Photobucket


Development Name:
"Traditions at Ohio University"

Description: Originally billed as a Continuing-Care Retirement Community (CCRC), now talked about as a retirement village for active seniors only.

Planned Location: 16 acres of land off Stimson and Morris Avenues between Near East Side neighborhood and Hocking River, with portions owned by OU, Athens City and the Hocking Conservancy District.1

Managing Company: National Church Residences, the country’s largest nonprofit senior housing provider, founded by a group of Ohio Presbyterian Churches, headquarters in Columbus, OH.

Institutional Backing: OU, under former president Robert Glidden, laid the groundwork for the development in 2004 and University officials continue to be a strong advocates for the project.

Land Lease: Ohio University administrators originally made their portion of the land available for free, setting NCR’s lease at a token $1/year, but after sharp state, civic and legal criticism, OU recently revised the agreement, making it a $40,000/year 40-year lease with a 40-year extension. Athens City exchanged their chunk for a promise that NCR pay $35,000 for a 1/3 acre playground near the Athens Public Library. The lease terms of the Hocking Conservancy District's land have never been clarified in the news media.2


Planned units: 151, mostly one and two-bedroom apartments, 2 2-3 story main buildings, 4 cottages, contructed in two building phases.3

Residents: 200 residents, couples and singles.4

Services: Minimal assisted living, no nursing beds currently planned.5

Cost To Live There: Originally quoted in 2006 as $1500-$2500/month, fee would include one meal per day and local transportation6; NCR representatives have indicated that costs will rise now that the lease agreement is no longer $17.

Medicare/Medicaid Accepted: No in Phase I, Yes in Phase II? Hinges on whether NCR acquires nursing beds for the facility.8

Federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Money Accepted: No9

Planned Employees: 3510

Public Support: Mostly among retirees around Athens City with Margaret Topping as spokesperson.

Public Opposition: Mostly from Near East Side residents, with Christine Fahl as spokesperson. A petition against the proposed retirement center garnered 800 signatures in 2006.11

Other Critics: The Lindley Inn, a retirement center in The Plains, claims that OU is giving an unfair advantage to NCR by allowing it to lease public land for under fair market value and filed a lawsuit in 2007, which they later withdrew.12 City Council member Bill Bias manages a competing local retirement facility and has raised complaints similar to those of the Lindley Inn’s lawyers.

Current Status: Ohio University is currently awaiting
Ohio Department of Administrative Services (DAS) approval for the lease agreement.13

0 comments: