OH sells property for senior living complex

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY)

Jun. 21--If all goes as planned, several lots owned by Owensboro Health near its Parrish Avenue campus will be used to develop an affordable housing complex called Grace Senior Living Community.

OH is finalizing the sale of 17 lots on Center and Hathaway streets between Parrish Avenue and 14th Street. Leitchfield-based Wabuck Development Co. plans to purchase the lots to build between 42 and 48 one-bedroom apartments for low-income residents who are 55 and older.

The center will offer daily living and health care services and recreational activities. Also, the complex is slated to include a 5,000-square-foot adult day care.

Wabuck manages more than 4,000 housing units in Kentucky. The company has played a strategic role in several Owensboro projects, including the Learning Villa and Independence Heights. In Beaver Dam, Wabuck Development and Audubon Area Community Services partnered to develop Mya Manor and Beaver Dam Village.

OH offered to sell the 17 lots to Wabuck Development for $350,000, which, according to an OH press release, is slightly below appraisal value.

"There is a great need for affordable housing in Owensboro," said Tracey Glasscock, an Owensboro native who is vice president of Wabuck Development.

The apartments will rent to low-income seniors who earn up to 60% of the area's median income, she said. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Owensboro's median household income is $40,146.

Wabuck Development plans to apply for low-income housing tax credits, a federal funding source that encourages affordable housing investment in underserved areas. The application will be filed in August. By the end of the year, Glasscock expects to know if the project is funded.

"It's a good project and a strong project," she said. "I think it will be very competitive."

One of the application's advantages: Grace Senior Living will sit in the Triplett Twist Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area, which is a neighborhood rehab project. Glasscock has visited with city officials about the proposed housing project.

"The city has been very good and very supportive," she said.

If funding is approved late this year, Glasscock expects construction to begin next summer, after Wabuck finalizes architectural plans, appraisals, market studies and other preliminary work. Construction should take about nine months.

"(Grace Senior Living) is going to do great things for the community," Glasscock said.

OH does not own all the properties in the block. Wabuck is negotiating with two homeowners who live in the development area, but that is not expected to keep the project from moving forward, said Steve Johnson, OH vice president of governmental, community and legislative affairs. Johnson is working closely with Wabuck on the project.

Johnson listed many reasons why the Center Street location is conducive for senior housing.

To begin, it is centrally located with city bus service available, and the Owensboro Regional Farmers Market is nearby.

The University of Louisville School of Nursing Owensboro Extension is at OH's Parrish Avenue site, and the health system is establishing a residency program there.

Also, churches and medical offices are within walking distance.

In the past, OH bought the 17 lots for the possibility of the hospital's future expansion. Later, however, OH officials decided to relocate the hospital to Pleasant Valley Road.

In 2010, the health system hired Denver-based Civitas, an urban design and landscape architecture firm, to reimagine OH's Parrish Avenue property and make recommendations for its use, Johnson said. Civitas suggested that OH sell the properties that were not part of the former hospital's original footprint.

"We always wanted to be very intentional about the re-use of that property," Johnson said.

OH officials wanted it to be used in a way that was consistent with the health system's mission and philosophy. Affordable senior housing is in sync with one of OH's priority areas: older adults and aging.

"The redevelopment of the Parrish Avenue campus and the surrounding neighborhood is a true success story -- one that we are proud to be a part of," Greg Strahan, OH president and CEO, said in a press release. "Owensboro Health is committed to keeping the Parrish area vibrant and strong and to fully supporting the city's Triplett Twist initiative. It is very gratifying to see good things happening for our community."

Renee Beasley Jones, 270-228-2835, rbeasleyjones@messenger-inquirer.com

___

Visit the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.) at www.messenger-inquirer.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.