State approves $55M in senior living for O’Reilly Development

Last edited 8:25 a.m., Sept. 29, 2015

The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee recently approved two certificates of need for nearly $55 million in senior housing by O’Reilly Development Co. LLC.

Split between an $18.4 million Nixa senior living community in The Villages At Wicklow and a $35.8 million community in St. Charles, construction is expected to begin late this year with completion in mid-2017 for both projects, according to a news release.

The development plans come after a November 2014 study by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services found by the year 2020, the Springfield metropolitan statistical area will need an another 908 skilled nursing facility beds and 329 assisted living facility beds to keep up with the growing demand from baby boomers.

Aiming to fill the need, on Nov. 3 of last year, St. Charles-based Focused Senior Communities announced an 80-bed, $15 million senior living complex in Ozark.

Castlewood Senior Living

The 113,060-square-foot project calls for three buildings: a three-story, 51-unit independent living home; a two-story, 40-unit assisted living facility; and a single-story, 13-unit memory care center.

“With the continued growth of Christian County and after conducting a senior housing needs assessment, two critical components were revealed in our market analysis: the need to offer more than one level of service with some type of aging-in-place service and, second, the need for sufficient housing for the current senior population and the future baby boomer population,” developer Pat O’Reilly said in the release.

Christian County could be the hardest hit by the upcoming boom, with DHSS projecting a need for 513 additional skilled nursing beds, more than half the total beds needed in the MSA, comprising Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk and Webster counties.

O’Reilly has hired general contractor Build LLC and architect H Design Group LLC for the project. St. Charles-based Arrow Senior Living will handle operations and property management.

Boulevard Senior Living

With more than double the beds of the Nixa project, O’Reilly’s St. Charles senior living community will take shape under the name Boulevard Senior Living. The 218-bed project also calls for independent living, assisted living and memory care neighborhoods. Financing is being provided by Springfield First Community Bank.

The 195,769-square-foot project would be developed on 10 acres owned by O’Reilly Development in the city’s northwest corner next to the mixed-use 370 Commerce Park development. The acreage sits between Interstate 70 and Highway 370 and is within miles of St. Joseph Hospital and Barnes Jewish Hospital, according to the release.

“Our team is excited to move forward with such a supported project in a growing community,” said Denise Heintz, partner and director of operations and development of O’Reilly Development, in the release. “Benefiting the region’s employment, approximately 65 new jobs will be created, including highly skilled and licensed staff.”

The development company will again partner with Springfield-based Build LLC as general contractor and Arrow Senior Living for management. Architectural work will be handled by Kansas City-based SWD Architects.  

Owned by O’Reilly and Heintz, a member of the O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) family, O’Reilly Development is a real estate and development firm specializing in historic preservation, senior housing, affordable multifamily and student housing communities.

The company also is currently working on a $22 million senior living community in Blue Springs, near Kansas City, and a $5.5 million special needs and affordable housing community on West Grand Street.

The company also was forced to rebid a $34 million senior-living project in Joplin, following a technical error by the city before the loss of its master developer, Wallace Bajjali Development Partners LP.