Thomas Place Gurnee

Ryan develops another senior housing community  According to the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), in Illinois alone there are more than 380,000 very low-income senior citizens with earnings at or below 50 percent of the national median income. Finding affordable, independent senior housing equipped to meet the accessibility issues of these individuals is one of the most challenging dilemmas facing today’s aging adults. In recent years, Ryan has partnered with Jim Bergman and the Burton Foundation to bring high-quality affordable housing to seniors with limited income.

The second project for this partnership, Thomas Place Gurnee is an expansion of the development team's goals of creating attractive, affordable developments that allow seniors to live in their own communities. Thomas Place Gurnee showcases Ryan's expertise in design, development and construction. The building features a façade of classic board and batten siding and brick veneer, a centrally-located common area, a layout designed to encourage socializing and to create a sense of community, and one- and two-bedroom units which include a balcony or patio. Other communities of the Thomas Place senior housing prototype are already open in Fox Lake, Ill. and Glenview, Ill.

Ryan’s design team is also incorporating IHDA's Enterprise Green Communities Criteria 2008 — a condition of the agency’s affordable housing tax credits. Some of those features include sustainable landscaping, water-conserving fixtures, efficient ENERGY STAR appliances, high-performance interior and exterior lighting and strategies for environmentally friendly facility maintenance.