While the Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation continues its fundraising efforts for the 2012 completion of a new senior care facility in Hailey, an experienced developer and manager is playing an advisory role to ensure that the plan remains on track.
Greystone Communities, a Texas-based company providing management, development and marketing consulting services for senior care facilities, is well versed on what is being planned for Hailey.
With over 350 clients in more than 40 states, Greystone has plenty of experience helping non-profit organizations such as the Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation plan, develop and finance senior communities.
While Michael Lanahan, Greystone's chairman, said every facility is unique, the proposal for Croy Canyon is different enough that his company initially declined an offer to work on the project.
"We thought it was too small for the kind of projects we had typically done, if you could call any of our projects typical," Lanahan said.
Considering that two of its recent projects include a 55-story skyscraper in Chicago and a 37-story high-rise in Seattle, it's no wonder that the firm initially passed on a facility in an area that has a population a tiny fraction of the size of those cities.
It was that experience that led the foundation to seek out Greystone's consulting expertise.
"We were looking for a well-established partner, which they obviously are," said Kathleen Eder, executive director of the foundation. "We wanted someone that's done a large number of projects and is vastly experienced."
The Hailey facility is designed to accommodate about 80 residents in three types of accommodations—skilled nursing, independent living and assisted living. The new facility is planned for a site one mile west of Hailey in Croy Canyon, on vacant land across the road from the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley.
Lanahan said his company decided to work with the foundation after understanding the level of the board of directors' commitment.
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"We turned them down and they kept on calling," Lanahan said with a laugh. "I don't know if we've ever seen a more committed group in terms of amount of work they are putting in."
The board has undertaken the significant challenge of raising $13 million of the estimated $31 million it will cost to build the 75,000-square-foot facility. The remainder will come from the sale of the Blaine Manor care facility in Hailey and a construction loan.
Lanahan, who has owned a house at the Valley Club north of Hailey for the past five years, said that so far, his company has helped create a business plan that determined the optimal size of the facility with a priority on making sure it can become debt free soon after operations begin.
"We want to create a practical and successful business, not a real estate development," Lanahan said. "This is a nonprofit—they're not in it to flip real estate."
Once fundraising is complete and construction begins, Lanahan said, there's the possibility that Greystone would continue as manager of the facility, a service it provides to many of its clients.
However, Lanahan said he envisions a local executive director taking over the management after being trained.
"With a trained executive director, there probably won't be a need for us," he said. "The facility doesn't need to be burdened by expenses like an outside management firm."
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
In preliminary designs, the Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation’s planned senior-care facility would be reminiscent of mountain homes found throughout the Wood River Valley. The facility is estimated to cost $30 million, of which $13 million would come from community donations. Courtesy graphic
