FRANKFORT, Ind. (Feb. 27, 2020) – Wesley Manor Retirement Community has named Frederick A. Taylor, Jr. as executive director. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the health care field to this position.
“We very much appreciate having a quality professional like Fred Taylor to join us and to lead our Frankfort team. I am eager for the Wesley Manor team and the Frankfort community to meet him and see what an amazing leader he is,” said Dan Carr, vice president of operations for BHI Senior Living, which operates Wesley Manor. “We really hit a home run in securing Fred for the Frankfort position.”
Taylor bring more than 30 years of health management experience to Wesley Manor. For more than 23 years, he’s served as a consultant for health care, non-profit organizations, foundations in Indiana and beyond.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to serve Wesley Manor and the Frankfort community,” said Taylor. “Wesley Manor is a wonderful campus with outstanding services and I look forward to getting to know the residents, patients, staff members, and families.”
Taylor earned a B.S., an M.B.A and a Certificate in Public Management from Indiana University. He also earned a master’s degree in education and a certificate in Public Management.
A decorated U.S. Army veteran, Taylor is a three-time Purple Heart recipient. He served with the First Cavalry Division [Airmobile] and earned a Combat Infantryman Badge and is a Cross of Gallantry recipient. He also received the Air Medal. National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Vietnamese Campaign Medal.
He has received the following honors.
Indiana Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame [2017];
Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Mike Pence [2016];
Golden Hoosier Award by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch [2018];
Outstanding Alumnus by the Indiana University School of Education [2019];
Kentucky Colonel by Gov. Paul Patton [2000];
Tennessee Colonel by Gov. Don Sundquist [2001];
James Dean Humanitarian Award [2007]; and
Certificate of Recognition by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates [2008].
Taylor is a member of the IU Alumni Association, Elks Club, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and Association of the US Army.
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Wesley Manor has been the premier retirement community in Frankfort since 1961. It is an affiliate of Indiana-based, non-profit BHI Senior Living, which began in 1905 as a faith-based organization and has four other continuing care retirement communities in the state: The Barrington in Carmel, Four Seasons in Columbus, Hoosier Village in Indianapolis, and The Towne House in Fort Wayne. While it is also a nonprofit, BHI Senior Living has the size and financial strength to compete and succeed in today’s marketplace. BHI has a powerful balance sheet and a BBB+ rating from financial rating service Fitch.
Written by John Russell See original article: ibj.com
Under a chilly, gray sky at Hoosier Village retirement community in Zionsville, a cement truck rumbled, and construction workers got busy pouring the foundation for an 80-unit assisted-living building—the fifth expansion in seven years at the 300-acre campus. A few hundred yards away, other workers were putting the finishing touches on a new entrance gatehouse.
The retirement community, owned by Zionsville-based BHI Senior Living Inc., is racing against the weather on a $20 million expansion, which it wants to complete by spring 2021.
Overall, Hoosier Village has a waiting list of more than 200, even with entry fees of up to $660,000 and monthly service fees of around $2,000. Demand is highest for independent- and assisted-living units, especially for the spacious duplexes of up to 4,300 square feet, with large kitchens, master bedrooms, sunrooms, full basements, and two-car garages. The entire upscale campus, with about 500 units, is full except for a few units offering skilled nursing and memory care, specialized sectors with higher services and prices.
“Demand is extremely strong,” CEO John Dattilo said. “Really, it’s across the board. … That’s why we did a $100 million bond issue last year so we could expand this campus significantly.”
If that weren’t enough to keep him busy, Dattilo also oversees four other retirement communities, stretching from Fort Wayne to Columbus. And the company recently took over the bankrupt Barrington of Carmel, a luxury retirement community, which it bought out of Chapter 11 this summer for $61 million.
BHI is having a gangbuster year, even as some other retirement communities are struggling or slipping into bankruptcy—pulled down with heavy debt, uneven demand, stiff competition for tenants and a growing shortage of nurses and aides. Across the United States, the occupancy rate for senior housing dropped below 88% last year, the lowest level since 2010, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care, a not-for-profit research organization based in Annapolis, Maryland.
