Inside Rowan’s Wellness Village, a walkable, intergenerational community built for healthy living

Rowan University’s $690 million West Campus Development Project starts, quite literally, with how people will live.

South of Route 322, across from the planned Center for Manufacturing Innovation, Rowan and its partners are planning what they call the Rowan University Wellness Village — a walkable, intergenerational community that is meant to be as much about how people live as where they live.

Rowan officials say the Wellness Village is inspired by longevity research and so‑called Blue Zone principles, the idea that daily habits, social connections and the built environment can measurably improve health and lifespan.

Here are the basic details:

• A 40,000‑square‑foot Rowan Community Wellness Institute;
• A 65,000‑square‑foot Inspira medical office building;
• A 160‑room hotel and conference center;
• 56,000 square feet of retail;
• 250 market‑rate rental units;
• 410 for‑purchase homes (small and large townhomes and single‑family);
• 340 continuum‑of‑care retirement units, including 96 active‑adult (55+) rentals;
• A wooded preserve with walking trails, plus internal trails, shuttles and bike connections.

Then there’s this: Inspira officials said they intend to build a 25,000‑square‑foot administrative headquarters on the site.

Inspira Health CEO Amy Mansue, in a separate release, said her organization is all-in on the Wellness Village.

“Inspira is proud to partner with organizations to create spaces that promote health and well‑being through walking trails and therapeutic opportunities,” she said. “Together with the communities we serve, we are committed to ensuring these spaces reflect and meet everyone’s needs.”

Meanwhile, United Methodist Communities and Rowan Medicine will partner on independent living, assisted living and memory care facilities that sit inside the same neighborhood as market‑rate rentals and for‑sale homes.

UMC President & CEO Mark Lenhard isn’t shy about what this potentially means for his sector.

“The Rowan Wellness Village represents a transformative opportunity to expand our mission in bold new ways,” he said. “Through our partnership with Rowan University and a coalition of visionary stakeholders, UMC is proud to bring over a century of senior care expertise into a dynamic, intergenerational setting that reimagines wellness, purpose and lifelong learning.”

“Together, we are not only helping older adults live abundant lives, we are pioneering innovative practices that will serve as a model for compassionate, integrated living across New Jersey and beyond.”

Houshmand, Rowan Provost Tony Lowman and Fairmont Properties Founder Randy Ruttenberg spoke exclusively to BINJE and two Philadelphia-area outlets to offer details on the plan. Much of this story, and others in the package, come from that conversation.

On the media call, Houshmand went out of his way to stress that the Wellness Village is not intended as a giant senior facility.

He described a village that is intergenerational, built around safety, beauty, health, exercise — really, everything that people young and old need.

Fairmount Properties founder Randy Ruttenberg was even more direct when a reporter asked if the Wellness Village could be viewed as South Jersey’s version of The Villages in Florida. He said it was the furthest thing from it.

Ruttenberg said the Wellness Village will work to satisfy a pent-up demand for all levels of housing for all age groups. He said the UMC continuum of care will be a very small percentage of the overall housing, with the bulk of units aimed at young professionals and people who work at Rowan and Inspira.

Houshmand said the Wellness Village also will serve as a giant teaching and research platform, saying the site will be used by:

• Nursing students, getting clinical experience in the retirement community and medical facilities;
• Music therapy and animal‑assisted therapy students, working with older adults and other residents;
• Nutrition and exercise science students, helping deliver classes and programs at the Wellness Institute;
• Retired professionals who move into the community and then return to campus life as professors of practice, mentors or consultants.

Houshmand connected the Wellness Village to Rowan’s Institute for Successful Aging and framed it all as part of a broader move away from the traditional model of higher ed he has so long fought against.

And he noted that the Wellness Village is about the community, too.

The Rowan Community Wellness Institute, which will anchor much of that activity, is expected to offer programming that ranges from artistic and culinary activities to fitness and educational offerings for residents and neighbors from Harrison Township, Glassboro and beyond, officials on the call said.

• The master plan is explicit about walkability and connectivity. Rowan and its partners talked about:
• Internal trails and sidewalks that link housing to health care and amenities;
• Shuttle service and rideshare access;
• Bike infrastructure;
• A wooded preserve with walking paths that anchors the open‑space network.

Houshmand feels building such an intergenerational, wellness‑focused neighborhood that doubles as a training and research hub fits the mission of Rowan and the higher ed sector.

“It is what I believe is the responsibility of every public institution to help … the entire community,” he said. “And this one absolutely does in so many ways.”

Here is a big-picture overview of the entire scope and vision of the project, presented in an easy-to-digest Q&A format.

Here are a number of stories from BINJE on recent moves by Rowan that connect to the vision of the West Campus project:

Rowan unveils AI-powered digital engineering hub; 

Rowan, FDU join forces in health care education; 

Rowan celebrates grand opening of first veterinary school;

Rowan receives $1M for transportation, engineering research;

Rowan conference to tackle state’s energy future;

Rowan joins academic aerospace consortium;

Rowan, Cooper EDA create Strategic Innovation Center.