High-end assisted living facilities popping up around the country

Catering to the "silver tsunami," apartments can rent for close to $30,000 a month

The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights (Watermark at Brooklyn Heights)
The Watermark at Brooklyn Heights (Watermark at Brooklyn Heights)

Most people like to vacation in places that feature indoor pools, spa facilities and restaurants that provide a choice of gourmet meals every night.

And others like to retire there.

To cater to those seniors, a new batch of assisted living facilities have opened around the county that turn the concept of a nursing home on its head, the New York Times reports.

In Brooklyn Heights, the former Leverich Towers Hotel — a 16-story Romanesque Revival structure with Venitian-influenced towers designed by the same architecture firm that drew up plans for Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Manhattan — is now home to the Watermark, where residents can eat, swim and relax while a team of caretakers makes sure every day is better than the last.

The Watermark and other upscale retirement homes such as the Sunrise at East 56th and Inspīr Carnegie Hill are catering to the so-called “silver tsunami” of baby boomers who are still active but would love to kick back with a good book atop a tower with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline a few nights a week.

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Looking for a bite to eat? The Watermark has a choice between a high-ceiling, 140-seat dining room that serves Kobe beef, a fresher-baked pastry cafe and smoothie bar, or a gastropub featuring exposed brick and a pizza oven.

Over at the Inspīr, there’s a Yamaha grand piano and Seguso chandelier in the lobby, a 17th-floor wraparound terrace with bistro and lounge, and a 23rd-floor penthouse with views of the East River.

Of course, there is a price for all this luxury. Most assisted living facilities can run about $4,000 a month, the Times reports, fees that can sometimes be supported by Medicare. But “private pay” facilities such as these get no such government subsidy and can range from more then $8,000 to almost $30,000 a month (with some also asking for one-time, five-figure membership fees).

Still, rooms are available. The Times says the Watermark has 30 residents living there and can hold 245 more, while the Inspīr can add on 155 more residents to the 60 that live there so far.

Guess it’s time to start saving to make those golden years truly golden.