Balfour Expands Louisville Senior Living Campus
Balfour Senior Living will open the latest expansion to its Louisville campus next month — a 57-unit assisted living community on 2 acres adjacent to Hecla Lake.
The 58K SF Lavender Farms facility at 1800 Plaza Drive is equipped with energy-efficient lighting, and Balfour is installing solar panels on the building.
Balfour offers residents a one-year lease that they can terminate with 60 days notice. Rents range from $6,400 a month for a 500 SF studio to $12,500 a month for a two-bedroom unit and include three meals a day and snacks. All of the campus communities are private-pay facilities. The property is 20% pre-leased, and Balfour Chief Operating Officer Phill Barklow expects up to 40% of the units will be leased by the time Lavender Farms opens.
Balfour’s project comes at a time when senior housing supply growth is expected to outpace demand nationally by nearly 350,000 units through 2025, according to CBRE’s U.S. Seniors Housing & Care Investor Survey and Trends Report.
“Beginning in 2026, the pendulum will begin to shift with the onset of a significant supply shortage as the baby boomers begin turning 80,” the report states. “If construction levels decrease to 2012 levels of approximately 12,000 units per year, the market will not regain equilibrium until 2022. If the most recent highs of approximately 30,000 units per year are maintained, the market will not regain equilibrium until 2028.”
Assisted living at Lavender Farms is designed to respond to the individual needs of residents who may need help with some activities of daily living but want to remain as independent as possible. Like other Balfour properties, Lavender Farms will include 24/7 emergency assistance, farm-to-table dining and a robust list of resident programs and activities.
“We really focus on life enrichment and wellness,” Barklow said.
There is also a theater room, a fitness center, a salon and a small spa. Balfour’s Louisville campus also has a full-service spa available for all residents of the campus.
In addition to Lavender Farms, Balfour’s Louisville campus has the Balfour Retirement Community, half of which is skilled nursing and the remainder assisted living, and several independent living communities, including The Lodge, The Cottages, The Residences and The Retreat. Balfour also acquired Cherrywood, a stand-alone 52-bed memory-care community that is the only facility the company has not developed itself.
“That closes the loop on the continuum of care,” Barklow said of adding Cherrywood to the mix.
All of the meals served to Balfour residents are made in-house from scratch in one of the campus’ five staffed commercial kitchens. The culinary program focuses on organic, locally sourced ingredients, and residents can choose vegan or gluten-free meals. If residents want meals to go, Balfour provides compostable containers.
In another nod to sustainability, Lavender farms offers chauffeur service in two of the electric Tesla vehicles it purchased. Unlike most retirement communities, which offer scheduled transportation services, Balfour residents can request car service to any destination whenever they want it.
“We have the most robust transportation options in our industry,” Balfour’s Louisville Director of Sales Shawn Northcutt said.
Balfour, founded in 1997, operates six locations in Colorado with four more under development. The company’s communities consist of a combination of independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing at some locations, which gives seniors the option to move within a community as their needs change.
