As seniors at the Fairwinds-Northpointe retirement center eat their meals in a large dining room, general manager Bob Krentel often plays old tunes for them on a nearby baby grand piano.


I play America, The Beautiful every morningthats our standardand You Are My Sunshine when theyre walking in, he says, and all of the old church songs you dont hear any more, like, What A Friend We Have In Jesus.


It would be a mistake, though, for casual observers to conclude from that tranquil scenario that the 152-apartment facility at 520 E. Holland is striving to attract a sedate, sedentary clientele.


To the contrary, Fairwinds-Northpointe and its parent, Bellevue, Wash.-based Leisure Care Inc., cater heavily to seniors with independent, active lifestyles and, over the longer term, are intent on meeting the anticipated demands of the looming legions of baby boomer retirees.


Boomers differ from the previous generation, Leisure Care believes, in that they are used to spending money on themselves, follow health and wellness issues closely, understand and use technology to enhance their daily lives, and expect a broad variety of services and programs at their fingertips.


I think that is what sets Leisure Care apart, asserts John J.R. Renner, Fairwinds-Northpointes marketing director. The company has positioned itself by focusing toward the future.


Evidence of that focus ranges from the non-institutional, resort hotel-like feel of the North Side three-story complex, which is a carbon copy of facilities that Leisure Care has developed elsewhere, to the companys pointed emphasis on health, wellness, and lifestyle-enhancing services.


Through a program called PrimeFit, Fairwinds-Northpointe and other Leisure Care facilities offer residents a range of activities to help maintain their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual wellness, Krentel says. As part of that program, residents at the retirement center have been able to take classes in yoga, tai chi, and oil painting, join walking clubs, learn how to use computers, and enjoy other activities, he and Renner say.


Trips and arts


Among other services, Leisure Care offers its residents the opportunity to buy cruise trips for themselves and family members through a separate for-profit enterprise, Travel By Leisure Care LLC, which organizes packages with major cruise operations. Also, it is the main corporate sponsor behind Seniors Making Art, a program established by internationally known glass artist Dale Chihuly and held annually at each facility over a period of 10 to 12 weeks. Residents can learn how to express their creativity in any of a range of artistic mediums, and professional artists encourage them to draw on their unique feelings and memories.


Fairwinds-Northpointes physical amenities include an exercise room furnished with $30,000 worth of pneumatic fitness equipment, a wellness center where residents can meet with specialists such as massage therapists or podiatrists, and a personal spa room with a large jetted tub.


The facility also has an activity room for things such as bingo, table games, and light exercise, and a computer/Internet room, surround-sound theater, billiard room, TV room, library, beauty salon, and gift shop.


Its main dining room is set up like a restaurant, complete with hostess, open seating, flexible dining times, and multiple menu choices.


It also has a lushly furnished private dining room where residents can hold special gatherings with family members and guests, and a bistro caf areain a sunlit spot next to the main lobbywhere fresh cookies are served hot at 2:30 p.m. every day.


Opened in September 2000, Fairwinds-Northpointe now has 111 of its 152 units rented, and 123 residents in all. Its occupancy rate has risen more slowly than that of some new Leisure Care facilities, but its on budget, Krentel says.


Were real pleased with where we are, he says.


The 150,000-square-foot retirement center, which employs 50 people, consistently has scored satisfaction ratings in the 93 percent-to-95 percent range in annual surveys of its residents, Krentel says. Last year, it won awards in several categories for placing among the top five of the 34 retirement properties that Leisure Care operates in nine Western states, he says.


Future expansion


The current Fairwinds-Northpointe facility was the first phase of an envisioned several-phase project that could add more than 70 additional apartments, enclosing a courtyard on the east side of the complex. Krentel says there currently are no plans in the works to build those additional units. The retirement center sits, though, on a nine-acre site that easily would accommodate such an expansion when demand warrants it, he says.


Its current 152 units include 18 studio units ranging in size from 300 to 425 square feet of floor space, 98 one-bedroom units with 600 to 800 square feet of space, and 36 two-bedroom units ranging from 900 square feet to 1,300 square feet.


The latter units have two bathrooms and their own washers and dryers. Every apartment has its own kitchen and its own heating and air-conditioning controls.


Rental prices are all inclusive, meaning they include breakfast and dinner, maintenance, housekeeping, linen service, utilities, cable TV, activity programs, and scheduled transportation.


They range from about $1,080 to $1,800 a month for the studios, $1,300 to $2,500 for the one-bedroom units, and $2,700 to $3,200 for the two-bedroom apartments.


Fairwinds-Northpointe keeps three furnished studio units available for use by residents visiting family members and charges $50 a day for them, which includes dinner, Krentel says.


Although the retirement center caters mostly to independent seniors, it does provide assisted-living services, customized to residents individual needs, and 39 of its 123 residents currently receive assistance of some type, he says. Unlike at some other retirement communities, residents at Leisure Care facilities neednt move to a different living unit when they begin requiring such assistance, Krentel says. You just stay where you are, and they (the assistance providers) come to you, he says.


To build local awareness of Fairwinds-Northpointe and create a non-intimidating way for potential residents to check out the facility, its administrative staff has sought to make the retirement center a gathering spot for various events, from church fund-raisers to garden, weight-loss, and professional group meetings.


For first-time events, a lunch or dinner in the 75-seat dining room is on us, with the retirement center refunding the price paid for meals there back to the organization that puts on the event, Krentel says.


For later meetings, groups are charged at a discounted rate, he says.


Leisure Care was founded in 1976 by Chuck and Karen Lytle, and has grown steadily since then. In an article last year, The Puget Sound Business Journal referred to it as one of the oldest names in the business and as a perpetually profitable company with revenues pushing $100 million annually.


The Lytles recently sold the company, which manages all of the retirement centers, to longtime president and CEO Dan B. Madsen, who plans to market its management and consulting services nationally, Krentel says.


The Lytles, though, retained property ownership interests in the retirement centers, he says.