area residents fear the cumulative impact.

“Traffic is going to change. 40th Street is always busy, and the Rotunda isn’t even finished yet,” said Carey Zumpano, a University Parkway resident who was instrumental in organizing the meeting along with his wife, Sara Johnson.

“I think this is going to be a lot bigger than people realize,” Zumpano said, addressing about 40 people who came to the North Baltimore Mennonite Church on Roland Avenue to hear about the project.

Other speakers praised Roland Park Place’s administration for undertaking the expansion.

“Isn’t it good that someone wants to invest in our community?” said Ben Frederick III, a University Parkway resident. “I think that’s a good thing. . . I have faith in the process.”

Aging Boomers

Roland Park Place disclosed its plans in a “Preliminary Repositioning Project Summary and Information” sheet that was distributed at the meeting. No one from Roland Park Place’s administration spoke at the gathering.

City Council member Mary Pat Clarke, who represents the area and most likely would introduce any legislation related to the expansion, distributed the fact sheet. Clarke said later that it was prepared at her request by Roland Park Place President Terry Snyder.

“As the number of older Americans continues to grow and the ‘baby-boomers’ reach retirement age, the need for retirement communities like RPP increases,” Snyder’s statement said in part.

“Roland Park Place needs to reposition itself and expand its services to meet this expanding segment of our population. In order to attract new residents, RPP must modify, re-purpose, and expand to meet the needs of those it serves and appeal to future retirees entering the senior housing market.”

A cost estimate for the project was not disclosed.

“A Little Surprised”

A few residents at the meeting said they applaud Roland Park Place for wanting to expand in the city, but most expressed a variety of concerns about how the project would affect “quality of life” issues such as traffic congestion and noise from delivery trucks, mechanical equipment and employees coming off their shifts.

With the Rotunda expansion across the street less than a year from completion, many said they feared that another large project so close by would make driving around the area and on-street parking more difficult.

West University Parkway residents whose homes back up to Roland Park Place said they were concerned that another eight story building would block sunlight and that they would be looking into a three-story garage.

“We are a little surprised that we haven’t heard about this before, but maybe they are in the very, very early stages” of planning, said Chris McSherry, president of the Roland Park Civic League.

McSherry added that she believes “this will mean more people [driving] on 40th Street and Roland Avenue,” an intersection she described as “seriously failing” already.

Others said they were comfortable with the proposal.

“This is not a Walmart project, “ said Franklin Adkinson, who lives on University Parkway. “It contributes a lot. I think this is part of what we are as a community, and we need to support it.”

Reasons for Seeking Expansion

Roland Park Place describes itself as Baltimore’s only accredited, not-for-profit continuing care retirement community. It was founded in 1980 and opened in 1984 on the former grounds of Roland Park Country School.

It competes with upscale retirement communities outside the city, including Blakehurst and Brightwood in Baltimore County and Baywoods in Anne Arundel County.

According to the fact sheet from Snyder, Roland Park Place currently serves about 270 residents. It has 160 independent living residences (156 apartments in an eight-story building and four in historic buildings known as the Greenway Cottages), 40 “assisted living” residences, and 60 private rooms in the Eleanor F. Daly Health Care Center, a “skilled nursing” facility.

Snyder said in the fact sheet that when Roland Park Place opened in 1984, the building met the needs of its “then-current resident community.” She noted that over the years, many new residents have combined existing residences to create larger living accommodations.

By doing so, she said, the unit count at Roland Park Place has decreased and as a result, the number of Roland Park Place residents has decreased.

Details from Fact Sheet

According to the handout from Snyder, the proposed work would include:

Phase One: A series of “interior renovations” that would involve creating new specialty care areas including memory support, short stay rehabilitation, and long term skilled nursing care; renovating existing common areas throughout the main building; demolishing the existing cafe and building a 2,500-square-foot addition that would serve as a multi-purpose space, and enclosing covered porches on the first and second floors of the health care center.

Design work for Phase One is targeted for completion by summer of 2016.

Construction would start in the fall of 2016, “pending completion of the approval process.”

Construction is expected to take 24 months, putting completion in the fall of 2018. Most of the work in Phase One would take place within the existing main building.

Phase Two would involve construction of the eight story building with 175 parking spaces on the first three levels (plus one underground level) and 60 new independent living apartments on five levels above the garage. This project would give Roland Park Place a net gain of about 120 parking spaces because it would be built where the community currently has some at-grade parking.

Design work on Phase Two would be complete in the spring of 2017, according to the projected schedule. Construction would start in late 2017 or early 2018, depending on completion of the approval process. Construction would take about 14 months, putting completion of Phase Two in mid- 2019.

Not included in the fact sheet: Residents say they have been told that Roland Park Place has selected Whiting Turner Contracting Company as the construction manager.

Church Building on Corner

The Roland Park Place information sheet said that some work during the design phases will include “on site activities that resemble construction,” such as “soil borings with equipment rigs.” The main 40th Street entrance to Roland Park Place is expected to be the main access point for construction traffic.

Roland Park Place owns a former church at 4001 Roland Avenue that is vacant. According to the fact sheet, no part of the expansion involves the church and the church is not in Roland Park Place’s long-range plans.

However, Roland Park Place will consider proposals or ideas regarding adaptive reuse of the church, the fact sheet noted.

Councilwoman Clarke suggested that the residents ask Roland Park Place administrators to present their plans at a future meeting of the Roland Park Civic League.

“The next step would be for them to. . . make a presentation to the Civic League and show everyone what they have in mind,” she said. “Let’s make it happen the way it’s supposed to happen “

Residents said they would ask Roland Park Place administrators to present their plans at the league’s September meeting. They also said the league would create a “working committee” specifically to focus on Roland Park Place’s expansion.

According to the Roland Park Place information sheet, the administration intends to establish a “neighborhood news web site” where it will post updates about construction, landscaping, public meetings, community briefings and other items.

In the meantime, more information is available from Bridget Forney Deise at 410-243-6825.