Why shouldn’t a nursing home look and feel like a pleasant—and desirable—boutique hotel? That’s the premise of Mainstreet Property Group’s innovative Next Generation™ design for skilled nursing facilities and a style that seems to be making headway in Indiana, currently one of the most active states in terms of senior living development. Mainstreet is a Hoosier company, based in Carmel, and one of the country’s largest developers of seniors housing and care properties. Its innovative and aesthetically appealing Health Care Resorts™ approach to long-term care focuses on private rooms, concierge-style services, restaurant-style dining with on-site chefs, landscaped outdoor areas, and intergenerational social options. After all, not just seniors need extended stays in nursing homes, observes Zeke Turner, Mainstreet’s chairman and CEO. Therapy and rehab needs are not defined by age.

Clearvista Lake Health Campus in Indianapolis, which held its grand opening last month, is Mainstreet’s latest effort to transform the industry through its NextGen design. A joint venture with Trilogy Health Services, which will manage Clearvista Lake, the new community will offer 100 top-of-the-line assisted living apartments and suites in a hotel-like environment.

Mainstreet and its affiliate, HealthLease Properties REIT, have already developed or acquired nearly 50 properties in Canada and the United States, including more than $200 million in NextGen developments. Seven of these “medical resort” properties (210 assisted living units and 492 skilled nursing beds) are slated to open in Indiana in 2014. These seven projects will provide an economic impact to the region of about $850 million and create about 2,500 construction jobs and 850 permanent jobs. Mainstreet has four Indiana developments on the drawing board for 2015, as well.