Danvers Retirement Community

The North Shore Chamber of Commerce Economic Development & Public Policy Blog recently reported on a new retirement community being developed on Conant Street near the Beverly-Danvers line.

The $15 million development, Colonial Gardens, will consist of a four-story building with 155 apartments and nine other “cottages” with another 18 apartments. The community is scheduled to open in fall 2011 and will include a movie theater, a gym, bus transportation and a full-time activities director and a dining room, “which will feature two wall-to-ceiling fireplaces.”

Hawthorn Retirement Group, out of Washington State, is developing the project which will be their first in Massachusetts. Currently the company owns and operates 39 retirement communities in the U.S. and Canada.

"Looking at the demographics, there's a need for the number of seniors that are in the area," said Larry Wright, Hawthorn's director of marketing. "There's a lot of need so we're excited to be here." The 2010 US census showed that the over-60 population in Beverly will grow 60 percent for men and 30 percent for women by 2020.

To read more about Colonial Gardens click here.