Victorian Manor in Batavia, which has been facing financial difficulty (just last fall, there were $1.54 million in liens against the property), has a new owner and a new name.
It's now The Manor House, owned and operated by Manor House, LLC. The financially troubled Sunwest Management transferred the facility to a group of 10 individual investors.
Full press release after the jump:
It’s official—Victorian Manor is now The Manor House. On Friday, June
26, 2009, ownership was transferred from Sunwest Management to Manor House,
LLC.
The new owners are the 10 individual investors who were originally brought in
by Sunwest when it purchased the facility in 2006. When Sunwest began to
struggle financially in 2008, the investors undertook an effort to take
control of the facility and have now been able to conclude the transfer of
control and ownership.
“We loved this facility when we first invested in 2006 and love it even
more today as we have been able to really get to know the staff and
residents,” said Gordon Davis, the Managing Partner for the new ownership.
“This is more than a physical facility. It is home for our residents, but
also, a community itself and an integral part of Batavia and all of Genesee
County.”
The Manor House is an independent living facility for seniors with 40
apartments and a full dining room in the original 15 year old building on
East Main Street. The new owners will now complete the construction of two
new wings which will bring the total number of studio, one and two bedroom
apartments to 90.
Despite its financial and management troubles, Sunwest, as the fourth largest
operator of senior living facilities in the nation, understood how to design
a senior living facility that was more than just an apartment. The new wings
were designed to complement the existing building with additional common
community spaces, an exercise room; a games and recreation room, a hair salon
and a large “ice cream parlor.” “I think the ice cream parlor will be
where everyone meets during the day” said Davis. “Living at The Manor
House is about being with friends and people you enjoy. Staff is there to
support our residents with high quality meals, organized activities and
service that meets the different needs that our residents have.”
“We have finalized our agreements with the contractors and they will be
back to work to finish the new wings beginning next week” said Davis.
“We expect to have our first apartments ready for occupancy within about
four weeks.”
Local contractors who had stopped work last summer and filed liens on the
property are pleased to be back to finish their work. “We are proud of the
work that we do and it was hard to see this so close to completion yet no way
to finish” said Brian Wormley of Wormley Construction, a contractor doing a
walk through today. “This is a great facility and it will be nice to see
people moving in soon.”
The Manor House was originally built by St. Jerome Hospital in conjunction
with the Sisters of Mercy in 1994. It has been a prominent feature on East
Main ever since, and during the summer months, always with residents enjoying
the daily movement of Batavia from its expansive porch.