The occupancy rate for assisted living—apartments with central dining rooms, educational activities, and recreation programs—was 85%, the lowest since the organization began collecting data in 2005.
In Indiana, the picture is mixed, with “intense competition” in many markets where lots of new capacity has been added in recent years, said Zachary Cattell, president of the Indiana Health Care Association, a nursing home trade group.
“Nearly every city or town of moderate size across the state has a new assisted-living or independent-living community that has opened, is opening or is under construction,” he said.
Meanwhile, the skilled-nursing segment—housing for patients needing constant attention and care—is struggling with overcapacity, he said, with average occupancies in the low 70% range. The assisted-living and independent-living sectors, which depend predominantly on private pay rather than Medicare or Medicaid, appear to be healthy but competitive, Cattell said.
Avoiding the pitfalls
In the midst of this tough environment, BHI appears to be thriving. The operation had revenue of $51.4 million last year, up 4% from 2017, according to its Form 990 tax return. The not-for-profit ended 2018 with a $2.2 million surplus.
BHI’s chief financial officer, Roger Weideman, said much of the overbuilding was done by the for-profit sector, which overestimated the demand for retirement housing.
Meanwhile, BHI was growing at a more measured pace, opening new units only when it had pre-sales in hand and a waiting list to count on for future sales. Dattilo credits much of the company’s success to its campus-like settings, with plenty of recreational and educational programs, including arts classes, swimming pools, hiking trails, and community centers. Even small touches, like a firepit in a common area on campus, where residents can gather, make a difference.“The for-profit sector seems to have jumped the gun a little bit,” he said. “You know, people retire at 65. But they’re not necessarily ready for a product like this until 75, for independent living, or their 80s for assisted living.”
“A lot of the independent-living and assisted-living properties out there are really just apartment offerings, versus a true campus or wider community offering,” he said. “I do think some of those are struggling because they’re having difficulty trying to present themselves as something unique, as opposed to full-service retirement communities.”
Hoosier Village’s leafy campus, nestled along Zionsville Road and West 96th Street, is like a small town, with several neighborhoods divided into independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care, anchored by a community center and several small lakes.
The campus actually began more than a century ago as a church-sponsored orphanage called Crawford Baptist Industrial School, on 185 donated acres in Zionsville. From 1905 to 1951, more than 1,500 children called the complex home. In the early 1950s, as orphanages began phasing out, the complex changed its name to Indiana Baptist Home and began taking in senior citizens. The campus was renamed Hoosier Village in 1952. The headquarters of BHI is on the southern side of the campus, off West 96th Street.
Expansion spree
Altogether, Hoosier Village offers five neighborhoods for independent living, one for assisted living, a memory support center, and a health and rehabilitation center. When the latest expansion is complete, the complex will have close to 600 units. Residents can move from one part of the community to another as their health needs change. The current expansion is just the latest in a campus building blitz over the past decade. In 2012, the company opened Hickory Hall, a memory support center; along with a wellness center with indoor pool, fitness center, spa, and art studio. In 2013, it opened Hawthorn Hall, a three-story assisted-living complex with apartments and restaurants. In 2017, it opened The Oaks, a development featuring 4,000-square-foot duplexes. And earlier this year, it opened Poplar Chase, a complex featuring single-family homes and duplexes.
Much of the company’s funding comes from residents’ six-figure entry fees. When a resident moves out or dies, BHI refunds about 80% of the fee. In the meantime, BHI gets to use the money, often for a decade or more, to fund capital projects. Other expenses are funded through the monthly service fees, which can run as high as $2,280.
Those high fees mean Hoosier Village accepts mostly wealthy people, including retired doctors, lawyers and researchers from such big companies as Indianapolis-based drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. Most residents pay with private funds, rather than government insurance.
One on a recent day, Dr. Carl Schlageter, 82, a retired physician from Illinois who has lived in Hoosier Village for five years, was walking briskly on a treadmill inside the community center. He said he moved to Indiana to be closer to daughters in Carmel and Zionsville.
