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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
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My Give-a-Damn's Busted ' As [Kenneth] Arrow and other future residents viewed the dining room, where meals of tenderloin and duckling will be served on $500 place settings of Jardin de Florence china, workers scurried to complete the finishing touches on what is thought to be the priciest retirement community yet in the Bay Area -- perhaps too pricey, according to some [Stanford] faculty members. Residences in the complex [adjacent to the Stanford University campus] cost from about $600,000 for a one-bedroom to $4.2 million for the three-bedroom, three-bath El Dorado unit. Monthly fees of $3,105 to $7,430 include a daily meal in a formal dining room or on a patio, al fresco. It also includes linen service, valet parking, a bistro-style cafe, heated indoor swimming pool and whirlpool, among other amenities. The fees also cover medical care. Hyatt leases the land from Stanford for $1.5 million a year, plus 6 percent of all gross receipts. When a resident dies, 90 percent of the original cost of their residence -- appreciation is not factored in -- is returned. Although on Stanford property, only about 50 of its incoming residents thus far are former or active faculty members. Many more, however, are successful alumni. "I would say that most retired faculty were disappointed in the cost of the Hyatt," said Albert Hastorf, former provost and emeritus professor of psychology. The median salary of a full professor with 20 years of service ranges from about $125,000 to $200,000; assistant professors might earn only half as much. Salaries of long-retired faculty are less. "The problem is, many of us think, it is much too expensive for the majority of retirees. Thus it will open with a very small cadre of emeriti," said Hastorf. ' ********************************************* CREEPY: More on the Stanford University Hyatt Classic Residence here , including this additional amenity: “Apartments ...have motion sensors that can be programmed to alert staff in case of unusual inactivity .” |