Bellevue, WA, and Omaha, NE-based Transforming Age has broken ground on the first first LEED platinum-certified retirement community in the Pacific Northwest, the company announced Wednesday.
The LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, rating system was developed at the turn of the century by the US Green Building Council. The designation now is recognized in 186 countries and territories. To earn LEED Platinum status, a building must meet at least 52 of the available 69 LEED points.
Located between Juanita Park and Juanita Village, WA, Parkshore Juanita Bay residents will have access to continuing care benefits from the local network of Transforming Age communities.
“We are incredibly proud to launch this pioneering community, the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest to achieve LEED Platinum certification,” Transforming Age President and CEO Torsten Hirche said. “This milestone underscores our unwavering dedication to serve the triple bottom line: mission-impact, sustainability, and efficiency — and providing our residents the highest quality of life.”
Sustainability is the name of the game, according to the architecture firm Via – A Perkins Eastman Studio, which designed the community. Eco-friendly features include energy-efficient building materials, a water conservation system and green spaces.
The 50-unit independent living community will feature a rooftop garden with green space and solar panels as a source of renewable energy, as well as a rainwater collection and repurposing system for water conservation. Additionally, the project will preserve the wetlands and creek that run through the community.
“Rather than simply tacking on a few green features to a cookie-cutter design, Transforming Age and the design team focused on the areas that would have the most impact based on the unique characteristics of the project and clientele. The result is a building that provides residents with filtered, fresh air from high-efficiency energy recovery ventilators, year-round comfort from variable-refrigerant-flow heat pumps, and renewable energy produced on-site,” said Nathan Miller, senior energy engineer at consulting firm IMEG. “All of these systems reduce the energy consumption of the building without compromising on the quality of residents’ lived experience.”
Parkshore Juanita Bay is being built on the former site of The Gardens at Juanita Bay, which joined the Transforming Age network in 2018. The new community is scheduled to welcome its first residents in early 2026, Transforming Age said.
Founded more than 60 years ago, Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest rebranded in 2016 as Transforming Age. The company sponsors and operates 75 communities in 23 states.
