Seniors Housing Business

FEB-MAR 2017

Seniors Housing Business is the magazine that helps you navigate the evolution of the seniors housing industry.

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50 www.seniorshousingbusiness.com Seniors Housing Business n February/March 2017 At Bright Oaks, 'you can try it before you buy it' Nader Kameli, CEO of Aurora, Ill.-based Bright Oaks Group, likes to say that life is worth living to its fullest, until the last minute. The four-year-old company develops and owns assisted living and memory care communities. Kameli developed his operat- ing model after secretly shop- ping 102 senior properties to see what was missing in assisted living services. "At every build- ing I have gone to visit, they tell me the most important events for people are the meals. That's a really sad life. We are trying to change that." With seven communities under development in Florida and Illinois and one already open in Aurora, Ill., Bright Oaks prefers to build in residential areas. "Residential neighborhoods don't want big buildings," says Kameli. "They want to push those into commercial neighbor- hoods. In this case, how a com- munity sees you becomes very important. Many times, people have concerns and recommen- dations about what happens in the building, not so much about the building itself." Inclusive amenities Kameli meets with neighbors adjacent to his projects and with homeowner associations to talk and to share renderings that help explain a key point of the business model — that ameni- ties are not solely reserved for the seniors who live at Bright Oaks. Some members of the community may use them as well. To that end, Bright Oaks buildings are designed with separate public and private sec- tions. The amenities are in a secured area with no access to the private areas of the building. Neighbors who are age 75 and above are welcome to apply for a membership to the fitness cen- ter, or to eat in the restaurants, visit an onsite clinic, or partici- pate in programming such as arts and performances. "There is a beautiful gym in almost every property I have visited, but nobody uses it," says Kameli. "In assisted liv- ing, it's the kids who make deci- sions, so the gym ends up being a marketing tool because most seniors do not care about this. We make our c o m m u n i t i e s available to people so they can come and become part of the community of residents before they have to decide to move into the building. This way you can try it before you buy it." Skepticism turns to support Bright Oaks Aurora opened in 2016. The three other facilities that are under development in Illinois are located in Elgin, Fox Lake and West Dundee. Four are being developed in Florida in the communities of Wildwood, Naples, Sun City Center and Fort Myers. After explaining the open- access concept to a neighbor- hood association in Fox Lake, Kameli said people who ini- tially showed up to a meet- ing to find out "how we were messing up their neighborhood" ended up requesting that a path- way be built between the Bright Oaks community and adjacent condos. That tells a developer he is doing something right, says Kameli. "Having neighbors who want to spend time in our build- ing is going to give us the hus- tle and bustle that seniors are missing." Kameli says winning sup- port is more likely if developers are transparent and accessible to government officials as well as neighbors throughout the process. "The city embraced the Bright Oaks project," says Bill Wiet, chief development services offi- cer for the city of Aurora. Bright Oaks Aurora opened in 2016 with 36 assisted living units and 24 memory care units. Wiet reports that single-family homes with bedrooms on the main level sell faster than homes with stairs to the bedroom. He views this as an indicator that the local active adult community wants to stay close to home. As a result, the city, with a population of approximately 200,000, has been seeking devel- opments that serve active, aging citizens. "I think Bright Oaks hit a niche," says Wiet. "The owner- ship group was very inviting to the community. We even had a celebration at the leasing office while the project was under con- struction. So, we felt included every step of the way." Solving parking headaches Wiet says seniors housing developers routinely approach the city to build in Aurora. The obstacle most face is parking. Under the city's multifamily zon- ing code, developers must build 1.25 parking spaces per unit for a structure that has a common cor- ridor or elevator. "We've had comments from the seniors housing develop- ment community that if a senior complex is mandated to have an indoor parking ratio of 1.25 spaces per unit, you will have a sea of parking that will be empty." Developers therefore are tasked with negotiating parking permissions that enable them to "bank" parking, which means a final blueprint must allow for enough space to add parking at a later date should the demand for seniors housing shift over the next 20 years. Despite the obstacles develop- ers face throughout the approval process, when projects like Bright Oaks come before city council or the planning commis- sion, they are embraced, explains Wiet. "We've also had a few other examples of senior-related proj- ects that were well accepted by the community because, compared to commercial uses, seniors housing is more passive, even at higher densities." — Lynn Peisner Nader Kameli Bright Oaks Group Quatro Tax LLC Property Tax Advisors PROPERTY TAXES TOO HIGH? TALK TO US. WE PERFORM McCollum ConsulƟng and Health Care Advisory Group are now Quatro Tax. The merger creates one of the largest tax advocates for seniors housing properƟes in the United States. Call today for a discussion of your porƞolio. Together, we will reduce your tax burden. 5608 Malvey Avenue Suite 400 Fort Worth, Texas 76107 (817) 336-9600 Visit us at www.quatrotax.com Or follow us on Guy McCollum Managing Director Mark S. Nicol Managing Director Josh McCollum Commercial Director Bill King General Counsel

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