Ciel of Lakewood

Ciel at Lakewood is an independent living community with an on-site skilled-nursing wing at 1805 South Balsam Street in south Lakewood, Colorado, set on roughly ten park-like acres with ponds, a stream, and walking paths. Having independent living and skilled nursing in the same building means a resident can keep an active retirement and still reach short-term rehabilitation or longer nursing care without moving to a new place, which works much like a continuing-care setting.

Independent living gives residents a spacious apartment, a full calendar, and meals and housekeeping handled for them. Floor plans run from one-bedrooms to two-bedrooms across three residential floors, with underground parking that makes the Colorado winters easier to manage. The on-site skilled-nursing and rehabilitation wing is the feature that sets the community apart from a standard independent apartment building.

A resident recovering from surgery or a hospital stay can do their physical and occupational therapy in a rehab room down the hall rather than across town, close to a familiar apartment and familiar faces. The building keeps a long list of shared spaces, including a sidewalk cafe and bistro, a beauty salon and barber, an arts and crafts studio, a billiard and poker room, a large library with a fireplace, a movie theater, a woodworking shop, and a fitness and wellness center.

The grounds are the real signature: the ten-acre setting holds ponds, a stream, and walking paths, with foothills views to the west, so residents have a genuinely green place to spend time outdoors that most urban Lakewood communities cannot offer. Ciel at Lakewood is operated by Ciel Senior Living, the company that took over a group of formerly Brookdale-managed Colorado communities. A senior advisor can walk a family through current pricing, how the move from independent living into the skilled-nursing wing works, and which apartments are open.

The community welcomes cats and dogs, so a resident's pet can come along, and a senior advisor can confirm how funding works for the skilled-nursing side. The location keeps care and errands within reach, with St. Anthony Hospital, a Level I trauma center, a short drive west, Kaiser Permanente's Lakewood medical offices within a couple of miles, and the walkable Belmar shopping and dining district minutes north.

South Wadsworth Boulevard runs right alongside the community, with U.S. 285 and Sixth Avenue close for trips across the metro. With independent living and on-site skilled nursing under one roof and a ten-acre park-like setting, Ciel at Lakewood offers an unusual mix of active retirement and built-in care on the south side of Lakewood.