“This place is pristine,” he said, waving his arm around. “Everything is maintained great. It’s impeccable.”
Seeing opportunity
In the wider industry, things are not so great. In the past year, several large retirement projects have gone bankrupt, including communities in Oklahoma, Texas, and Illinois. Just last month, a 238-unit community in Fort Worth, Texas, called The Stayton at Museum Way defaulted on $109 million in bonds. The owner, Lifespace Communities Inc., based in West Des Moines, Iowa, blamed construction problems, poor sales, and high competition.
But bankruptcy for one owner sometimes spells opportunity for another. The Barrington, in Carmel, began hemorrhaging money soon after opening in 2013. The upscale complex, built for $142 million, included a fitness center, library, salon, spa, art studio and underground parking. But owner Mayflower Communities, an affiliate of Dallas-based Senior Quality Lifestyles Corp., struggled to meet debt payments, and by December 2018, began defaulting on bonds. A month later, facing foreclosure and receivership, it declared bankruptcy.
Residents at The Barrington were stunned to find out they might not get back their six-figure entry fees because they were considered unsecured creditors. Court records showed an unspecified number of residents in the 271-unit complex were owed a total of $52 million.
BHI officials sensed an opportunity. For years, they had looked for a way to enter Hamilton County, the wealthiest county in Indiana. As far back as 2006, they drew up plans to create a campus called Prairie Landing just west of Conner Prairie, a living history museum in Fishers. BHI began talking to developers, designed a campus and roughed out a marketing plan, offering units in a pre-sale program.
“Then the bottom fell out of the economy in 2008,” said Dattilo, who at the time was BHI’s vice president of operations. “What started out as probably the two best months of pre-sales that our development company ever had for a new retirement community turned into a trickle.”
BHI missed its sales targets, getting deals for only about 50 of the 300 planned units, far short of the 70% it had hoped to have in hand before beginning construction. So it scrapped the project.
Still looking
Yet it was still interested in Hamilton County. So when The Barrington went bankrupt a few years later, BHI was ready to pounce.
“We were contacted by some bankers who had become aware that [Mayflower] was violating their bond covenants, and knew that we might have some interest,” Dattilo said. “So we reached out to the third party that was handling the bankruptcy and let them know we certainly were interested.”
A bankruptcy judge in Texas approved the sale to BHI in July. To the relief of residents, the new owner said it would honor their contracts, including the refundable entry fees, which it said it was able to do after restructuring the debt and retiring the original bonds.
BHI, which took possession of The Barrington a few months ago, said it has eliminated a “small handful” of jobs and reduced other expenses, such as a wellness initiative that few residents were using.
With that acquisition under its belt, BHI isn’t resting. The company said the retirement housing market is undergoing consolidation, and it is actively exploring other properties in Indiana—including in Lafayette and Bloomington—as well as nearby states.
It has five retirement communities in Indiana, but nothing outside the state. Dattilo declined to say what properties or companies he is targeting.
“Those can be very delicate discussions internally for those organizations,” he said. “You know, they have residents that live in those communities and they have board members who are going to want to keep that information very close to the vest. I don’t really want to say much more than that.”•
Written by John Russell See original article: ibj.com
Hundreds of residents at The Barrington of Carmel retirement community can breathe a sigh of relief.
The complex, which slid into bankruptcy in January after defaulting on its bonds, is getting a new owner that is promising to honor their contracts and pay them $52 million in refundable entrance fees.
The residents had paid six-figure deposits before moving in but were listed in the bankruptcy filing as unsecured creditors, meaning they were in danger of losing their money.
The Barrington, which began hemorrhaging money soon after opening in 2013, is being acquired by Indianapolis-based Prairie Landing Community Inc. for $61 million. A bankruptcy judge in Texas approved the sale on July 24. It is expected to close in August, said CEO John Dattilo.
Written by ANN MARIE SHAMBAUGH See original article: youarecurent.com
The Barrington of Carmel could soon have a new owner.
