Long-Awaited New Rochelle Senior Living Community Close to Completion

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New Rochelle's newest senior living community, Monarch Coopers Corner, is almost completed and has already opened its leasing gallery.

Monarch Coopers Corner is scheduled to open this fall on the site of the former Coopers Corner Nursery and Garden Center.

The boutique-style two-story facility will offer 72 studio and one-bedroom rental apartments, with half of them serving independent and assisted living residents. The remaining half of the apartments will provide two levels of memory care, one for residents in the early stages of Alzheimer's/other dementia and the other for those whose conditions have progressed.

The amenities and services include concierge service, resident-response wearable technology, dining options from gourmet restaurants to a pub/café/juice bar, a pet-friendly environment with a dog run and pet services, electric vehicle charging, outdoor walking paths and a park, a rooftop garden and herb gardens.

Monarch Coopers Corner is the first senior living community in Westchester County to seek WELL certification from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). WELL is grounded in research into the effects of physical spaces on a person's health. The organization's best practices address the post-pandemic environments along with broader strategies to advance wellness.

The IWBI combines design and construction approaches with scientific research to establish its WELL Being Standard for creating and certifying spaces promoting health and wellbeing. Monarch Coopers Corner has been developed under IWBI guidance for 11 areas of building performance, including air quality.

"The quality of air inside the community has been understandably drawing a great deal of public interest," Monarch Coopers Corner Director William Crawford said. "We are using increased air filtration similar to filtering by masks against COVID-19. Apartments have their own air conditioning units. The community will have increased outdoor ventilation and operable windows throughout the building to bring fresh air indoors."

Water quality is also a focus, with a centralized water filtration system serving the building.

The facility will have oversized windows with a glare-reducing gloss in apartments, common areas, and hallways to bring the benefits of natural light throughout the community, including lifting mood, regulating circadian rhythms and promoting healing and sleep. Monarch Coopers Corner will incorporate biophilic design to link residents, families, staff and visitors with nature. Wood furnishings and finishes as well as natural tones will be used. “Live walls” filled with living greenery, abundant plants throughout the community and resident garden beds will contribute to this approach. A pocket park with walking paths behind Monarch Coopers Corner will encourage connection with the outdoors and movement.

"Our goal is to create a wellness ecosystem that enhances New Rochelle and the southern Westchester County region, with everyone here and the greater community around us contributing to and benefiting from each other,” Crawford said. “A key part of that is creating physical spaces and programs that encourage engagement and interaction."

The final steps toward attaining the WELL certification are expected to take place approximately six months after Monarch Coopers Corner’s scheduled opening this fall.

Monarch Coopers Corner is developed and managed by Maryland-based Monarch Communities in partnership with Welltower, a S & P 500 real estate investment trust headquartered in Ohio. Monarch Communities, founded by seasoned senior living executives, operates and develops senior living communities along the East Coast.