New Apartments Coming Soon to Dock Woods

Applications for The Laurels, a 17-residence apartment building coming to Dock Woods, will be accepted beginning in July.

A new apartment building is rising at Dock Woods, and seniors considering a move to a Life Plan community are invited to claim a place in it.

The Laurels at Dock Woods — a building of 17 two-bedroom apartments — is the first new Residential Living construction at the Lansdale community in more than two decades.

“Our newest Residential Living homes were built more than 20 years ago,” said Edward Brubaker, president and CEO of Living Branches, the nonprofit organization that operates Dock Woods. “The market has evolved since then, and so have people’s preferences. We hear from many future residents who love the community but want a bit more space and modern touches.”

The Laurels is built to answer that. Every residence comes standard with a chef’s kitchen — wall oven, microwave, and separate cooktop — along with nine-foot ceilings, two bedrooms with walk-in closets and ensuite bathrooms, a screened-in porch large enough for entertaining, luxury vinyl plank flooring, a private resident storage locker, and garage parking with guest spaces nearby.

Select homes add a study or den, a gourmet kitchen with double wall ovens, a balcony off the primary bedroom, or a sprawling private rooftop terrace looking out over the woods.

Four Floor Plans

The building’s four floor plans are each named for a variety of laurel — a quiet nod to the surrounding woodland. The Canary (1,685 square feet) and The Cherry (1,729 square feet) are two-bedroom, two-bath residences.

The Mountain (1,911 square feet) and The Bay (1,938 square feet) add a separate study and, in some residences, rooftop terraces and balconies.

The building will sit near the heart of the campus — among the existing apartment homes and the Dock Acres cottages — within walking distance of the campus center and its dining and recreation venues, and steps from the wooded paths that wind through the property.

All-Inclusive Pricing

Dock Woods is a Life Plan community, which means residents pay a one-time entrance fee plus a monthly fee, with the choice of plans that refund a portion of the entrance fee down the road. Entrance fees at The Laurels begin around $505,000, and monthly fees start at $3,350 for one person.

That monthly fee covers a long list of things residents would otherwise juggle on their own:

• Property and school taxes
• Electricity and water
• Trash removal
• Exterior and grounds maintenance
• Snow removal
• General repairs and appliance upkeep
• Activities, trips, and performances on campus
• Use of the campus amenities, including restaurants, a gym, and indoor pool
• Priority access to supportive living services

As a nonprofit with Mennonite roots and a century of history, Living Branches also makes a lifetime commitment to care; residents are not asked to leave if they outlive their resources through no fault of their own.

Beyond the Front Door

Residents of The Laurels step into everything the 108-acre campus already offers: an indoor pool, a fitness center, casual dining at the Hearthside Bistro and fine dining at Christopher’s, a chapel and auditorium, a campus library, gardens, courtyards, a community garden, resident-run clubs, trips and concerts, and Living U lifelong learning classes. The campus sits just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike with easy access to SEPTA.

Construction is expected to begin later in the year, and homes will be finished to each new resident’s selections.

Designed to Belong

Living Branches leaders have been deliberate about making The Laurels feel like a natural part of Dock Woods.

“Current residents appreciate how nicely The Laurels will align with the rest of campus while still appealing to prospective residents,” Brubaker said. “This will not look like the massive apartment complexes being built all over the county. We worked hard to arrive at a façade that will be timeless.”

That intent shows up in the building’s form. Rather than a single large block, The Laurels is designed as what planners call a “hybrid” apartment, closer in character to attached townhomes than to a conventional apartment complex, with peaked roofs and a residential scale.

It rises in two connected wings, one of three stories with ten homes and one of two stories with seven, set among the existing apartments and cottages near the center of campus.

A Green Light from the Township

The project cleared key municipal steps in June when Towamencin Township’s supervisors voted unanimously to approve the detailed plans, following the township planning commission’s sign-off in April.

The new building takes the place of two older attached residential structures, six homes in all, and the wooded land across Dock Drive will be left undisturbed. The developer’s traffic study also found the new residences are expected to generate less traffic than the buildings being replaced.