Project integrating higher education and senior living gets underway in MD

With the demolition and clearing of the former Knights of Columbus building next to the campus of Notre Dame of Maryland University, phase one of the construction partnership between Notre Dame of Maryland University and Brightview Senior Living has started. Brightview Homeland is on track to open in 2028, with groundbreaking for the two-year construction project targeted for early to mid-summer 2026.

Spanning roughly 3.7 acres of the NDMU campus, near the intersection of Charles Street and Homeland Avenue in Baltimore, Brightview Homeland will be a combination of 170 independent living, assisted living and memory care residences. It will also be a community that’s part of a growing trend: integrating higher education and senior living into an environment designed to foster connection, learning and community between generations.

Austin Koo, development director for Brightview Senior Living, says this project is generating a lot of excitement for multiple reasons, in addition to being the first of its kind in Baltimore. Being on a college campus, he says, will amplify the Brightview goal of developing residences with vibrancy, activity and community.

“The intergenerational mix,” he says, that comes with the integration onto a college campus, “will create a sense of energy, especially with the additional activities in our community and on the college campus.”

The outdoor space planned for Brightview Homeland will add to that energy.

“We want residents,” Koo explained, “not only to enjoy all the offerings and interior amenities, but to enjoy nature and socializing outside as often as possible,” through an expansive, large outdoor courtyard in the back of the community. “They’ll be able to see directly from that courtyard,” he said, “how they can interact with the campus system,” through their view of the NDMU sports fields, expansive green space and trail system and more. The courtyard will also provide direct access to the Brightview Homeland planned walking loop, which will connect to the NDMU trail system.

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A big part of the planning over the six years they’ve been working on this project, in addition to space design, was researching and solidifying intentional methods to programmatically and systematically introduce the students and residents to each other and provide daily interactions. Instead of a situation where, as Koo said, the building “just happens to be adjacent to a college campus,” there will be countless ways for residents to “enrich their cultural experiences within walking distance.”

Carroll Galvin, NDMU vice president for institutional advancement and university communications, shared that Brightview Homeland residents will be able to attend campus lectures, art gallery openings and installations, athletic events and more.

“We are really excited by the prospect of having Brightview’s residents on our campus, potentially as members of the Renaissance Institute, which provides learning opportunities for adults over 50, and interacting on the campus with our students, as well as the opportunity for mentorship of our students,” Galvin said.

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Galvin reiterated the availability of numerous opportunities for students, faculty and staff to visit Brightview Homeland and participate in events and programming. Students, Galvin said, will benefit from a range of unique, hands-on experiences.

“Not simply internships,” he explained, “but also service-learning opportunities and research and mentorship across different disciplines, including art therapy, nursing, physician assistant studies, occupational therapy, integrative health, business and communications.”

This project, Koo said, “challenges the assumption that aging involves slowing down or becoming disconnected, as today’s seniors are engaged and interested in staying connected and giving back.” He anticipates that this intergenerational environment will change how students view aging and provide them with valuable life experience and socialization opportunities.

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“Projects like this show that today’s seniors are engaged, curious and deeply interested in staying connected and giving back intellectually, socially and physically,” he added. “Being located on a university campus reinforces that aging isn’t about retreating but more about continuing to grow.”

“We’ve been researching this a lot,” said Koo. “And we’ve been seeing how we can best utilize this proximity to the university campus.”

This proximity includes their desire to match the scale of the university and the surrounding Homeland community, which will be evident in the community design. The complex will appear taller from the NDMU campus and shorter facing the Homeland community; to ensure they met the community’s needs, Brightview prioritized early and frequent engagement with the Homeland Association and the Villages of Homeland East and West.

Active marketing for Brightview Homeland will begin about six months into construction, which Koo says will be about a year and a half before the planned 2028 opening.