$40M Brightmore of South Charlotte project to be under construction starting this month

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Liberty Healthcare said it has determined when it will start building a $40 million retirement community in south Charlotte.

Construction on Brightmore of South Charlotte will begin Aug. 22, Liberty said.

The previously announced, 230,000-square-foot project is expected to feature 138 independent-living units, 30 assisted-living beds and a 120-bed nursing facility.

Jerry Cooper, director of marketing and development for Liberty, said Brightmore is being marketed to younger, active retirees. He said the project is intended to offer a stronger feeling of community than is currently available in other similar projects in Charlotte.

“This is a very active community, with a lot of focus on the health and wellbeing aspect,” he said.

“There is not really going to be a community or property that would be … a direct competitor, because we’ll have all levels of service on the same campus.”

Brightmore will also differ from other local retirement communities by featuring only rental units, Cooper said. On average, a unit in Brightmore will rent for $3,800 a month.

The nursing facility, which will be 69,000 square feet, is opening, along with another Liberty community, to house patients from Liberty Nursing and Rehabilitation of Mecklenburg County, which the company plans to close and sell once all patients are moved. The other community, Royal Park Rehabilitation, is a $13 million, 89,000-square-foot rehabilitation and skilled-nursing facility on which construction began last month in Matthews.

According to Liberty, Brightmore will begin accepting patients by late 2013, and residents will be able to move in by early 2014.

The Mecklenburg Times has not yet determined the name of the contractor for the Brightmore project.

Payton Guion can be reached at [email protected].