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Primrose Honors its Residents Who were in Military

All-in-one FUN

Spa? Check.

Game room? Check.

Theater room? Check.

Pub? Double check.

"That's an easy one. We like the pub. Can't go wrong there," quipped 83-year-old Jack Boykin when asked about his favorite amenities at the new Primrose Retirement Community in north Pueblo.

Boykin and his wife, Jane, 81, moved from Georgia last year to be closer to family in Pueblo. They say the upscale Primrose has proven to be a great choice for their new home.

“Everything you want is right here. You don’t have to worry if you ever get snowed in,” Jane Boykin said.

Added her husband, “I’d recommend this to anyone. I love our apartment. You can see Pikes Peak on a clear day.”

The multimillion dollar, five-acre Primrose complex opened July 5 at 5055 Outlook Boulevard in the city's northern Eagleridge neighborhood.

The complex offers both independent and assisted-living residences.

Currently, the occupancy level is around 50 percent, an above average rate for such centers in the early going, according to Primrose Executive Director Tammy Minuhin.

“It usually takes 18 months to fill a community this size,” said Minuhin, “We’re happy with the response from the Pueblo community.”

Les Kennedy, 68, said he and his wife, Jo, 67, enjoy playing cards with their fellow residents.

“Cards is our favorite activity,” Kennedy said. Of the overall Primrose complex, “I don’t know what they could do to make this place any better,” he said.

Other amenities include a chapel and a fitness center.

A life enrichment coordinator helps residents stay active.

Trained dietary staff provide three healthy meals a day. Transportation is provided to take residents shopping and anywhere else they need to go throughout the week.

“I just moved in Jan. 1 and felt at home right away,” said Teressa Martin, 83, as she bowled on a Nintendo Wii in the theater room.

“I love the community. I’m not used to a theater and soda bar," she said.

Pueblo has a senior population of 14.9 percent, well above the state average of 10.6 percent and the national average of 12.9 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Pueblo's large share of seniors factored into Primrose's decision to open the complex. Rachelle Gillespie, marketing director for Primrose, said other aspects of Pueblo that drew the center are its mild winters, great weather, two state-of-the-art hospitals and veterans services.

Primrose also saw a market in Pueblo for a more upscale community than those offered by the more than one dozen other retirement apartments and assisted-living centers that operate in the area.

“We looked at Pueblo and saw that the seniors here had a lack of options that provide for the active senior lifestyle," Minuhin said.

"There was nothing new that offered as many choices as we could provide in a large community,” she said.

Primrose operates a chain of retirement communities.

The first one opened in 1991 in South Dakota, the brainchild of Aberdeen, S.D., developer Jim Thares.

Since then, Thares' company has expanded at a steady rate, opening up 25 similar communities in small to midsize towns throughout the Midwest in 13 different states.

Pueblo's 79-unit complex incorporates both independent and assisted living.

Nurses are on-site 24 hours a day.

The building is equipped with state-of-the-art security and safety features.

There are 11 different floor plans ranging in size from 548 square feet for a one bedroom, assisted-living apartment to 1,511 square feet for a two-bedroom deluxe suite.

“Our goal is to dispel what seniors feel about retirement communities,” Gillespie said. “There’s nothing else like this within a 50-mile radius.”

Primrose managers declined to discuss rental rates.

According to industry groups, the average U.S. rent for an assisted living apartment was $3,300 in 2010 with some states averaging as low as $2,100. Independent living apartments averaged $2,700.

Primrose's telephone number is 543-3300.

No stopping now

In an encouraging sign for Pueblo's economy, the landscape in Eagleridge keeps evolving even during the recession.

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/JOHN JAQUES -- Building began this month on a Primrose retirement complex in the Eagleridge area of north Pueblo. The site opens next summer.


An artist's drawing of the planned Primrose retirement and assisted-living complex, which will feature 78 one- and two-bedroom units.

Home building has slowed significantly as a result of the economic downturn but commercial and retail properties continue to emerge in one of Pueblo's fastest-growing areas.

Two of the biggest commercial projects under way:

A Primrose retirement community And a 100-bed Hampton Inn and Suites.

The furthest along of the two is the Hampton Inn, which is set to open in December or January. It is adjacent to the Best Western Eagleridge hotel, the Wingate Inn hotel and a Village Inn restaurant.

Just getting started is the construction on the Primrose retirement community on Outlook Boulevard about a half-mile north of the Eagleridge Boulevard crossing.

The Primrose land spans five acres and the complex will feature 78 one- and two-bedroom independent and assisted-living apartments.

It is set to open next summer. To contact a leasing agent, call 543-3300.

The arrival of a retirement complex puts Pueblo in company with a growing number of other small Midwest cities favored by the Primrose's founder, South Dakota developer Jim Thares.

Thares, an accountant who earlier in his career managed hotel developments around the country, built the first Primrose complex in Aberdeen, S.D., in 1991.

Today, 24 of the centers operate in 12 states. The cities chosen by Primrose usually are small to mid-sized, such as Council Bluffs, Iowa; Casper, Wyo.; and Grand Island, Neb.

Beyond showing confidence in the local economy, the Primrose project furthers Pueblo leaders' goal of attracting more senior housing and also more senior transplants from other cities.

The leaders long have believed the area's mild climate, twin state-of-the-art hospitals and commercial and cultural offerings would become a major draw for retirees, but thus far the gains have been modest.

Primrose's thinking mirrors Pueblo's original expectations.

"The choice to begin operations in Pueblo was based on research showing a calculated need for senior housing in the area as well as the potential for economic growth within the community," the company said in statement announcing the start of the project's construction.

The complex will feature a wellness center, pub and game room, devotional chapel, library, small movie theater, ice-cream parlor, assembly room and outdoor gazebo.

"We plan to be the premier choice for senior living in the Pueblo area," Thares said in a statement.

Once opened, the complex will employ 30 people with a payroll in excess of $650,000, the company said. Pueblo Bank and Trust is financing the project. Schauer Construction is the general contractor.

Rod Slyhoff, president of the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, said Primrose executives recently visited for a groundbreaking event, where they reiterated their confidence in the Pueblo economy.

"Their investment says a lot about what they see for Pueblo," Slyhoff said.

Recession or not, the retirement of the baby boomer generation is a growing market for many businesses, Slyhoff said. "You can't slow down the aging process," Slyhoff quipped. As for the nearly finished Hampton Inn, the project furthers Pueblo leaders' goal of adding more hotel rooms.

Although Pueblo has seen growth in its hotel and tourism industry over the past decade, local leaders say more rooms would aid ongoing plans to become an even bigger visitor hub.

In May, the city introduced the latest addition to its event lineup: the four-day Wild Wild West Fest in partnership with the Professional Bull Riders.

The event drew people from throughout Colorado and more than 20 states.

City leaders also hope for an expanded Pueblo Convention Center. Last fall, the business community backed a ballot measure to fund an expansion using vendor fees but voters rejected the proposal.

Supporters of an expansion continue to explore other funding options.

Pueblo Primrose Groundbreaking Ceremony