Nancy Dale and her longtime partner, Marybeth Noonan, used to admire a large field in southwestern Newton after they’d get out of church every Sunday. Today, they live there.

That field is now a building—Opus Newton—new home to a bunch of middle-income seniors and the model for something that may go national.

“Marybeth and I are the formerly forgotten middle, and we are now home,” Dale said to a packed courtyard under a big white tent outside the Opus building Tuesday morning for a one-year anniversary celebration and belated ribbon-cutting.

Forgotten no more

More than a decade ago, the 2Life Communities board decided to expand the company’s mission to include “the forgotten middle,” a phrase used to describe older people whose income isn’t low enough for subsidized housing and isn’t high enough to financially sustain a decent quality of life on their own.

Middle-income Americans age like everyone else, and with Baby Boomers now heading into their 80s, more middle-income Americans are looking to downsize.

Downsizing these days is easier said than done. With home sale prices so high—including for condos and townhouses, which seniors tend to downsize into—and rents very high, too, many seniors feel trapped in their homes because they can’t find a way out that makes financial sense.

A team of elder living experts was hired and Opus was built to provide that path.

Opus is a continuing care retirement community, and those tend to have large upfront entry fees. Opus has a large entry fee, but it’s what Denise MacQuaide—chief of middle market innovation for 2Life—calls “an Opus share.”

“Most of our folks owned a house, so they sell the house and they put a good amount of it, usually around 50 percent of it, down as their entry fee,” MacQuaide said. “They get 80 percent back when they vacate the apartment.”

Residents then pay a monthly fee, based on the size of their apartment. The fees start at about $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and go up as high as $5,000 for larger units.

“By having that entry fee, we can pay off a lot of our debt, which means there’s very little debt left,” MacQuaide continued. “So, what their monthly fees do is they pay for all of the operating costs and a little bit of the debt.”

The fee includes all taxes, utilities, access to on-call care, an array of amenities and a $400-a-month dining stipend at the facility’s restaurant.

While $2,000 is a lot of money for many, it’s about the cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Newton without utilities, on-call help or a whole community.

That community is the magic spice in the sauce. Residents volunteer a few hours a week as part of their agreement, and they have activities and even a community garden.

“I have new lifelong friends,” resident Toby Dondis Farman said. “Opus has given us the freedom to enjoy this stage of our lives in a way we never imagined. Instead of coming home to a cold, empty house, we come home to Opus after a day or evening out and see Mila or Patrice at the front desk.”

Opus Newton has community gardens, allowing residents to enjoy nature and hone their green thumbs. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

‘Yes in my back yard’

“I represent 35 cities and towns, but this morning, I really feel proud to be from Newton, because this is a national model born here in Newton, Massachusetts,” U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss said.

Auchincloss has made affordable housing a major focus of his tenure in Congress, and he was just one of many voices and minds that helped make Opus happen.

“In early 2019, we started our actual outreach to people who might want to live here,” 2Life CEO Amy Schectman said. “It was so exciting to learn about what was most important to people who fell into this ‘forgotten middle.’ What could you teach us so we could design the things that really make sense?”

This was a new market of customers, people who didn’t even know what they wanted in a senior community because they never thought they could afford to join one.

With mountains of feedback and a bond made possible through MassDevelopment, the 2Life board would make a deal to buy land from the Jewish Community Center of Greater Boston in the city’s grass-covered southwestern corner where 2Life’s Coleman House stands.

“It wasn’t just a land deal. It was actually a partnership deal so we could build a true campus with JCC, Coleman and Opus communities all together,” Schectman said.

And in 2022, 2Life accepted its first applications for residence at Opus, working with Beacon Bank to create a system for deposits. And in 2024, MassHousing gave the project a grant to help people who can afford the monthly fee but can’t quite afford the upfront community share fee.

Construction started later that year and was completed late last summer, with years of planning and cooperation taking form in brick and steel. And it was shepherded along in City Hall by Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.

“Victory has a thousand parents, but defeat is an orphan,” Auchincloss said, quoting President John F. Kennedy. “Creative financing for projects like this, early political capital for projects like this—it’s risky. And our former mayor put her name and her power on the line to help make this happen. That took political courage. Ruthanne, thank you.”

Another City Hall powerhouse that helped make Opus happen is former City Councilor Rick Lipof, who helped move the project through committee and gave an impassioned speech to get full support for it on the floor of the council chambers.

He kept his comments brief on Tuesday.

“I’ll just say YIMBY–yes in my backyard,” Lipof said. “This is what we say yes to. This is Ward 8, this is where my backyard is. I wanted this here. We often talk and talk about the missing middle, combined with the need for the largest growing segment of the population: our seniors.”

When 2Life proposed Opus, Lipof jumped at the chance to support it and try something new in the struggle for affordable housing.

“This is when we can say, ‘Hineni, here I am, this is what I can actually do and not just talk. And we need to do a lot more,” Lipof continued.

Lipof isn’t alone. Multiple people on Tuesday mentioned the possibility of, and the demand for a second Opus facility in Newton. The current one already has a 300-person waiting list.

MORE IMAGES

2Life Communities CEO Amy Schectman speaks during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Opus Newton is a 55+ community that focuses on affordability for middle-income seniors. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

City, state and federal leaders joined residents of the new Opus Newton to celebrate the middle-income senior living facility’s one-year milestone on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

City Councilor Andrea Kelley and Opus resident Helen Jordan walk along the community gardens during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

City Councilor Cyrus Dahmubed and former Mayor Ruthanne Fuller mingle during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

State representatives Amy Sangiolo and John Lawn speak during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Mayor Marc Laredo speaks during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

State Sen. Cindy Creem talks with staff during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Former City Councilor Rick Lipof speaks during Opus Newton’s one-year milestone celebration and ribbon-cutting on Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-MA, speaks during Opus Newton’s milestone celebration and ribbon-cutting on Aug. 25, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle