Opening such a property during a pandemic has its challenges, but assisted living can reduce the isolation that seniors are feeling as the virus keeps visitors away, according to Jenifer Salamino, chief operating officer at Sunrise. Even socially distanced activities provide some human connection, she said.

“We have a full dining staff, housekeeping staff, 24-hour doorman and there will be 24-hour nurses,” Salamino said, adding that some activities, like art projects, can be brought into residents’ rooms. “When you are home alone, some people don’t even have a home health aide -- they are literally alone.”

The partners wouldn’t disclose how many of the building’s 151 apartments have been leased, but said 95% of inquiries have been from New Yorkers already living nearby. Monthly rents start at $13,750 for assisted living and $21,000 for memory-care units.

Virus Safety
Covid protocols will guide life at the senior towers for the foreseeable future. On Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. and Maplewood Senior Living have installed air purifiers and ultraviolet light sanitizers at their tower, called Inspir.

Residents will be screened daily for symptoms, wear masks in common areas, and events, like an improv comedy class or guided tour of the boroughs, will happen online.

The property -- promising a bar with signature cocktails, a theater and a Mercedes chauffeur service -- is awaiting final approval by the state health department and could open by early November. Deposits have been placed for 75 of the Inspir’s 215 units, said Greg Smith, chief executive officer of Maplewood Senior Living.

The partners are in contract to acquire a site for a second Manhattan project, and are pursuing one in London as well.

“We’re still incredibly bullish on the urban markets,” Smith said.

In Brooklyn, a nearly century-old tower has been reimagined as senior housing at Watermark at Brooklyn Heights, with an art gallery, a heated lap pool and a wood-paneled library featuring a whiskey bar. A ballroom from the property’s days as a hotel is now a restaurant, the W Room, and tenants will have wine storage on-site.

Just over half of the 275 units at the project -- developed by Kayne Anderson Real Estate, Tishman Speyer and Watermark Retirement Communities -- will be allocated to seniors who can live independently. The rest will be divided between assisted living and memory care, at rents as high as $20,000 monthly, a spokesman said. As of last week, about 20% of the residences were leased. The property opened earlier this month.