Bob Hillier-designed Pfizer/Beneficial Finance campus, nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, becomes luxury senior living

PEAPACK, N.J., Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Distinctive Living and development partners Melillo Equities and PointsFive will host a ceremonial groundbreaking for CopperWood Senior Living (https://experiencecopperwood.com) on Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. Through adaptive reuse, a path not often considered for senior living, the nearly $200 million project gives the beautiful postmodern former Pfizer/Beneficial Finance corporate campus, now vacant, a second life as a 214-residence luxury senior living community. With many office campuses standing empty, the approach offers an opportunity in markets that lack new land to build on.

"We started with a place that already had a soul," said Joe Jedlowski, Chairman and CEO of Distinctive Living. "Working within an existing architecture of this quality is harder and slower than building new. We chose it anyway, because it will produce a community that could not be replicated on a cleared site."

Bob Hillier, who designed the campus in 1979 and is marking 60 years in architecture, will speak at the ceremony.

"When I first met Finn Caspersen, the CEO of Beneficial Finance, he told me that 54 percent of his employees were women and that he wanted a project that was not a 'corporate aircraft carrier', but something very intimate, where the women on his staff would feel comfortable," said Hillier. "That's what really set the pattern for doing it in small buildings. I think what they're proposing for CopperWood is phenomenal. It has the same wonderful scale that this type of community should have."

Rehabilitating the buildings keeps them out of the landfill, and a ten-megawatt solar field on the property will generate clean energy. A preserve with walking trails and Copper Chophouse, the on-site restaurant, will be open to the public. The Peapack-Gladstone Land Use Board approved the redevelopment unanimously in September 2025.

"As Mayor of the Borough of Peapack and Gladstone, I am excited to welcome CopperWood Senior Living to the former Pfizer complex in Peapack & Gladstone," said Mayor Mark A. Corigliano. "We are elated that CopperWood will be serving older adults as many of our older residents have expressed a desire to remain in the Borough in their senior years."

"Peapack-Gladstone is my hometown, so CopperWood is personal for me," said Anthony Melillo, Managing Partner, Melillo Equities, Development Partner. "This campus has been part of our community for as long as many of us can remember, and it deserves a future worthy of its past."

"Opening a new community is some of the most rewarding work I have done, and CopperWood is unlike anything I have seen in my career," said Kelly Adams, Founding General Manager.

"Great people choose where they work, and they are choosing CopperWood," said George Draghiceanu, Chief Operating Officer of Distinctive Living.

The CopperWood Senior Living Leasing Center is now open at 240 Main Street, Suite 300, Gladstone, NJ 07934, (908) 728-6515. Drone video on YouTube.

About CopperWood Senior Living
CopperWood Senior Living is a luxury senior living community in Peapack-Gladstone, created through the adaptive reuse of a 1979 Bob Hillier-designed campus nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. It will offer independent living, assisted living and memory support. The campus is located at 400 Essex Blvd, Peapack, NJ 07977. https://experiencecopperwood.com

About Distinctive Living
Distinctive Living is a senior living management, development and operations company headquartered in Freehold, N.J., overseeing $2.29 billion in assets. https://distinctive-liv.com

Media Contact
Jessica Buhler, Communications Manager, Distinctive Living
(401) 263-7855
425879@email4pr.com

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SOURCE Distinctive Living