Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era

Tim Mekeel, Staff Writer

Sep 05, 2009 09:33 EST

From a financial perspective, this real estate deal is hard to figure.

But it's being called a transaction that's more about people than numbers.

Lancaster General Health sold Maple Farm Nursing Center this week to Garden Spot Village for $1.67 million, courthouse records show.

The price is a mere one-fourth of the $6.61 million Lancaster General paid to acquire the skilled-nursing facility 12 years ago.

"I'm quite certain they could have gotten more money from a for-profit provider," said Garden Spot Village's Steve Lindsey on Friday.

"But they wanted to find a nonprofit organization that had resident care and staff satisfaction as a priority … ," said the chief executive officer.

"I chalk that up to Lancaster General's commitment to the community," added Lindsey.

At the same time, the weak economy worked to Garden Spot Village's advantage too, he said.

"Quite frankly, with the recession, there aren't a lot of buyers out there," observed Lindsey.

Efforts to get a comment from a Lancaster General spokesman on Maple Farm's price were not successful.

As this newspaper reported last month, the deal marks the first of possibly two expansions that would "extend the mission" of the nonprofit beyond its New Holland campus.

Lindsey said Garden Spot Village continues to consider joining Ed Drogaris in developing "active adult" housing in downtown's vacant Lancaster Press building.

At Maple Farm, Garden Spot Village will spend another $2 million to $3 million to convert the facility from an institutional-style setting into "households."

Each "household" will have about 20 residents. They will share a kitchen, living room and dining room but have private bedrooms.

Garden Spot Village converted the 73-bed skilled-nursing center at its New Holland campus to the "household" model in 2006, a change that has proven extremely popular, said Lindsey.

As part of the change, Maple Farm will trim its capacity from 119 beds by temporarily not accepting new residents. The new capacity has yet to be determined.

Cornerstone Architects has been hired to design the changes to the 604 Oak St. facility, measuring 41,000 square feet on a 61-acre property.

Cornerstone will draw on the input of Maple Farm residents and staff, said Lindsey. Renovations are expected to start in fall 2010 and last 12 to 18 months.

Maple Farm got its start in the 1930s as a summer resort. Over the years, it evolved into a skilled-care facility.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/241812