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About New Era Senior Living
Whalers Cove-New Era Senior Living, LLC
An approach to develop/manage affordable senior housing.
Whalers Cove Affordable Senior Housing and its management company, NewEra Senior Living, LLC., provides independent and assisted living to low, very low, moderate and market rate seniors. The Whalers Cove project involved the historic restoration of an old, vacant mill building located in the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Entering into its second year of operation, Whalers Cove is now home to over 100 residents. Developing an affordable senior housing project is complex and requires a development team familiar with affordable housing and health care service delivery. Managing a senior housing community is challenging and demands an experienced and committed team, constantly striving to provide quality care for the residents while insuring the financial performance of the project. While the private pay, market rate assisted living marketplace has experienced overbuilding in some areas, the current demand for affordable senior housing far exceeds the available supply.
During the planning of Whalers Cove, our development team focused on the unmet senior housing demand in the City of New Bedford, and then began to tailor the development, architectural and operating programs to serve the housing and care needs of local seniors. The final development structure aligned the interests of private and public sector groups; addressed the concerns of local regulatory entities; and balanced the objectives of project ownership with the needs of local seniors. The architectural program challenged current affordable and senior housing design assumptions. The operating program has been personalized for each resident, offering a continuum of service plans enabling our residents to individualize their care and remain at Whalers Cove while they age in place.
Development of an affordable senior housing project sponsored by a for - profit ownership entity generally involves combining private sector equity with public sector debt programs. Effectively matching these financing sources with a suitable development site, or existing building during site selection shapes the financial structure of the proposed project, and the capital available for developing the project. The Whalers Cove project raised equity through the syndication of Historic and Low Income Tax Credits; structured debt by using tax – exempt and taxable revenue bonds allocated by Mass Development; and used gap financing of Home Stabilization funds obtained through the Department of Housing and Community Development and The City of New Bedford.
The design of Whalers Cove was driven by the adaptive re-use of an existing structure and recognition that only about a 1/3 of the operating expenses is associated with hard costs attributable to development. Our design intent was to increase the square footage of resident rooms and common areas. By offering larger living areas in the residents units, Whalers Cove has a competitive advantage over its market competition. Larger living units also increase the desirability of companion suites, which in turn, assists in the operation of affordable senior housing. With more public common areas, we are able to attract community based groups for resident activities, networking and other public events. By actively involving the local community through in kind and volunteer efforts, a project is able to generate and retain more residents while controlling operating expenses. Our development and design team allocated more capital to higher quality finishes given the urban nature of our building and surrounding site. In addition, we upgraded the projects mechanical systems with the effect of reducing long term operating expenses. The architectural design of an affordable senior housing project can offer a unique and high quality living environment for residents in a finance able and cost effective manner.
The operating program at Whalers Cove is personalized for each resident, based on their physical, mental, emotional and financial condition. Whalers Cove offers a continuum of care covering the independent, assisted and special care needs of our residents. The management staff personalizes the care of our residents first, followed by the implementation of housing and service plans addressing their core needs. As residents age in place, the management staff continuously adjusts the service plan to the ever changing needs of the resident and their families. The operating success of a senior housing project, particularly affordable senior housing, demands that the project maintain an open door policy for all diverse prospective residents and offers a continuum of care plans thereby allowing residents to remain in their new home as they age in place. The management staff, whether they are administrative, marketing, food service, personal care or facilities personnel, is trained and committed to care for the specialized needs of senior residents. The same management staff needs to be capable of operating an ongoing business to the satisfaction of residents, their families, financial investors, the project owners and varied regulatory entities.
Developing affordable senior housing is challenging and requires expertise in housing, finance, design, construction, management and healthcare. Operating affordable senior housing is satisfying and demands that management provide quality housing and care for residents while taking care of the business operations. NewEra Senior Living, LLC. is committed to developing and managing quality, affordable senior housing residences throughout New England.
REPRINTED from The New England Real Estate Journal
FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2004
www.rejournal.com
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