Indianapolis-based BHI Senior Living has offered $61 million to purchase The Barrington, a Carmel senior living facility at 1335 S. Guilford Rd. A hearing is set for July 24 in a federal court in Dallas to finalize the deal.
Delaware-based Mayflower Communities, which owns The Barrington, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Previous reports stated that The Barrington listed $97 million in assets and $152 million in liabilities at that time.
BHI Senior Living was the only entity to make an offer for The Barrington. A faith-based non-profit organization, it owns and operates Hoosier Village in Zionsville, The Town House in Fort Wayne, Wesley Manor in Frankfort and Four Seasons in Columbus, Ind.
“As an organization, we are very excited about the opportunity to expand our mission,” said Nancy Jones, BHI vice president of sales and marketing. “We feel that The Barrington is a wonderful fit with BHI, and we’re very glad to have it as part of our family.”
The news came as a relief to many of The Barrington’s residents, who pay a six-figure entrance fee to live there. A large portion of the fee is refunded to residents or their estates if they move or die, but as unsecured creditors they were not guaranteed to recoup that money through the bankruptcy process.
BHI, however, has agreed to honor the contracts between The Barrington and its residents.
“The residents’ investment in their future will be protected,” Jones said.
Arnold Spilly said he paid a little less than $300,000 to move into The Barrington five years ago and was glad to hear that BHI is poised to become the new owner.
“We’ve had our own committee of five (residents) that have been looking after our interests. Most are retired attorneys that know what they’re talking about. I think they protected our interests pretty well,” Spilly said. “Most people are pretty casual about what’s going on, and they’re happy with the outlook.”
The Barrington is a not-for-profit organization, funded in part by municipal bonds. Mayflower Communities Inc. defaulted on multiple bond payments in 2018. The City of Carmel sold $119 million in bonds for Mayflower in 2012. The terms of the bonds state that the City of Carmel is not financially responsible for the debt, and the bankruptcy was not expected to affect payments to the city.
The Barrington opened in 2014 and includes 271 living units on nearly 20 acres and employs more than 200 people.
Current has reached out to officials from The Barrington and their attorney for more information.
One non-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) operator has quickly sold all of its newly constructed luxury duplexes, attracting a highly sought after population of younger seniors in the process. The provider, Indianapolis-based BHI Senior Living, believes this shows that seniors do not necessarily want to downsize as they age, and the senior living industry could benefit by building bigger.
BHI recently sold the last of 30 newly constructed luxury duplexes at its 395-unit Hoosier Village community in Indianapolis. BHI has three other CCRCs in Indiana: The Towne House in Fort Wayne, Four Seasons in Columbus and Wesley Manor in Frankfort. The company also owns a 15-hole golf course located a short drive away from Hoosier Village.
Each duplex at Hoosier Village has many of the same design features you’d see in a standalone single-family dwelling, such grassy yards, mature trees, front porches, oversized two-car garages, open floor plans and upscale kitchens.
The homes represent a significant investment of roughly $14.5 million, with an additional $2 million going toward infrastructure such as roads and drainage. But that investment has paid off thus far, according to BHI’s president and CEO, John Dattilo.
“We had a tremendous response from the market,” Dattilo told Senior Housing News. “All of the units had deposits on them before we even started to build, and that was just a matter of a couple months.”
Not afraid of the basement
Part of the appeal of the big homes is that they offer everything one might have had in their pre-retirement dwelling, but with the added security and comfort of being part of a CCRC.
“When people came to one of our communities, they weren’t always looking to downsize or live a different lifestyle than they currently had,” Dattilo said. “They don’t want to leave their nice cabinets and countertops and stainless steel range hoods and crown molding.”
Some of the duplexes even come with finished basements—a feature some other CCRCs have shied away from, Dattilo said.
“People that are coming to us are coming from these homes with large, finished basements,” he added. “Traditionally, other levels in retirement community homes were kind of prohibitive, but we just decided we were going to duplicate what [retirees] already have at home.”
That focus on design and detail might be why the duplex’s residents are generally more affluent and younger than their counterparts in the CCRC’s independent living wing.
