The Foothills
Retirement
Community
RDG was selected by the Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina (PCSC) through a competitive process to initially, guide them through a campus planning and repositioning engagement for their Foothills Campus in Easley, South Carolina.
This repositioning strategy was born out of a market study that indicated expansion opportunities in independent living, assisted living and memory care. The Foothills campus was built on a legacy of providing affordable housing and care to seniors in the Easley market area. The master planning and repositioning strategies proved financially feasible and RDG continued with PCSC as the architects in implementing the campus master plan.
Through a six-month planning process, RDG led the development and leadership teams through various expansion and renovation scenarios. The goal was to strike a balance between new, entrance fee revenue for a younger age cohort with the associated development, construction and operational costs for the expansion.
In addition to the expansion opportunities, the team identified and designed repurposing and renovation strategies to enhance common area amenities for both new and existing independent and assisted living residents.
The outcomes of this design process include 116 independent living apartments in mid-rise apartment buildings of a variety of scales over podium parking garages. To enhance their existing memory care services, the scope of the project also includes additional memory care cottages (small house environments) for 24 residents on the campus.
The renovation of their existing building involves repositioning of underutilized spaces to support independent and assisted living operation,s including culinary and life enrichment amenities. Due to the anticipated increase in independent living on the campus, social gathering spaces will be added to the existing commons building.