Builders officially broke ground on what they say is the first monthly rental, independent senior-living community in the Cape Region: The Lodge at Truitt Homestead.

This facility, expected to open in 18 to 24 months, is a collaboration between Vantage Point Retirement Living of Exton, Pa. and Rehoboth Beach-based Ocean Atlantic. Located on Shuttle Road across from the Park and Ride, The Lodge will be the centerpiece of the ongoing, 90-home Truitt Homestead development. The two projects are in the same area, but are unrelated. However, residents of Truitt Homestead will have access to all of The Lodge’s amenities, including an indoor pool, pub lounge, salon and 50-seat movie theater.

The Lodge will feature 88 apartment-style units available to seniors on a month-to-month basis. The approach is intended to allow seniors to maintain control of their assets without paying a long-term contract.

Greg Stevens, president of Vantage Point, said he has been vacationing in the area for years and was looking for an opportunity to establish a new kind of senior-living facility. That opportunity came when Vantage Point hooked up with Ocean Atlantic, owned by Schell Brothers, to combine Stevens’ idea with Ocean Atlantic’s work on the Truitt Homestead development. Preston Schell, co-founder of Ocean Atlantic, said the land has been in the Truitt family since 1908; previously, the land served as a par-3 golf course.

To begin pooling prospects for The Lodge, Ocean Atlantic will be reopening the former Ocean Atlantic/Sotheby’s office on Rehoboth Avenue as a rental office, Stevens said. The new office is expected to open in July.