Doug Schorpp | Posted: Saturday, June 27, 2009 9:00 am
For those on the management team, it is more than just a job. It is a way of life, a philosophy that calls for dignity, respect, fullness of life for its clients. That is what operators of the new Senior Star at Elmore Place senior housing complex have on their minds as they open the three-building site along Elmore Avenue and 46th Street in Davenport.
"We want to fulfill our mission statement, which is providing a better environment and better home," said Anja Rogers, senior vice president of Senior Star Services, a Tulsa, Okla.,-based company that owns and manages two senior complexes, including the Davenport site.
She said one of their goals is to help residents, many of whom struggle with the decision to leave longtime homes, feel at ease in their new surroundings.
Senior Star's three buildings have 237 housing units and will employ up to 200 people. The total cost of the project is more than $30 million, Rogers said.
The memory care unit just opened and has one resident. The assisted living unit will open in mid-July and the independent living facility should be completed in December.
The opening comes after several changes since the concept was unveiled three years ago.
In July 2006, Angelus Management Services Inc. announced the $20 million project for the Middleton, Wis.-based company. At the time, representatives said it would be built in three phases, with the three four-unit villas opening in spring 2007, the independent living facility later in that year and the assisted living facility in 2008.
In March 2007, Midwest Senior Living replaced Angelus Management Services as the managing company for Angelus Retirement Community of Davenport. Eventually, Health Care REIT, a Toledo, Ohio-based equity real estate investment trust purchased the property from Angelus and in March 2009, Health Care REIT hired Senior Star Services to manage the property.
"We work with the owner," Rogers said. "Health Care REIT has over 600 communities like this. They were looking for a company that would help move this particular project along. They needed somebody who was able to handle that. They saw us as a top organization to complete this project both physically and operationally."
The facility's executive director is Robert Rados, who has worked with seniors since 1985 as an administrator at nursing homes and retirement communities.
"It is a pleasure being in Davenport to serve the Quad-City area," he said. "I invite everyone to come for a visit and learn about the support and resources which we offer for people to engage in active living."