Second asst. living facility in works

Published 6:00 pm Sunday, August 8, 2010

While a local contractor’s plan to build an assisted livingfacility in downtown Brookhaven continues on in uncertainty, anout-of-town company is moving ahead with its own deal for a similarjob on the other end of town.

Clarksdale-based Providence Development Group, LLC is puttingthe finishing touches on a deal with city, county and economicleaders to construct Providence Personal Care Community ofBrookhaven, a 60-room, amenity-laden assisted living facilityplanned for a 7-acre site on Brookman Drive.

The company is sending a plane to the city late next week topick up several leaders for a trip to Senatobia to inspect afacility identical to the one planned for the Homeseeker’sParadise. The trip will come before a public hearing in late Augustthat will determine if the zoning ordinance for the north end oftown can be amended to allow the project to start.

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“We want them to come up and see firsthand what we’re going tobe building so they can go home and say, ‘This is the real deal, afirst-class operation,'” said Pete Johnson, the company’s chiefexecutive officer.

Johnson said the 60-room, 47,000 square-foot facility wouldfeature a wide range of comforts – such as a whirlpool, beautyparlor and fully stocked socializing areas – for the seniorcitizens who will eventually call it home. Some of the 60 roomswill be studio rooms, two-room suites for husbands and wives.

Nurses and dieticians will be on staff, and vans will transportthose without vehicles to anywhere in the city. Providence plans towork out a deal with KDMC to allow residents access to physicaltherapy services.

“It’s much like a colony,” Johnson said. “This is for folks whodon’t want to live alone any more. A lot of them say they’re tiredof fooling with the yard, tired of fooling with the house, so theysell their property and move in here.”

The facility will include a Reflections Wing, where specialneeds seniors with Alzheimer’s and dementia will be housed. ButProvidence will not be a nursing facility – residents must beself-sufficient, Johnson said.

The total project is expected to cost around $7 million, and 20rooms are reserved for local investors who contribute to the job.The facility will create 30-35 full-time jobs needed for’round-the-clock staffing.

Johnson said his company hopes to close on the land purchase inSeptember and begin construction by Oct. 1, with constructionexpected to require one year to complete. If the new facility is asuccess, future plans call for the addition of a 40-room ActiveAdult Community, like an apartment complex for seniors not quiteready to make the jump to assisted living.

Before any work can begin, however, Providence must lobby tohave the zoning ordinance changed.

Brookhaven City Inspector Chip Gennaro said the area around KDMCis zoned C-3, highway commercial, and before an assisted livingfacility can be built the zoning must be changed to R-3,multi-family residential.

“None of that is residential,” he said. “They couldn’t put asingle-family home there without trying to rezone it. They canbuild clinics, offices or a business there, but when it comes tothese multi-tenant living facilities, they have to be rezonedproperly.”

Providence will attempt to do just that at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday,Aug. 24, when it makes its case to the city in a public hearing onthe matter. Per public hearing procedures, the city has requestedany complaints or objections to the Providence project be submittedin writing to Gennaro’s office before the hearing takes place.

Two days after the notice was published, Gennaro has received nocomplaints.

“At one time… someone tried to rezone that whole piece ofproperty for some type of housing, and the neighborhood just westof them came down here to the meeting and was real adamant aboutnot wanting that there,” he recalled. “It wound up gettingdenied.”

Gennaro said a buffer of residential land, zoned R-1, existsbetween the medical complex and nearby Brookwood Subdivision toprotect residents in that area.

Zoning has also become an issue for the city’s existing assistedliving facility project.

A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. to determineif developer Gayle Evans can construct his facility on MonticelloStreet at heights greater than 55 feet, and also with rooms on theground floor. Both design proposals are forbidden by downtown’szoning ordinance.

Evans’ project has run into regulatory snags and has been onhold for months. But he’s still gathering the materials he needs togo ahead with the job, confident his many troubles will be resolvedTuesday night.

And he’s not concerned about Providence.

“If they want to compete with me, I am the competition,” Evanssaid. “I know what people want – when you get old like I am, youwant to be out front. You don’t want to be stuffed off behind ahospital. You want to see the parades going by and be able to getout and go to the bank.”

Brookhaven Mayor Les Bumgarner, who will be part of the localdelegation that flies to Senatobia next week, said the city needsan assisted living facility and the market would determine whetherit needs two.

“If you have two facilities that are very attractive, peoplefrom outside Brookhaven will want to come stay in them,” he said.”It’s kind of ironic we’ve never had one and now we’re on the vergeof having two.”