Chandler’s Memory Care will open in early December with the intention of bridging the gap between traditional assisted living and skilled nursing care.

“I’m always looking around when I travel, and I was starting to see that this was a predominant concept in major markets,” developer David Chandler said. “There really isn’t anything like this in Bowling Green.”

Chandler Properties already has a traditional assisted living facility, Chandler Park Assisting Living off of Cave Mill Road, which has 61 beds.

Typically people with memory deficits, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have to move into skilled nursing care where there are Alzheimer’s care units.

“That environment is not nearly as pleasant as what we plan to have,” Chandler said. “At a traditional assisted living facility, staff to patient ratio is about 1 to 16. Here there will be one for every six or seven people. Residents won’t be able to leave on their own volition. There is a little higher level of personal care, and we will be allowed to administer some medicines for treating memory loss and Alzheimer’s.”

Chandler said he really had no interest in entering the skilled nursing market and battling all the headaches and red tape that come with that.

“This is really what we wanted,” he said.

Chandler is applying for the state-required certificate of need for the facility that would serve up to 26 residents. The facility has 22 residential rooms, all but four of them are private.

“We really don’t anticipate there being any problem getting the certificate of need approved,” he said.

Chandler filed a letter of intent for the CON last month with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

The new facility will be at 1310 Campbell Lane in a building that Chandler Properties already owned. It first housed the Social Security Administration and then was home to a call center for a few years. Chandler is spending about $4 million to renovate the building and add on a dining facility. Passersby might have noticed the building’s boxy style change shape – now there are bay windows all around the building. Each of the 22 rooms has a bay window to make it feel more residential, as well as a private restroom.

Chandler, who said his assisted living facility has a high occupancy rate, isn’t sure what to expect about the occupancy rates for the new facility. He expects families will learn of the facility through referrals and word of mouth.

“We may do some advertising,” he said.

The facility will be private pay (both cash and private insurance), ranging from $4,000 to $5,000 a month. Traditional assisted care costs $2,800 to $3,500 a month.

While onsite staff won’t offer any specific Alzheimer’s or memory therapy, there will be daily stimulating activities, communal meals and courtyard gardens for residents to enjoy. Therapy is something that families could outsource.

Registered nurse Theresa McFarland is the facility’s director, and staffing will ramp up as the facility begins to receive residents. Chandler expects that the building’s furnishings will start to arrive in mid to late November.

“Around Thanksgiving, it should be looking really nice,” he said.

Seniorhomes.com, an independent resource for finding family care, said there are 28 memory care facilities in Kentucky. The closest Kentucky facility to Bowling Green is in Elizabethtown. The Nashville area has 20 memory care facilities.

— Chandler has not yet developed a website for the new facility. For more information, call Chandler Park Assisted Living at 270-842-2626.

— Robyn L. Minor covers business, environment, transportation and other issues for the Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/bowserminor or visit bgdailynews.com.