- News/Updates Archive
In late April 2022, over 120 people from York and neighboring communities came to share what they would like to see at York Place. These folks stated they were potentially interested in the community to be built at York Place, and wanted to be a part of the planning process by participating in the focus groups. These focus groups took place at the Church of the Good Shepherd in York, and were led by WellPointe Advisors. WellPointe Advisors is a marketing firm based out of North Carolina. Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community hired WellPointe Advisors for the task of leading the focus groups, and compiling the consumer research data, after successfully working with WellPointe’s founder, David Ratchford, on past projects. Still Hopes’ CEO, Danny Sanford, and COO, David Smart, were also in attendance at every focus group to field any questions participants had about plans for York Place.
In case you are new to the York Place project, it will be comprised of a middle market retirement community that has an “intergenerational” component. This means that children will play a role in the daily life of York Place. In conjunction with Winthrop University, Still Hopes plans to provide an Early Childhood Development Center, and most likely also afterschool programs, summer camps, and mentoring programs. However, York Place residents will have complete control over how much, or how little, involvement they have in these children’s programs. For a detailed overview of the plans for York Place, click here. So, while the general plan for York Place was laid out to the focus group participants, it was important to everyone that potential future residents of York Place have a voice in the “details”. Meaning, would there be a need for more cottages or more apartments, and what should be the mix of one and two-bedroom residences? What kind of dining programs should be on campus? What kind of activities would you like to see? These are the details that matter, and the groups did a great job painting a picture of what they would like to see. For the complete report, click here. To touch on some highlights, here are some key features folks would like to see:
- More people seemed interested in single family, cottage style homes versus an apartment
- When it comes to amenities, folks are mostly interested in dining, wellness, a chapel, and social gathering spaces
- More people would prefer a casual bistro to a more formal dining venue
- When looking at outdoor offerings, people value walking/biking trails, and having an outdoor pavilion
- When it came to health care services offered on campus, most preferred a home care service offering, with services brought onto the campus for things like audiology, podiatry, wellness checkups and the like
So, while all of this information is wonderful, what are the next steps for York Place? Still Hopes has already met with THW Design, a seasoned professional architectural firm in senior living, to begin developing a phased development plan and master plan for redeveloping the York Place campus. Once these plans are finalized, an “Expression of Interest” campaign will commence, where the community can begin to let people secure their place in line for selection of their future home at York Place
If you would like more information on York Place, please contact Stephanie Parker at (803) 739-5002 or sparker@stillhopes.org