BOISE — 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.
The Boise Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved a conditional-use permit for the center’s owner, DiNapoli Capital Partners of Walnut Creek, Calif., to convert the assisted living center into a 77-unit apartment complex.
The center is still taking in new residents, despite the application. Still, the owners didn’t rescind their application to convert the center into apartments.
While commissioners approved the permit, nearly all expressed discomfort with how DiNapoli handled communications with its residents.
This news 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 in the past year, greatly reducing supply.
“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,” Seidenfeld 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.”
