Franke Tobey Jones senior living expands its Tacoma campus by 65,000 square feet
Two new developments at the 20-acre Franke Tobey Jones senior living campus are open for business.
The campus, 5340 N. Bristol St. in Tacoma adjacent to Point Defiance Park, has added a nearly 65,000-square-foot care center, which offers both skilled nursing care and memory care.
Along with the care center, the new Bristol View apartments offer 16 independent living units.
Christine Hall, senior director of marketing and public relations for the nonprofit, recently led The News Tribune on a tour of the new care center and Bristol View.
Care center
Hall said there were two main design factors considered to accommodate polar-opposite needs: privacy and gathering spaces.
“The difference is almost every single room here is a private room with a private bathroom. The whole building really was built to provide dignity,” said Hall.
Walking down the halls or going into common areas, that level of privacy means you don’t see the beds in the rooms at first glance.
“The building was also built with a lot more areas for gathering spaces for families and residents to get out of the room and enjoy activities,” Hall said. “Our memory care is on the lower level with the walkout courtyard that is secure. There’s also outdoor courtyards for outdoor indoor dining venues.”
As for dining, “We have three dining rooms in this building, two for skilled nursing and one for memory care,” she said. “We have a brand new kitchen in this building. It’s a state-of-the-art kitchen where all the meals are prepared and then served in a dining room, in both skilled nursing and memory care.
“We have little kitchenettes as well. And if people want to eat something outside of dining times, they can go the kitchenette, and we can get them soup or a sandwich wherever they might want to eat, which is also very different.”
Hall emphasized the look and design was just as important. While the fireplace inserts seen in different spots along the walls glow red for heat, the exterior glass is cool to the touch.
“The other big difference is in our skilled nursing you don’t see medicine carts in the hallway,” Hall said. “Every room has a locking medicine cabinet. So residents have their medications in their room. So that’s a lot more privacy.”
Added to that privacy, individual bathrooms and showers.
“Because every room has their own bathroom, we’re not wheeling people down to a shower room,” she said.
Those involved in the redesign and new construction toured other sites, “and we we did a lot of reading about a new way to provide care for seniors,” Hall explained. “And this is kind of the new way.”
That meant modernization for the historic campus, now in its 95th year of operation.
You can essentially thank baby boomers for all of this, bringing “continuing care retirement community” aesthetics to places such as Franke Tobey Jones.
“They don’t want to live like their grandmother or mother did,” she said. “This is very different than you’re going to see basically anywhere.”
Bristol View
The Bristol View apartments are all two-bedroom, two-bath units, ranging in size from 1,390 to 1,690 square feet.
Ten of them have views of the water, while six overlook the campus. Some include balcony access. The site also features underground parking. Housekeeping and meals are available on a fee basis.
The units include their own laundry rooms and upscale kitchens with quartz countertops and breakfast bar.
There’s also an on-site fitness center that offers classes and free use to residents.
The fitness center is open to non-residents age 55 and older for a $40 per person or $60 per couple monthly fee. A personal trainer for non-residents is $100 for 10 sessions or $25 for individual sessions.
The campus is a member of Leading Age, a national association of nonprofit providers.
For residences, the campus is private pay and does not accept Medicare or Medicaid, but Hall notes that some private insurance plans do cover costs.
As of Dec. 23, there were 11 skilled nursing units available and five memory care units available. As for Bristol View, there are six available units.
For more information, go to franketobeyjones.com/.
