Established Community Invests In Exciting Development Project

Here at Plantation Village, the excitement is building around our current expansion project, as we have spent   more than two years in the planning stages. With status as a nonprofit, everything we do is focused on adapting our services to what our residents say is important to meet their needs and goals. To that end, we continually focus inward to ensure that we can continue to provide our residents with the best possible amenities and services.

As a component of our forward-thinking approach, we have been holding focus groups to gather feedback from current and future residents. This has informed the planning of our upcoming expansion in a number of illuminating ways. A recurring theme from our residents is they love the “Village Feel” of our community — how their friends and neighbors are easily reachable by driving a golf cart, riding a bike or utilizing our extensive trail network.

Our residents have also indicated they love the natural setting of our community, how nearly everything on our 56 acres is set under a canopy of mature trees. People love to sit and watch the Blue Herons, ducks and other native birds swoop in over the pond; they have said they value the low-density levels that we have focused on maintaining. 

With that in mind, the current expansion includes residential-scale buildings that leverage the charm of the community and preserve as many natural areas as possible. This is not just growth for the sake of growth. Instead, this is a means of creating the funding to provide our residents with premier amenities and services, as well as offer future residents the opportunity to experience our wonderful community.  

There will be three new restaurants after the expansion is complete: a “destination-style” dining experience (read: lobster and filet), a bistro and a new bar & lounge area for the residents to sip a craft cocktail or grab a beer for the football game. There will also be a small market with everything from basic necessities to freshly baked pastries from our pastry chef.

All of this is taking into account that our residents are more active, busy and engaged than their forbears could have imagined. Instead of having new spaces and programs defined for them, they want input and flexibility in the design process and the end result. To serve that need, the expansion will have room to host university professors doing lecture series, visiting grandchildren or the space to pursue woodworking/crafting interests.

Our residents have said maintaining the resident hardship fund is paramount. This ensures that anyone who moves here will have a place to live for the rest of their life, regardless of any sort of financial hardship. The expansion was motivated in part as a method of ensuring we can continue to offer this to our residents.

Learning more about what our residents want our community to evolve into is very inspiring and it is wonderful to have a part in supporting their endeavors to reach their potential.

To schedule a tour and experience the gorgeous natural setting of Plantation Village firsthand, visit www.PlantationVillageRC.com. For updates on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/PlantationVillageRC. 

Zane Bennett is the Executive Director at Plantation Village, a non-profit continuing care retirement community that offers independent living on a 56-acre campus in Porters Neck, minutes from downtown Wilmington and area beaches. Residents enjoy first-class services in a wide variety of home styles, from one- and two-bedroom apartments to cottage homes and two-bedroom villas. Plantation Village is managed by Life Care Services™, the nation’s third-largest elder care management company.