Lockport assisted living facility seeks tax break for memory care unit

Jan. 10--LOCKPORT -- Briarwood Manor, an assisted living facility which has obtained a $1 million state grant to build and operate a memory care unit, is applying for a tax break for the facility.

The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency staff estimates that the requested payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, arrangement would save Briarwood Manor about $930,000 in taxes over 15 years.

The board of directors of the IDA will hear about the $3 million project Wednesday. If the board accepts the application, a public hearing would be held before the board votes on the deal, probably next month.

The Briarwood Manor expansion would add 20 beds and just over 10,000 square feet to Briarwood Manor's existing building on Lincoln Avenue in Lockport, which houses 160 assisted living beds.

The memory care service is geared toward Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income clients, said Mark C. Ferreri, company vice president.

"This project was facilitated by applying for a grant to save money for clients that normally would be cared for in a nursing home at a substantially higher cost," Ferreri said.

The state Health Department, which is still processing a special license for the memory care unit, already has approved Briarwood Manor for grants of $600,000 toward construction and $400,000 to help with the first two years of its operation.

The grant program is aimed at saving the state money by placing Alzheimer's disease and dementia patients who rely on government-funded health insurance.

Ferreri said the only other memory care facilities in Niagara County are limited to private-pay patients. Ferreri said the state reimbursement for assisted living facilities like Briarwood Manor is 50 percent of the reimbursements for nursing homes.

"Without the grants and everything, this wouldn't be a viable project," he said.

Briarwood Manor is seeking a 15-year break on property taxes derived from the increase in the building's assessed value that would result from the expansion, as well as an exemption from paying sales tax on the building materials and furnishings. The PILOT payments to the City of Lockport, the Lockport City School District and the county would total about half of the $930,000 tax break.

As part of the project, 20 semiprivate rooms in the current structure would be converted into private rooms, and the dining room and kitchen would be renovated.

The equivalent of nine full-time jobs would be added to the facility's current work force of 60 full-time equivalents.

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