Actress Jane Alexander spends a lot of time on camera and on stage before, but when she’s not filming a film like “Kramer vs. Kramer” or “The Cider House Rules” or starring in a Broadway play like “The Great White Hope,” you can find her on SUNY purchases.
Her free time also shares her knowledge and expertise in everything from singing with the university choir to taking yoga classes, strolling the grounds with friends and acting with the SUNY buying community of students, faculty and residents.
That’s possible thanks to where the 85-year-old award-winning actress decided to win a residency. Alexander is one of the 332 elderly people who invite SUNY to the house. They are all Broadview residents at the time of purchase, university-based retirement communities, or URCs.
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University after retirement
Located on a rolling hill in Westchester County, New York, near New York City, Broadview was designed to open its doors in December 2023 to provide retirees with the opportunity to take classes, interact with students, and build friendships with other retirees within the university’s campus community.
When considering moving, residents can choose from 14 floor plans, including a one-bedroom apartment or a vast 2,100-square-foot villa.
The community offers a wide range of amenities and activities. Residents can take classes at university, attend screenings and discussions, have cocktails and meals at any of the four on-site bars and restaurants, and stay active in the fitness centre, featuring a gym, indoor pool and a variety of fitness classes. Additionally, the community offers a 40-acre walkable campus.
Street in Broadview house.
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
Shenrock Villa interior.
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
The living and dining rooms of Hudson’s apartment.
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
Although Alexander hasn’t retired, she will then appear in Kevin Klein’s comedy “American Classic” – as she searches for her next home, she is taken to what Broadview had to offer.
“I knew the Hudson Valley needed a tactic in the Hudson Valley, where the family has lived for a long time. The location and unique set of attributes got me pretty quickly,” Alexander told Kiplinger.com. “I was very accepted by the idea of ​​auditing classes when I bought SUNY and interacting with students in a variety of ways.”
Actress Jane Alexander on the pouch at Broadview’s home
(Image credit: Jane Alexander)
Alexander ticulates some of the reasons why broadview is a great place to put roots. She says she loves the opportunity to mentor art students, support the LGBTQ+ community on campus, and interact with her peers.
“I love people. There are other artists, writers and a lot of people from life who have had such interesting experiences,” says Alexander. It won’t hurt that Broadview is a street train from New York City. She has a job and personal pursuit.
Additionally, she says she finds the campus safe and attractive all the time. Alexander lives in one of the Broadview apartments in the main building, offering easy access to all the shared spaces. “I want to be in the middle of action, whether it’s yoga, food, lectures, film screenings, libraries,” she says.
Living at university costs
Living in Broadview is not cheap. Like other URCs, there are admission fees ranging from $270,400 to $2,547,000. Of these, 80% will be returned to the resident or property when the home is resold or within 24 months of the resident’s move. The larger the property, the higher the admission fee. Admission to one bedroom apartments is cheaper than a two bedroom villa. There is also a monthly fee that starts at $3,800 and reaches $12,000 for an independent living. Continuous care is $13,000 per month and includes support for living and memory care.
Monthly fees cover specific meals, transportation, housekeeping, utilities, cable and Wi-Fi, taxes and insurance. Residents will have access to amenities such as gyms, salons, classrooms, lecture rooms, indoor and outdoor spaces, dance and movement studios, virtual reality and audiovisual learning labs, lens rooms, cards and games rooms.
Fitness Centre in Broadview
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
A Broadview resident teaching classes.
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
Classes without homework
But access to classes, a major draw for many residents, including Stephen Sherroff, a retired pediatrician at 80 and professor emeritus of pediatrics at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine.
Shelf and his wife moved to Broadview about a year and a half before living in Scarsdale, New York for about 50 years. They traded the 5,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom home for a 1,385-square-foot two-bedroom apartment in Broadview.
“I had a very academic career. I was a teacher, chair of several departments, and the founding dean of the medical school,” Shelf said. “It was a draw to interact with students, take courses and develop my own community.”
Since moving, Shelov has taken courses in art, religion and literature, starting with about five ready-made students, but since then he has led a mentoring group that has grown to about 30 years old.
“I wanted to continue to repay and use what I learned over the years through medical school and my residence,” he says.
his mentoring group and Stephen Shelf.
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
It’s all busy with Shirov, but he still exercises at the community gym, finds time to swim in the indoor pool three or four times a week, and participates in dance performances, operas and symphonies through one of the five conservatory programs of SUNY Purchase.
Shelf also carves out time to interact with his group of wives, who work part-time on committees within the community and work part-time as a psychologist.
“I’m a little too busy, but that’s about myself. I don’t want to miss anything,” Shelf says. “This is beyond what I expected and wanted. I never thought that such a community would be built.”
Continue learning
According to Ashley Wade, executive director of Broadview, the reason for Broadview’s success is part of his desire to continue learning and his ability to participate in university classes.
The first stage of your independence life is currently reserved or occupied. Broadview is preparing to launch the Horizons program. This provides the opportunity to join the waitlist for future housing. Currently, over 200 households are interested in participating.
Wade says Broadview appeals to people who are not ready to slow down when they retire, and wants to learn and share their wisdom and experiences.
Retireers like to learn from the idea of ​​interacting with students and the pioneers that students have come before them. That’s why Shelov’s mentoring group has grown rapidly from a small number to around 30 people. There are several mentoring groups in every profession, from journalism to business, Wade says.
“We have many people with advanced degrees who have chosen to live this chapter of their studies in a learning environment,” Wade says. “This is a cocktail party where people have very good trivia. They talk about all the interesting places they’ve gone and what they’ve done and still have an interest in learning.”
The most interesting people in the room
A desire to continue learning, engaging and socializing led Marilyn Heimerdinder and her husband, the lifelong residents of Armonk of New York, to Broadview.
Heimerdinger moved to the retirement community in March 2024, downsizing from a large home that had become difficult to maintain. “We weren’t interested in bingo or adult coloring books,” says the 84-year-old. “It’s a cross between (Broadview) cruise ship and day camp. Something’s going on all the time.”
Heimerdinger says they were drawn to Broadview because of the idea of ​​being exposed to university courses and living among highly skilled professionals.
“There are always some interesting people to talk to every night at dinner. We made lots of friends,” says Heimerdinger. That became very important when my husband suffered a stroke a few months after he moved to Broadview.
“It would have been very difficult if we were alone in that big house, as we had no first floor bedroom and no shower and no support systems or friends around us.
Marilyn Heimer Dinder (center) of the Plastics Committee.
(Image credit: Broadview of the College of Purchase)
Before her husband’s stroke, Heimerdinger was very active in Broadview, heading to a plastic-focused community environmental group, attending seminars, lectures, events and athletic classes. She still goes outside, but not as often as before the stroke.
Recently she attended a culinary demonstration held by a community chef. She learned how the kitchen works and how wine pairings were. “You can do as much as you want,” she says.
Retirement to college campus may seem idyllic. After all, you can take classes without doing homework, become immersed in the performing arts, or spend time with interesting retirees. If you are ill or injured, you can move to the Life Support section of Broadview.
But it’s not for everyone. So, Alexander says people should watch before they jump.
“You have a strong financial plan and just as importantly, you know how you want to spend your time and who you want to spend with,” says Alexander. “For me, opportunities for multi-generational living and lifelong learning are important.”
