Retirement community closing because of financial pressure

Agnes Walliser will celebrate her 80th birthday Friday, but most of the boxes her children will bring will be moving boxes.

Last Wednesday, Walliser's retirement community gathered all 120 elderly and ailing residents and dropped a bombshell: Atria Woodside Village will be closed, the buildings razed and the land sold.

Residents have 60 days to move.

"I think it's one of the worst things they could have done to us," said Walliser, a widow undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia. She moved in four months ago, and paid a $1,000 nonrefundable rent deposit.

Atria Senior Living Group, one of the largest providers of independent- and assisted-living communities in the nation, said it has little choice but to close its aging Columbus property.

Woodside Village, at 2819 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., was acquired three years ago by the Louisville-based company in a merger package.

"It seems unusual to me that it's closing," said Diana Kubovcik, client-service director for the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging. "They usually just trade hands and get sold."

Demand for retirement units has outstripped supply as baby boomers age and seniors live longer. "The shortage is becoming significant," she said.

Atria officials said they had hoped to sell or remodel the complex, built using modular-style construction in 1988 as a Cardinal Village. But repairs, including a reported $1 million new roof, would price rents out of the market.

"The main problem is that the physical plant has outlived its usefulness as a senior-living community," said Danny McCoy, senior vice president of operations for Atria's Central Division. "It was a very difficult decision, and not one that was taken lightly at all."

Tenants said yesterday that they are angry and scared.

"They can't just do this to old people and say, 'It's done.' We deserve some consideration," said Rowena Clark, 82, who moved to Atria last year after she had a heart attack and her husband's Alzheimer's disease worsened.

While Atria confirmed it wants to sell its land — about 14 acres near the Northland Plaza shopping center — real-estate experts say that market is soft.

"The area you're talking about is the next step down from the same thing that happened to Morse Road," said Frank Petruziello, a partner with Skilken Properties.

Christopher Boring, president of Boulevard Strategies, agreed. "I don't see the need for another retail center on Rt. 161 given all the vacancies that exist. And most of the housing has moved beyond the Outerbelt."

Clark, who quickly moved to another retirement community, said 60 days is not enough time for most tenants to relocate.

McCoy said Ohio law requires only a 30-day notice, and that tenants were able to leave in 60 days at other properties Atria closed. The company invited 20 local competitors to make sales presentations to residents, and many offered tours and move-in specials.

But Pauline Lyons, 82, said she can't afford to move. Rents at Atria were typically lower, she said about $1,500 to $2,000 a month, which is why she moved there four years ago.

"I've worked all my life," said Lyons, who built airplanes during World War II and retired from a federal government job after 23 years.

"I went to look at one place and they told me it was $94,900 just to move in," she said. "I hate to go from here. They made me feel so welcome."

Jim Elledge, 80, a four-year resident of Woodside Village, said he'll miss his friends, who are slowly leaving.

"Monday, one of the fellas at our table didn't show up. He'd moved out."
Atria residents who need information about housing alternatives may contact the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging at 614-645-7250.

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