East Brainerd getting assisted living center

Sunday, September 15, 2013

photo Greg Vital

An Ooltewah-based developer of assisted living and senior housing centers will begin construction next month on its newest venture on Shallowford Road in East Brainerd using local builders and contractors.

Independent Healthcare Properties (IHP) and Morning Pointe Assisted Living are planning a $9 million facility that will offer 77 assisted-living apartments in a 62,000-square-foot building that will include new Morning Pointe of Chattanooga and The Lantern Alzheimer's Center of Excellence, both on Shallowford Road.

"Nearing completion of the zoning and permitting process, we are excited to move forward with this project and break ground in October," said Greg A. Vital, president and CEO of IHP and Morning Pointe. "The development team is comprised of many Chattanooga-based companies that we have worked with on previous projects throughout the Southeast."

Providing professional services are Neuhoff Taylor Architects, PC; East Tennessee Specialty Builders, general contractor; and CityScape Development Services, project manager. Others companies include civil engineers MAP Engineers, landscape architects Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Inc., environmental engineers Thompson Engineering and geotechnical engineers S&ME, Inc.

Upon completion, residents of the existing Morning Pointe will relocate across the road to the new facility. Phase two will include a $2-million renovation of the current building, which will become The Lantern Alzheimer's Center of Excellence. The construction and renovation projects are anticipated to take about two years, with the new Morning Pointe opening estimated for January 2015. Plans also call for future construction of a medical-related office building. "This project will create about 200 temporary construction jobs," Vital said, "and create 85 new careers for the Chattanooga area."

Independent Healthcare Properties, LLC, a Chattanooga, TN-based senior healthcare services company, is the developer, owner and manager of 23 Morning Pointe Assisted Living and The Lantern Alzheimer's Memory Care Center of Excellence communities in five southeastern states. IHP was founded in 1996 by Tennessee healthcare entrepreneurs, Greg A. Vital and Franklin Farrow.