Aeries Takes Flight

St. John’s United’s Luxury Senior Tower Prepares to Rise as the Silver Tsunami Descends

The ground hasn’t yet broken on a $120 million, 12-story, 55+ luxury community set to redefine senior living but the project is already drawing regional attention.

St. John’s United in Billings is preparing to break ground this year on Aeries. Already, 65% of residences have been pre-sold and it recently received the Blue Sky designation for its team’s operational excellence.

At the heart of that momentum are Lisa Sorensen and Shelby Grimstad, sales advisors for the Aeries project and long-time St. John’s United team members. Their combined decades of experience and mission‑driven approach have made them the face of the development. “It’s a big project,” Lisa beams. “We’re really excited.”

Their enthusiasm is grounded in urgency because the landscape of aging in America is shifting faster than ever. The U.S. is entering what industry leaders call the “silver tsunami,” with 27 million more Americans aged 75+ expected in the next two decades. Montana—already one of the oldest states by median age—is feeling the pressure. Nearly 100,000 Montanans will turn 80 between 2020 and 2030, even as the state has seen a 28% decline in skilled nursing facilities since 2015. In Billings, 24.5% of seniors live alone, increasing the need for supportive, connected communities.

Lisa reflects on how the old model no longer works. “I think there was a time in history where you could live your life and then say, oh, now is probably the time when I want to make a move, and you could just walk in the door somewhere and get those services. But with this silver tsunami coming, that's not the case anymore.”

The team strongly advocates for making a plan, sooner rather than later, before entering crisis mode.

“If you want to be where you want to be, you need to plan,” Lisa says. “Put your name on a waiting list now and make a reservation for a building that's a few years out from being completed.”

Lisa’s point becomes even clearer when looking at St. John’s own Mission Ridge, which is experiencing a five‑year waiting list. That growing demand is exactly what pushed St. John’s to rethink what senior living could look like.

“We’re trying to figure out how to meet that demand for an even more independent resident,” says Kevin Sider, chief marketing information officer for St. John’s United. “That kind of led to the development of Aeries being a 55-plus community.”

A New Model for Senior Living—From the Ground Up

From the earliest sketches, local architectural and building teams collaborated and partnered with St. John’s United on Aeries with a bold premise: senior living should be designed around living, not aging.

“We wanted Aeries to be designed around connection, wellness, purpose and community,” says Dusty Eaton, CEO of A&E + SMA Design, the architectural firm partnering with St. John’s on the project.

Dusty and his team envisioned a vertical neighborhood, a place where residents enjoy the privacy and beauty of their own homes while being surrounded by opportunities to connect. Community spaces were intentionally layered throughout the tower rather than isolated on a single floor. Dining, wellness, recreation, and gathering spaces appear at multiple levels, encouraging spontaneous interaction.

The tower’s height and hilltop location became a defining design asset.

“Architecturally, it is rare to have the opportunity to design a project that is simultaneously innovative, sustainable, socially impactful, and regionally significant,” Dusty says. “Aeries accomplishes all four and creates a lifestyle experience that has never existed here before.”

Whether looking toward the rimrocks, the Beartooth Mountains, or the Pryor Mountains from the tower’s residences, the building is designed to immerse residents in Montana’s expansive landscape.

Designing for the Next Generation of Montanans

Aeries is built for the incoming wave of baby boomers who, as Lisa points out, “don’t want what our parents had. We want something different. We want bigger, better opportunities.”

The residences reflect that shift with 95 homes that offer 20 different floor plans to chose from, 11-foot tall ceilings with exposed mass timber beams, three-season sunrooms and private outdoor balconies and an open-concept layout. The generous square footage—larger than anything St. John’s has built before—opens the door to unprecedented choice.

“We offer homes up to almost 3,000 square feet,” Lisa says. “So, it gives people a lot of different options.”

Dusty echoes the generational shift. “Historically, many people have viewed downsizing as giving something up. Aeries flips that narrative. Instead of compromise, it offers an opportunity to gain something new.”

Mass Timber: Beauty, Sustainability, and a Distinctly Montana Feel

But the innovation at Aeries isn’t only about lifestyle – it’s also about how the building is made. The use of mass timber introduces both unique opportunities and challenges. The material—European spruce sourced from Austria—was selected for its consistency, lighter color, and advanced manufacturing process.

Unlike traditional construction, mass timber requires extensive planning up front. Much of the building is designed in a detailed digital model before being fabricated off‑site, says Braydon Sinclair of Langlas & Associates, Inc. and senior project manager for Aeries.

“It’s essentially like assembling a very large, highly precise puzzle manufactured thousands of miles away that must come together seamlessly once it arrives on site,” he explains. “What makes this project stand out is the combination of innovative construction methods that allow us to complete a high‑quality residential building on an accelerated timeline.”

Along with mass timber, the project incorporates prefabricated exterior wall panels, arriving with windows and doors already installed and prefabricated balconies craned into place. “This level of prefabrication and coordination showcases the future of construction in many ways,” Braydon says.

Dusty emphasizes the human impact: “Research continues to show that exposed wood environments can positively influence well‑being, reduce stress, and create a stronger connection to nature.”

The environmental benefits extend beyond the timber. Aeries will be heated and cooled by 120 geothermal wells drilled into the center of campus, Shelby says.

“The water from those wells heats and cools the building throughout the year. Once they’re all in, you won’t see them,” she explains. “They will connect into the building and heat and cool the entire building.”

A Campus Built for Connection

The first three floors of Aeries will house amenities, dining, wellness, and public‑facing spaces connected through The Centrum, a hub designed for intergenerational activity.

“I like to call it a cruise ship on land,” Shelby says.

Among the amenities are a full-length swimming pool, spa and hot tub, pickleball courts, a fitness center, pharmacy, multiple dining venues plus retail space.

Dusty notes that these spaces were never meant to be add‑ons. “We created opportunities for interaction throughout the tower – gathering around a meal, meeting friends for pickleball, enjoying wellness activities, or simply sharing a conversation while overlooking the city.”

A Landmark for Billings—and a Blueprint for the Future

For the architectural team, Aeries stands apart from anything they’ve designed before. It introduces new construction technology to Montana, expands St. John’s continuum of care, and creates a lifestyle experience that hasn’t existed in the state.

“We were happy to start with building services for low-income with Chapel Court, then moderate-rate housing and new patio homes, and now a new luxury project with Aeries,” Kevin says. “These efforts expand the continuum for a wide spectrum of financial abilities and desired services.”

Dusty sees it as something even more enduring. “I believe Aeries will become much more than a building. It will become a landmark, and a place where people can continue to live actively, independently, and meaningfully.”

For Lisa and Shelby, that sense of preparation is the heart of the work. Even when someone chooses not to reserve one of their units, they consider it a success if they’ve helped that person plan ahead to feel less overwhelmed.

“We not only educate about Aeries, but we educate about senior living options altogether,” Shelby says. “Our biggest encouragement to people, our biggest hope, is that people make a plan.” Lisa echoes that thought adding, “The stress of that situation is very hard, so people are very excited to remove that strain from their own children and to give them that gift of a plan for the future.”