Possible Boise senior living center closure could force dozens to search for new homes
It took two months for Marc Seidenfeld to find a space at an assisted living center for his brother, Martin, who’s 86 years old and unable to live alone. In December, he found that space at Arbor Village at Hillcrest, a center at 1093 S. Hilton St. in Boise’s Central Bench neighborhood.
But four months later, Seidenfeld doesn’t know if his brother — along with the nearly 100 residents at Arbor Village — will need to find a new place to live, after the building’s owner filed an application to convert it into apartments.
Information about whether the center will actually close has been ambiguous and conflicting, leading residents, families and staff members unsure about what the future holds.
“Finding another place will be extremely difficult and is not something I look forward to going through again,” Seidenfeld said.
The Boise Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved a conditional use permit for the center’s owner, DiNapoli Capital Partners of Walnut Creek, California, to convert the assisted living center into a 77-unit apartment complex.
Multiple family members of residents spoke against the permit, arguing that their loved ones would have nowhere to go if they were evicted.
One speaker shared a series of letters sent to residents, one in December and two in March, in which DiNapoli and Integral Senior Living — the center’s property manager — assured residents that despite the application, conversion to apartments was neither financially feasible nor likely.
Roselynn Muzzy, regional vice president of Integral Senior Living, told residents on March 16 that “there is no plan to move forward with a different use of our building.”
DiNapoli Vice President Michael Sieman sent a letter to residents on Dec. 15, which said the permit application was a “contingency plan” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many centers out of business. He added, though, that Arbor Village was recovering and that “it seems the exploration of a conversion was premature.”
The center is still taking in new residents, despite the application. Still, the owners did not rescind their application to convert the center into apartments.
Sieman declined a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday and asked that all questions be sent in writing. As of this writing several hours later, the Statesman had received no response.
While commissioners approved the permit, nearly all expressed discomfort with how DiNapoli handled communications with its residents.
“To be assuring that you’re not going to sell or you’re not going to redevelop and now this is on the table — that’s heartbreaking,” Commissioner Meredith Stead said.
Commissioner Chis Blanchard cast the lone vote against the application, after saying the documentation was “spotty” and that it was unclear what DiNapoli’s true intentions for the property were.
Assisted living rooms hard to come by in Treasure Valley
This comes as older residents across the Treasure Valley struggle to find space at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, with about 11% of centers in Idaho closing down in the past year, greatly reducing supply.
Seidenfeld, who testified against the permit, told the Statesman that it will be hard to find his brother a new place to live, especially since he’s started showing symptoms of dementia.
“I know there’s a housing crisis in Boise, but that’s nothing compared to the crisis in finding a place for someone who needs assisted living,” he said.
For those relying on Medicaid, the search can be even more fraught. Lynn Scott, whose mother-in-law has been at Arbor Village since October, said it took six months to find her a place at a center. He said there are very few Medicaid beds available, as most centers only reserve a small percentage of their beds for those on Medicaid.
He said he had no idea about DiNapoli’s application until he read a news story about it, and what information he had received has been conflicting.
“My family has not received any correspondence whatsoever from the owners,” Scott said. “I don’t know what to trust. My wife is just shaking. She’s so upset she doesn’t know what to do.”
Daphne Romani of Erstad Architects, who is representing DiNapoli in the application process, told commissioners they still need to evaluate factors like construction costs before building, but added the company would assist in finding current residents a new place to live.
Amanda Schaus, an attorney representing DiNapoli, said the application was to make sure such a project would be allowed, but said there’s no decision yet whether these plans will move forward.
“This is just a first step to get this approval,” Schaus said. “The owners have not prepared any plans yet... it is still early in the process.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
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