Cedarhurst Advances Chicagoland Senior Living as Market Booms

Senior housing firm Cedarhurst secured an initial green light from Vernon Hills officials to develop a $38 million assisted living and memory care facility in the northwest suburb of Chicago, adding fresh supply as the region’s sector has already seen massive trades this year.

Dover Development, which is tied to St. Louis-based Cedarhurst, earlier this month introduced plans to village trustees for Cedarhurst of Vernon Hills, an 89-unit, 77,000-square-foot facility slated for 55 South Milwaukee Avenue, the Daily Herald reported.

Cedarhurst has three parcels totaling 6.5 acres under contract to purchase across from the former American Hotel Register site, and is currently seeking to annex the southern parcels and rezone the land to make way for the project.

The proposal arrives as Chicago’s senior living market is exceptionally strong, drawing nine-figure transactions across the area. The sector’s robust health was on full display in mid-January when StepStone acquired North Shore Place in Northbrook for $144 million, a hefty markup from the property’s previous purchase price. That momentum only accelerated this month when Belmont Village Senior Living in Chicago’s Lincoln Park traded hands for a staggering $151 million.

During a previous two-week stretch this spring, there were $217 million-worth of property sales for four different senior living facilities in the Chicago area. The flurry of major trades underscores the soaring demand for premium senior housing and memory care facilities across Chicagoland.

Dover and its parent Cedarhurst are seeking to capture a slice of the market with their new proposal. Dover development manager Patrick Anthon said Vernon Hills faces an unmet need for 246 assisted living and 221 memory care residents, the newspaper reported. Compounding the demand is the aging inventory in the region, as many competing facilities are already about two decades old.

Cedarhurst of Vernon Hills will feature 63 assisted living units housed in a two-story building, alongside a dedicated 26-unit memory care wing. Designed to align with the architectural aesthetic of the surrounding neighborhood, the brick-and-stone building will center around a large courtyard. Future residents will have access to high-end amenities including aging-in-place care, restaurant-style dining, wellness programming, housekeeping and shuttle services.

This project will mark the 10th Illinois location for Cedarhurst, which manages more than 4,200 units across 55 communities in the Midwest and Southeast, including local suburban outposts in Naperville, McHenry, Frankfort, Yorkville and Woodstock.

The Vernon Hills facility is expected to create over 200 temporary construction jobs and require a permanent on-site staff of about 50. With the plan now advancing to a detailed review by village staff and a forthcoming public hearing before the planning and zoning commission, Dover and Cedarhurst hope to break ground this fall. If all goes according to schedule, the doors of the new Cedarhurst community will open by the summer of 2028.

— Sam Lounsberry