Senior Living is Here The Watermark at Marco Island Opens

This week will mark the long-awaited formal opening of The Watermark at Marco Island. For Walt Chancey of Chancey Architecture and Interior Design, it will mark the end of a six-year dream to bring a state-of-the-art Senior Living Facility to Marco Island for residents who desire to “age in place” in the community they have grown to love and call home over the years.

When walking through the grounds and touring the facility, you can’t help but be impressed. From the time you enter the building and are greeted by the friendly desk personnel, to the impressive elegance of the dining facilities and their fine-dining culinary staff, to the spaciousness of the rooms, the availability of resort style amenities such as arts and craft facilities, an exercise facility, game rooms, a library and an in-house theatre you will be stunned by the planning and thought that have gone into the facilities creation.

Even those who showed initial skepticism regarding the project will be very pleased with the end result of the long and meticulous planning and public meetings that went into creating the final product. Management and staff will begin welcoming the first of those who will occupy the eighty-eight units that make up The Watermark at Marco Island.

A walk through the outside grounds is also very impressive. The Chancey design team recognized the benefits of the serenity offered by the expansive water views along the canal that borders the property's “backyard.” The fountains, landscaping, and seating areas are a spectacular addition and are sure to be well utilized. Most of the units have balconies, which can also provide residents with those wide views without actually leaving their units.

Twenty-two of those units are dedicated to “memory care,” while the other sixty-six units vary from studio-style apartments to one- and two-bedroom units. One of the nice touches observed was the flexibility management allows regarding the ability of a resident to arrange for the interior of their unit to be painted to their liking; otherwise, all the walls are a soft white. Residents are also free to decorate and furnish their units to their liking.

There is also a public walking path along the seawall, which leads to a small park built at the expense of the developer for public use. As part of that construction, the developer has agreed to maintain that park, as well as the equipment within it.

Walt and Sandra Chancey built their architectural and design business over the last 36 years. Their experience ranges from single-family as well as multi-family homes, senior living facilities, and commercial developments from their headquarters in Tampa, Florida. 

For the project on Marco, they partnered with Watermark Retirement Communities. Watermark manages forty upscale adult retirement communities throughout the United States, which includes those in Florida.