Charlotte Business Journal: Second resort-style senior living center comes to the S.C. side of Charlotte region

Within a year, Blake Management Group will have two assisted-living centers in the Charlotte region’s South Carolina counties.

The Mississippi-based company is starting construction on the second, The Blake at Baxter Village, with a ceremony Wednesday on the site off North Sutton Road, next to Baxter Village.

In January, Blake Management opened The Blake at Edgewater in Indian Land, its third in South Carolina. That center is located less than 10 miles away from the Fort Mill-area site.

At the York County center, up to 120 residents will occupy beds that have services such as assisted living and memory care as well as two-bedroom independent living “cottages.” Those cottages will be built in eight single-story buildings surrounding a central two-story structure, says Randy Hudson, regional director of operations for the company.

Hudson says a Blake retirement center coming to a community is much like resort-style living for elderly residents.

“It just brings elegance to the industry,” he says.

The Blake at Baxter Village is scheduled to be open in May 2019, says Scott Hames, vice president of sales at Blake Management Group. The center will contain 88,000 square feet and will likely cost $15 million to build, although Blake Management Group declined to disclose the price.

Executive director of the Fort Mill center is Christine Hames, who comes to the company from a competing assisted-living center in the Charlotte area.

Both the Fort Mill and Indian Land facilities will each employ 60 full- and part-time employees.

Hudson says he’s noticing in the assisted living and retirement markets that elderly parents and other relatives often follow their adult children as they’re attracted to growing areas like the Charlotte region.

“Ninety days later they bring their parents with them,” Hudson says. In that case, the children become the “influencers” for the relocation decision, he says.

Jeremy Cole, CEO of Blake Management Group, says the quality of life in the Charlotte area is a big attractor for new residents.

 “This area — and this location in Baxter Village — is ideal for seniors and their families who want quality care and access to amenities,” he said.

S.C.-based Frampton Construction, which has a Charlotte office, is building the Fort Mill center. So far, the company has built or is building all four Blake Management Group’s centers in South Carolina.