Friendship Village Senior Living proposed a 28-bed expansion to its memory care unit during the Sunset Hills Board of Aldermen meeting on April 22.
This two-story addition to the current facilities — located at 12563 Village Circle Drive near the intersection of Kennerly and Weber Hill roads — would be constructed on top of what is currently a parking lot. New parking would be added on the western side of the Friendship Village property.
“Friendship Village has been a pillar in Sunset Hills for decades,” lawyer Katie Little said at the board’s April meeting. “The project we are speaking to this evening allows for us to provide a continuum of care to our current residents and future residents, so our residents can age with grace within our community.”
The 28 new facilities, like the rest of Friendship Village’s memory care units, would consist of private apartments for seniors with memory loss, where they could receive specialized, around-the-clock access to trained staff members.
The proposed plan received public comment and letters of both support and opposition at the April 22 Board of Aldermen meeting. Residents of the nearby neighborhoods, including Pointe Drive, voiced concerns about the planned removal of the berm. The removal of the trees and shrubbery, though Friendship Village property, would replace their home’s green view with a view of the parking lot, according to residents who spoke.
Long-time resident and Pointe Drive trustee Charles Crawford called the parking lot “an unnecessary encroachment” on the neighborhood’s green space and buffer zone between the homes and Friendship Village.
The construction plans include efforts to eventually replant some of the berm. Friendship Village’s engineer said, in response to public comments, “The berm won’t be as mature as it is now, but it will get there.”
“We don’t want to be antagonistic toward Friendship Village. We want them to be a viable, successful place,” Crawford said
He, along with other residents, urged the Board of Aldermen to consider a solution that would plan the proposed parking on the north side of Friendship Village’s property, instead of to the west, along the neighborhood’s line.
Friendship Village has been in Sunset Hills for close to 50 years. It houses approximately 800 residents and staffs approximately 600 employees. Its most recent major development was in 2017, when memory care, skilled nursing and parking facilities were redeveloped.
Read for a first time at the board’s April 22 meeting, the plan will be brought to the Board of Aldermen again in May.