“We see a lot of applications come in from people with significant personal assets,” Dattilo said. “And if we can bring in a resident that is 72 versus 82 years old, that’s a big benefit to our community.”
Entry fees for residents range from $550,000 to $650,000. They also must pay a monthly service charge, depending on where they fall on the care continuum.
“I absolutely believe there is an untapped segment of the market,” Dattilo said. “For a long time, we had this predetermined notion of what retirement living is supposed to look like and feel like, but it’s exactly what we already have in our own homes.”
BHI, which Dattilo described as a “very entrepreneurial” nonprofit, increasingly sees its future in bigger homes for more independent residents. Future plans also include a second dog park, garden areas, pavilions and nature trails.
“I think you will see BHI gravitate in that direction,” Dattilo said. “We’re going to be looking at units with larger spaces, and we’re not going to be afraid to look at upstairs rooms, additions, or…things like basements.”
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Two one-day conferences coming in June. Both are designed for health-care and social-service professionals, nurses, chaplains, pastors, church lay leaders, art and music therapists, family caregivers, and others involved with helping the elderly in late-life issues with CEUs available.
Embracing Our Time as We Care for Seniors Tuesday, June 6 at The Towne House in Fort Wayne, Indiana
The Towne House, A BHI Senior Living Community 2209 St. Joe Center Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46825
Registration $25 (4.5 CEUs available-$15). Click here for registration form.
Unleashing the Spirit in Eldercare Thursday, June 8 at Four Seasons in Columbus, Indiana
Four Seasons, A BHI Senior Living Community 1901 Taylor Road, Columbus, IN 47203
Registration $30 (5 CEUs available-$15). Click here for registration form.
Current in Zionsville – By Ann Marie Shambaugh – Nov 15, 2016 –
For years, Dave and Janice Welty drove past Hoosier Village on the way to visit their daughter and her family in Zionsville. They often wondered what lay beyond its entryway on W. 96th St., and as it turns out – it’s their next home.
The Weltys expect to be among the first residents of The Oaks at Hoosier Village, a $45 million, 75-duplex expansion of the retirement community featuring homes designed primarily for those just entering their senior years. The units average 3,000 square feet and include open floor plans, two-car garages, optional walk-out basements and more. “These are things folks would probably expect in their current homes,” said Nancy Jones, corporate marketing director for BHI Senior Living, which owns and operates Hoosier Village. “They really didn’t want to give up having families visit, entertaining and keeping the things they really love,” she said. Dave Welty, who worked in real estate before retiring, said he was attracted to the large front porch, much like the one on his current home in the Dayton suburb of Oakwood. “I like the exterior appearance,” he said. “I really like the idea of an outside porch, kind of like the old-fashioned communities where everybody sat outside.”
Young seniors Jones said that others in the senior living industry have recently reached out to Hoosier Village because of the community’s efforts to attract younger residents. The minimum age to live there is 62 years old, although spouses may be younger. “There’s a lot of interest in what we’re doing, because we’re attracting such a young crowd,” Jones said. Liz Carroll, executive director of the Indiana Assisted Living Association, said she’s seeing a nationwide trend of communities reaching out to “young” seniors.
“Senior living providers are looking at the customer base and making the determination that sometimes younger seniors might also be interested in having their own homes, a built-in community and wonderful amenities,” she said, adding that she’s heard of some communities allowing residents as young as 55 years old.
Carroll expects the trend to continue as the “silver tsunami” of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age continues to grow. She said young retirees are interested in prime locations, low- or maintenance-free housing, great dining options and robust activities and more. “There are some really interesting things going on right now in designing these properties and figuring out what people want, and it’s exciting,” she said.
The expansion The Oaks will be constructed on nearly 70 acres on the north side of the Hoosier Village campus, which is at 5600 W. 96th St. Construction of the model will begin this month, with other units scheduled to be built in 2017.
In addition to the 150 units in duplexes, the expansion will include seven estate lots, a pocket park, garden area, pavilion and the community’s second dog park. The buildings will be near a forested area and within walking distance of a new nature trail through the woods and native prairie park.
