Plymouth Place held a groundbreaking ceremony on October 7, 2026, for the final phase of its Arboretum Villas senior living project in La Grange Park, drawing roughly 250 residents and officials to mark the milestone. The $50 million project will add 38 new senior living units, and according to the community, 30 of those homes have already been sold.
The ceremony capped years of planning that trace back to 2019, when master planning for the Arboretum Villas began, according to the Chicago Tribune. The broader expansion effort, which started that same year, was paused because of the pandemic before resuming. The project actually traces its roots further back, having begun with refurbishment of interior spaces over the last decade, per the same account.
Plymouth Place Board Chair Mary Pat Flaherty said she was excited about the project nearing completion, while La Grange Park Village President James DiSciPio called Plymouth Place “the jewel of the community,” according to the Tribune. Plymouth Place has served older adults in the greater community for 80 years and describes itself as a partner in serving older adults and their families across generations.
Two Wheaton Residents Ready for the Move
Among those watching the groundbreaking were Fred Tietze and Joyce Holte, a Wheaton couple who plan to move into Plymouth Place. Holte said she and Tietze were excited about the move, and told the Tribune the pair began searching for a retirement community around February, only to find that many had long waitlists. She also said future residents will be able to choose their own flooring and cabinetry colors — a detail that speaks to the customization built into the new units.
The final phase will include six floor plans and is adding two new buildings to the campus, the Tribune reported. Plans also call for a performing center to be named Stacey Baker Hall. Separately, Plymouth Place describes the broader expansion as including a new clubhouse, interior ground-level parking and gathering spaces, with direct indoor access to the community's dining, wellness and cultural programming. The villas sit on a 17-acre accredited arboretum that gives the development its name.
An Earlier Phase That Sold Out Early
This isn't Plymouth Place's first swing at expansion. An earlier Arboretum Villas addition offered nine floor plans and, according to the Tribune, added 58 units at a cost of $95 million. Other accounts complicate those figures: the Landmark also reports 58 residential villas, while the Chicago Tribune's 2024 coverage put that phase at 59 villas costing $95 million, and Plymouth Place itself has referred to it as a $99 million project housing 80 residents across 59 units. The discrepancies remain unresolved across sources.
What isn't in dispute is that the earlier phase performed well. It was completed four months early and sold out seven months ahead of its projected timeline, Plymouth Place says. That project officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 24, 2024, and went on to win a Gold Award for Best Development & Design: Senior Living in the Multi-Housing News 2025 Excellence Awards, as reported by Patch. It separately earned first-place recognition in the Renovation/Repositioning (Campus) category of the 2024 Senior Housing News Architecture & Design Awards, per Eventus Partners.
Architect Points to a Shifting Market
Eric Harrmann, with AG Architecture, worked on the project; the firm has received five national architectural awards for the Plymouth Place community and conducted a post-occupancy evaluation of the earlier phase. Plymouth Place CEO and President Jay Biere told the Landmark that baby boomers are entering senior living at a rapid pace and demanding major shifts in how communities look and operate. Plymouth Place, a nonprofit, currently houses around 450 people, including short-term rehabilitation patients and full-time residents, according to the Landmark's reporting.
Plymouth Place pursued the expansion in response to rising market competition, aging infrastructure and demand from prospective independent-living residents, according to EFA Magazine. That demand fits a national pattern: data from NIC MAP show senior-housing occupancy across its 31 Primary Markets reached 88.7% in the third quarter of 2025, the seventeenth straight quarterly gain, with independent-living occupancy topping 90% for the first time since 2019. At the same time, fewer than 1,500 new senior-housing units were added in NIC MAP's 31 Primary Markets that quarter, and units under construction were at their lowest level since 2012, according to the same NIC MAP analysis.
Plymouth Place is currently offering pre-construction pricing for the new homes, according to its own announcement, though the community has not disclosed broader purchase terms. Plans call for new construction to begin in 2027, according to the Tribune.
