Thinking Ahead: Cayuga View opens community for active seniors

By Jamie Swinnerton
Tompkins Weekly

 

Tompkins County residents age 55 or older looking to downsize but stay active are in luck. Cayuga View Senior Living is ready to hold their ribbon cutting this week and are accepting residents now to the 60-unit project that has 48 two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartments, and 12 one-bedroom/one-bathroom apartments. Six residents have already moved in, taking three of the one-bedroom apartments and three of the two-bedroom apartments. Located just behind the Triphammer Marketplace in Lansing, the senior living complex is being marketed for seniors looking to stay active and build a community with their neighbors.

“We want to instill a sense of community,” said Jeff Hull, the Community Manger at Cayuga View. “We don’t offer medical assistance, we offer camaraderie. I want neighbors to know each other. I’m trying to instill activities, programs, where people get to know each other. I don’t want people to feel alone in a building.”

Cayuga View’s building amenities are designed to help residents stay active and get to know each other. In the Community Room Hull envisions filling it with books for future book clubs, and creating a space where residents can meet and get to know each other, possibly even hosting events like wine tastings in the future. The Fitness Room will help keep residents healthy and active and will likely feature fitness classes of different kinds. The Recreation Room will be a space, like the community room, where residents can gather to play poker, chess, or checkers, and create their own community.

“Just opportunities to start up new friendships with people your age,” Hull said about the goal of the amenities offered in the building. “With a typical apartment complex where anybody’s there, you might not have a lot of things in common with your neighbor.”

While there seems to be plenty of entertainment within the building, Hull isn’t sure yet if entertainment and field trips will be part of what Cayuga View will offer. He hopes so.

“I want it to be thought about as a building of friends,” Hull said. There is no communal dining area at Cayuga View so Hull said he expects that a lot of dinners will be held at the resident’s apartments.

Housing for seniors looking for market-rate apartments who may not be able to afford Kendal but make too much to qualify for assistance is scarce in Tompkins County, and Cayuga View wants to help fill the niche. Hull wouldn’t be surprised if many of the residents of Cayuga View only lived part-time in Ithaca and spent the colder months down south, “snow birds” as they are colloquially called. He understands that it might take some time for residents who decide to move in to downsize, especially if they’re coming from a full-sized home that they have lived in for a while. The process takes time.

For the most part, resident must be 55 years of age or older. About 20 percent of the building can be under the age of 55 only if they are moving in with someone over the age of 55. This might happen, for example, if an adult child needs to move in with an aging parent.

So far, Hull said residents have mostly found out about Cayuga View because they’ve seen the building going up and were curious about what it was. Or, they drove by and saw the signs directing people to inquire within or find information online. With the grand opening and ribbon cutting this week, the marketing push is sure to start soon.

In front of the building on Cinema Drive are two spaces built for commercial use but have yet to be filled. Hull said he would like to see some amenities like a hairdresser or a small grocery store put in, if possible.

“We’re looking into almost anyone,” Hull said about who could move into the commercial spaces. “A lawyer, a professional, a real estate person, we’re looking for anybody. It’s a medium sized space where almost anything could fit in.”

Because of where the apartment complex is located residents are walking distance from Triphammer Marketplace which includes Triphammer Wine and Spirits, Ithaca Coffee Company, Ithaca Bakery, the Triphammer Finger Lakes ReUse Center location, and Kinney Drugs, among several others. Not far away is the Ithaca Swimming Club Inc., the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, and the Shops at Ithaca Mall. With it’s location not far from Cornell University but not right in the middle of downtown Ithaca, Hull said several people associated with the University have expressed interest in moving in.

Cayuga View Senior Living is located at 16 Cinema Drive, Lansing. Find more information at cayugaview.com