Senior living facility plans 10 new buildings in Kalamazoo

August 28, 2024

Developers at a Kalamazoo senior living facility are planning additional meetings with residents after some components of a new project angered neighbors.

The 72-acre campus at 1400 N. Drake Road welcomed its first residents in 1975. Nearly 50 years later, Friendship Village officials are planning a major update to expand the facility.

The city previously approved a “planned unit development” for Friendship Village Kalamazoo — a tool designed to give developers more flexibility than typical zoning regulations do.

Commissioners approved an amendment to the plan during a Tuesday, Sept. 3, meeting that will allow a stormwater basin to be built within 132 feet of wooded land along the eastern property line. That’s one piece that’s worrying neighbors.

Friendship Village wants to break ground on its expansion in October 2025, per city documents. Proposed changes in the first phase of the project include:
  • Demolition of an existing maintenance building, a guard shack, two garages, a three-story independent living wing and a single-story skilled nursing wing
  • Construction of 40 unit, single-story skilled nursing facility
  • Construction of a three-story, 80 unit independent living building with underground parking
  • Construction of two, three-story independent living additions, a total of 110 units
  • Construction of four, single-story garden homes with basements
  • New sidewalks, landscaping, outdoor amenity spaces and surface parking areas
  • Construction of a two parking garages

The expansion will increase the availability of much-needed senior housing in Kalamazoo, Commissioner Chris Praedel said.

This work represents an increase of 76 units — bringing the total number of units to 428, according to city documents. Several of the proposed buildings are large enough to require individual site plan review in the future.

In order to accommodate the expansion of buildings, parking lots and other hard surfaces in the campus, a stormwater retention basin is needed, per city documents.

City officials determined that the basin could be build in a 132-foot- wide “buffer” between Friendship Village and homes on Northampton Road that back up to the property.

Some residents are concerned about the loss of privacy due to tree removal, but Assistant City Planner Bobby Durkee said the developer is working with experts to keep as many trees as possible.

“Any impacts to the established natural features will be replaced and restored in accordance with the standards of the Natural Features Protection Review Board,” Project Manager Annie Gigowski said in a June 26 letter to the city.

For those concerned about the construction encroaching on residents’ backyards, Friendship Village is working with a surveyor to ensure accurate property lines are clearly marked, Durkee said.

In light of residents’ recent interest in the project, Commissioner Stephanie Hoffman urged developers to hold a second informational meeting, in addition to one that happened in June as required by the city.

Friendship Village staff made plans to host another meeting with neighbors as soon as they stepped out of the commission chambers, Friendship Village Administrator David Riser said. A date hasn’t been set yet, but neighbors can expect to be notified of details soon, Riser said.

Other proposed updates at Friendship Village, like the three-story, 80 unit independent living building, will come before the commission for approval at a later date.