First of Legacy Place Senior Living Apartments to Be Ready Mid to Late June; Tours Being Scheduled

Construction is nearly complete at two of the three historic buildings that will be part of the Legacy Place senior living communities in Urbana. Legacy Place will provide a total of 51 affordable senior apartments.

Apartments will be ready for move-in by mid to late June in the former Urbana North and South elementary schools – Legacy North and Legacy South – reports Jill Meals-Herron, CEO of Herron Property Management.
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She adds that the third Legacy Place property – Monument Square, the former Douglas Hotel in downtown Urbana – will be ready for residents by December 2021/January 2022.

Tours Available by Appointment
Seniors age 55+ who are interested in leasing a Legacy Place apartment can visit livelegacyplace.com to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire and to schedule a tour at Legacy North or South. Or they may contact the Legacy Place management team at 937-638-0211 or [email protected]. Meals-Herron said that her team has already assisted several seniors who completed the questionnaire.
Tours will be scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m., by appointment, after June 10. To request a tour, click the Request to Tour button on the livelegacyplace.com home page.

Legacy Place Amenities
“The Legacy Place properties merge history and modern architecture to provide residents a comfortable, beautiful place to live and stay active,” Meals-Herron said.  The one- and two-bedroom apartments are equipped with washers, dryers and kitchen appliances. Some incorporate features of the schools like chalkboards, bulletin boards and wall art.

Legacy Place North amenities include a community room, computer stations and a library. Legacy Place South offers a fitness center, library, and a community room large enough to host special events, such as a senior prom, for residents of all three Legacy Place properties, Meals-Herron said. The South community room, formerly the school’s gym and stage, also includes the school’s projection room, which will be used for movie nights.

Other features include a unit at Legacy Place North that residents can reserve for out-of-town guests. Both of the school properties will have outdoor grilling stations and are keeping much of the schools’ playground equipment. “That will be great for residents to go outside with their grandchildren.” In addition, residents can reserve the community rooms for family functions.

Legacy Place Partners and Services
Community partners have joined Legacy Place to help residents stay active in the community, Meals-Herron said. These include:

• Residential Supports and Services, Inc. (RSSI), which manages housing for people with developmental disabilities. RSSI is a 25 percent owner of Legacy Place. “We’re excited to help make the project a reality,” said Scott DeLong, CEO of RSSI. He said that six of the 51 Legacy Place apartments will be designated for people with developmental disabilities, “allowing them to live on their own and be a part of the community.”
• Champaign Family YMCA will offer exercise opportunities for residents. YMCA CEO Paul Waldsmith said that the Y has applied for a grant to assist with fitness programming for seniors at Legacy Place.
• Urbana Champaign County Senior Center will also serve Legacy Place residents as a resource for services and activities. The center’s new building at 150 Patrick Ave. will open late spring.
• Champaign Transit System will be available to provide Legacy Place residents, at a minimal cost, transportation to places like the YMCA and Senior Center and for grocery shopping, medical appointments and other trips.

“We’re linking all of these organizations together to provide residents services and resources so they can stay active in the community,” Meals-Herron said.

She adds, “This is an absolutely amazing project. I’m so excited. I can’t wait until our residents begin to move in.”

“Legacy Place will enrich our community in many ways,” said Marcia Bailey, director of the Champaign Economic Partnership. “It will provide seniors comfortable, affordable living as it restores and gives new purpose to three historic buildings, helps make our community more attractive, increases the vitality of downtown Urbana, and strengthens our local economy.”

And as seniors sell their homes and move into Legacy Place apartments, the project will help ease the shortage of available single-family homes, she added. “I’m so grateful for the public-private partnerships that have made Legacy Place possible,” she said.