by Michael Ettinger, Esq.
Also known as life care communities, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC’s) are beginning to
proliferate in New York State, although they have existed for decades.
Currently, there are about twenty of them.
The idea of these communities is to provide independent living for
retirees in apartments, townhouses or private residences, while at the
same time providing for assisted living and even skilled nursing care on
the same "campus" should the need occur later on. The big advantages are
that you don’t have to move two or three times later in life, and that the
entrance fee covers all three stages of later in life planning. The
entrance fee is typically 90% refundable to the client’s estate or trust
after death. There is also a monthly maintenance fee which may or may not
include one or more meals.
For empty nesters, the sale of the family home typically funds the
entrance fee. The maintenance charges cover many of the items the
homeowner was previously responsible for, such as property taxes,
landscaping, repairs and maintenance fees.
Your writer recently met with Shelley Lotter, Assistant Vice President
of The Club at Briarcliff Manor, New York’s newest and most upscale CCRC.
Scheduled to open in two years, this $350 million community sits on 59
acres laid out by the famed landscape architect and designer of Central
Park, Frederick Law Olmstead. The Club features extensive walking trails,
a 43,000 square foot Clubhouse with restaurants and lounges, concierge
service, library, multi-media business center, theater, salon, spa,
fitness center, and an Aquatic Center with heated saltwater pool and
whirlpool.
While under construction, The Club has programs in place for future
members to start meeting each other and developing friendships with their
future neighbors. These include yoga and computer classes, and literature,
gardening and walking clubs.
As New York elder law attorneys, we salute enterprises such as The Club
at Briarcliff Manor for making the senior years ones of growth,
fulfillment and varied social interaction with other interesting and
engaging members of society.
For more information, visit TheClubBCM.com.
For a directory of New York Continuing Care Retirement Communities, click
here.