Welty, who at 80 is likely to be older than some of his new neighbors, said that – among other things – he is looking forward to living in a community that makes it easy to go walking outdoors. “You can get out, even in your later ages,” he said. “It’s just nice, kind of like a college campus, with all those beautiful trees. To me there isn’t much it’s lacking.”
Young and old While Hoosier Village has found its niche providing homes for people in retirement, it didn’t start out that way. In 1904, Edward and Sarah Crawford donated 185 acres to start an orphanage in Boone County. The Crawford Baptist Industrial School was run out of a building on the campus that now houses the IT department. Decades later, its mission began to change as welfare organizations opted to place children with foster families rather than in orphanages. “In the ’50s there was less of a need for (an orphanage), but they began building the first part of what was then the Indiana Baptist Home in Zionsville,” Jones said.
Hoosier Village was founded on the site in 1956 as BHI Senior Living’s first full-service retirement community. BHI, which has roots in the Baptist denomination, still operates the campus, as well as Four Seasons in Columbus, The Towne House in Fort Wayne and Wesley Manor in Frankfort.
Inside Indiana Business – By Dan McGowan – Oct 12, 2016 –
ZIONSVILLE – Indianapolis-based BHI Senior Living Inc. has announced a $45 million expansion in Zionsville that Chief Executive Officer John Dattilo says positions the nonprofit ahead of a “sea change” in the retirement community industry. Plans call for 150 new duplexes north of the Hoosier Village development on the northwest edge of Marion County. BHI says The Oaks at Hoosier Village “reproduces or continues” the lifestyle of baby boomers looking to relocate before reaching the needs-based stage of care.
Dattilo tells Inside INdiana Business customers nearing retirement age are demanding different things that they have in the past. The new floorplans call for an average of 3,000 square-feet, much larger than typical layouts. Dattilo says “baby boomers want a different product, so we’re creating something entirely new for this market. They want homes and options that duplicate the standard of living they already enjoy. Nobody should have to sacrifice comfort or style simply because they are transitioning in their retirement.”
He says “It sounds a little hokey, but we’re trying to take the senior out of senior living,” adding the industry is moving more toward appealing to a younger demographic who is more active and technology-involved than previous generations of customers.
Construction on a model will begin next month, with additional units being built next year. In addition to Hoosier Village in Indianapolis, BHI also owns The Towne House in Fort Wayne, Four Seasons in Columbus and Wesley Manor in Frankfort.
Times-Sentinel – By Marda Johnson – Oct 12, 2016 –
A zoning change that will allow Hoosier Village to expand has been approved by the Zionsville Town Council — but not unanimously. The matter received a vote at the town council meeting Monday, Oct. 3, after a discussion prompted by Councilman Josh Garrett. Garrett said the change that would clear the way for 150 townhomes and seven estate lots will add to the town’s population but not its tax base. The property’s owner, BHI Senior Living Communities, is a nonprofit faith-based foundation.
Garrett first voiced concern about allowing the zoning change at the morning meeting of the town council a week earlier. Because neither the Zionsville director of planning nor a representative of BHI were present at that time, a vote on the zoning change was tabled at that meeting.
When it returned before the council last week, representatives of BHI and Zionsville Director of Planning and Economic Development Wayne DeLong were present to answer questions about the future development.
Garrett stressed his concerns were not about BHI or Hoosier Village but about the amount of services that would be used by the tax-exempt properties. Based on his own calculations, if the project were to be undertaken by a for-profit entity, it would generate $600,000 in taxes, he said. He also questioned if the development would have an unfair advantage in the marketplace, because the tax savings would allow Hoosier Village to offer lower rents and better services than its tax-paying competitors, or potentially generate more cash flow for its stakeholders.
“I know it’s a good deal for BHI and also for the residents, but what about the community?” Garrett asked. Spokesmen for the development noted that BHI had acquired the land 10 years ago, before that area was annexed into Zionsville, and that the land had always been intended to be used as a part of Hoosier Village, which they said is an asset to the community.