There's a lot of construction going on at Goucher College these days, and not much of it is for students.
Edenwald Senior Living set Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 14, as the groundbreaking for its INSPIRE expansion, the milestone it says marks the project's move into construction, on three acres of the Goucher campus in Towson. It's a big one: more than 284,000 square feet of new construction, three residential towers, an outdoor plaza and a stack of classroom and amenity space. The announcement from Edenwald said priority depositors, local dignitaries and construction partners were expected to attend.
"This groundbreaking is a major achievement. Seven years in the making, Edenwald Senior Living and Goucher College have worked in true partnership to create a first-of-its-kind college-enriched senior living community," said Mark Beggs, Edenwald's president and CEO.
Three towers, 125 homes
The three towers will hold 125 residences in all. The biggest, called InspireONE, will rise 11 stories with 47 residences. InspireTWO and InspireTHREE will each be eight stories tall with 39 residences apiece.
Every residence will have access to underground parking, and a pedestrian bridge will connect INSPIRE to Edenwald's existing buildings. The apartments are one-bedroom-and-den, two-bedroom and two-bedroom-and-den layouts ranging from 1,100 to 2,100 square feet, with open floor plans and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the campus.
InspireONE is the hub. It will house two dedicated classrooms and a 45-seat theater for lectures, classes and workshops run with Goucher, plus a dining venue on the plaza level and a rooftop event space with indoor and outdoor seating. Between the three towers, plans call for a landscaped plaza with pergolas, an outdoor yoga area and cafe seating.
Beggs said Goucher "required a best-in-class design to move the INSPIRE expansion forward," and that the result balances the college's mid-century modern look with the existing Edenwald campus.
Demand doesn't look like a problem. Edenwald says the initial residences are already fully reserved and the waiting list is filling up.
The timeline and what's still pending
Goucher's campus operations page lists an anticipated start of October 2026 and an anticipated completion of January 2029 for the Edenwald project. That's a little more than two years for three towers, underground parking and a bridge tying it all into an existing senior campus where people live.
There's one more box to check. Edenwald notes the expansion is subject to final approval by the Maryland Department of Aging.
Edenwald's announcement didn't name a general contractor, an architect or a construction cost, and we couldn't find one confirmed in public sources. That's worth saying plainly because the campus is crowded with construction right now. Whiting-Turner is building its new corporate headquarters on the front of the Goucher campus, with construction expected to begin in August 2026 and finish in late 2028, according to Goucher. That's a separate project, and nothing we found ties Whiting-Turner to the INSPIRE towers.
Goucher is also building the Judy C. Lewent '70 Science Center, a 22-month project running from March 2025 through April 2027, so the Towson campus will be a busy place for a few years.
The college sees the partnership as more than a land deal. "As America's population ages, learning how to work across generational and cultural differences becomes more critical," Goucher President Kent Devereaux said. Edenwald residents will be able to audit Goucher classes, join study-abroad programs, use the college library and work alongside students in a community garden.
Edenwald, a Life Plan Community in Towson, traces its founding to 1881, according to the company.
Why it matters for Contractors
Senior living towers are finish-heavy work. One building at 11 stories and two at eight, more than 284,000 square feet, underground parking, a pedestrian bridge, a theater, classrooms, a dining venue and a rooftop event space add up to years of work for foundation and structural, glazing, elevator, MEP, fire protection, drywall, millwork and finish contractors. With 125 high-end apartments from 1,100 to 2,100 square feet, interior finish packages alone will be substantial. Because the builder hasn't been publicly named, subs should keep an eye on who shows up behind the fence. And with Whiting-Turner's headquarters and the science center going up on the same campus, there will be plenty of work, and plenty of competition for crews and parking, in that corner of Towson for the next few years.