Santa Barbara News Press: Friendship Manor Housing for Seniors Seeks Land for Relocation
March 14, 2010
Santa Barbara News Press, 3/14/2010
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Friendship Manor, committed to building a purpose, built property for senior residents; free up current University-area location for student housing [sic].
For over 37 years, Goleta-based Friendship Manor has been a prominent fixture in the Isla Vista community. While the retirement community offers some of the most affordable housing for those 62 and over in the Santa Barbara area, leaders of the nonprofit organization say it is time to relocate and create “purpose built” housing for their senior residents.
In addition to spreading the word of their search for new real estate, Friendship Manor is also seeking to partner with a like-minded organization or non-profit to expand the scope of services available at the new location to meet the needs of a growing senior population. Friendship Manor would seriously consider an organizational “match” such as a senior day care center or other type of senior-related group that has an interest in sharing part of their new space.
For more information about Friendship Manor and to learn about how you can help, please contact Patricia Fabing, Community Outreach Coordinator at 805-968-0771 or on the web at http://www.friendship-manor.org/
We want the community to hear about your real estate related fundraisers, charity work, events and accomplishments. Please submit your good news to bbrown@newspress.com.
Noozhawk: Friendship Manor Looking for New Place to Call Home
March 8, 2010
By Sonia Fernandez, Noozhawk Staff Writer | Published on 03.08.2010
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The independent-living facility says its current location doesn’t fit the needs of its elderly residents
Resident Shirley Bagwell welcomes Friendship Manor's move to a new location.
They’ve done the best they could with what they’ve had. They’ve even flourished. But now it’s time for these seniors to get a place of their own.
Patricia Fabing, marketing director for Friendship Manor, an independent senior living facility on El Colegio Road in Isla Vista, says it’s time to look into the future and step out of the current digs into a more “purpose-built†home.
“We’d like to be more current, and maybe cutting-edge,†Fabing said.
Built in the 1960s, the complex of buildings that houses the 200 seniors who live in Friendship Manor was originally the College Inn, built for student housing. A student-population drop in the early 1970s, after the riots that resulted in the burning of the Bank of America in Isla Vista in 1970, prompted the owners of the complex to offer it up for sale. The purchasers turned the complex into an independent-living facility, which it remains today.
As well as the buildings and the grounds have been used to create and maintain a thriving senior community for nearly 40 years, there’s only so much one can do to a building meant for younger, more able-bodied people to make it useful for the more elderly crowd — for whom mobility, accessibility and safety are big issues.
“This place was built for kids,†resident Shirley Bagwell said.
For instance, she said, the showers are small, and adding grab bars makes them even smaller. The stair steps aren’t deep enough to use with a cane or a walker, and there’s only one elevator in the whole complex.
Fabing said there are too many cost-prohibitive obstacles to performing needed retrofits. That, coupled with a desire to create greener standards of living for the senior residents, led to the decision to search for a place to build the ideal facility.
What will remain the same, however, are the activities and the amenities.
The organization has been looking at Goleta, but it’s also considering a broader search for a four- to five-acre site on which to build new senior housing. It would have a larger footprint than the current site, about three acres, to accommodate what Fabing calls the oncoming “senior tsunami,†the wave of seniors who may have to move out of their homes and into an independent-living situation.
Fabing said what makes Friendship Manor unique is that it’s virtually the only independent-living facility in town that incorporates a diversity of seniors from various economic situations. Other facilities are too pricey for some retirees, or seniors may not fit the requirements.
“It brings a vitality,†resident Sue Lipsky said of the social diversity of the seniors who come to Friendship Manor. “And I’ve always been excited about that.â€
The move won’t be an easy feat for Friendship Manor. Aside from the normal travails of finding, acquiring and developing land on the South Coast, preferably with access to shops and hospitals, the nonprofit organization’s tax-exempt status may not make its project as attractive to local jurisdictions as one that would be required to pay local property taxes.
“Our tax-exempt status is critical for us to maintain our affordability,†Skip Szymanski, board president of Friendship Manor, said in a recent statement. “Having a broad overview of the affordable housing needs in our area, Friendship Manor is a critical piece in the senior housing market. This allows us to offer incredible value to our senior residents and also sends out an important message about how we operate in the community.â€
Friendship Manor is looking to partner with other organizations with similar goals to collaborate on ways to provide care and services to seniors — potentially easing up on the need for those services from local jurisdictions.
Fabing said there are other benefits to the move. The current building is located in the middle of prime student housing, and can be reconverted to its original purpose, helping alleviate the congestion and parking crunch of Isla Vista when UCSB is in session.
Also, according to the organization, local retailers would benefit from having a population of 200 or so seniors in the area.
The construction and move — if and when they happen — will be a major expense to the organization, which will use the money from the sale of its current building to cover the cost. However, Fabing, who would not speculate on the total cost of the project at this time, provided assurance that the organization would search for other ways to fund the project before considering any price raise to the seniors — and that there would be “no senior left behind†during the relocation.
That comes as good news for senior residents such as Frank Hazen, who came to Friendship Manor with his wife just a few years ago.
“It’s wonderful here,†said Hazen, whose wife died recently. “It’s the easiest living we’ve ever had in our lives.â€
— Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.
KEYT: Senior Residence Looking to Relocate
March 5, 2010
KEYT News, Santa Barbara
Mar 5, 2010
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Isla Vista’s Friendship Manor is looking for a new home, after over 30-years at it’s present site on El Colegio Road.
Right now, about 200-seniors live at the multi-story facility. However, the non-profit is looking for a new, modern, upgraded home for it’s residents.
Currently, they are seeking community support to find a site, somewhere between Goleta and Carpinteria.
Once a new location for Friendship Manor is found, the current site will be sold, possibly for student housing.
Santa Barbara Independent: Isla Vista’s Friendship Manor
March 4, 2010
Santa Barbara Independent, 3/4/2010
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Isla Vista’s Frienship Manor—home to approximately 200 people 62 years old and over—announced this week that it is looking to relocate. The search, however, has proven challenging given the facility’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt property status, which affords its residents less expensive monthly rates. Friendship Manor has said it is open to the idea of partnering and/or sharing facilities with an existing senior center. The move would reportedly benefit both Friendship Manor residents and UCSB students, as vacating the current facility would allow seniors increased community access and students additional university housing.
Friendship Manor Housing for Seniors Seeks Land for Relocation
March 1, 2010
For Immediate Release
Press Contacts: Chris Davis / Daniella Elghanayan – (805) 687-3322
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Friendship Manor committed to building a purpose built property for senior residents; free up current University-area location for student housing
Goleta, CA, March 1, 2010—For over 37 years, Goleta-based Friendship Manor has been a prominent fixture in the Isla Vista community. While the retirement community offers some of the most affordable housing for those 62 and over in the Santa Barbara area, leaders of the nonprofit organization say it is time relocate and create ‘purpose built’ housing for their senior residents.
While Friendship Manor has been making the most of its resources over the years to maintain a secure and safe environment for seniors, there are insurmountable limitations to re-design and retrofit. The concept of purpose built is an approach to housing design and development that, in the case of senior communities, accommodates mobility, access to community resources, and transportation. The current Friendship Manor building was built for student housing in 1967.
In addition to spreading the word of their search for new real estate, Friendship Manor is also seeking to partner with a like-minded organization or nonprofit to expand the scope of services available at the new location to meet the needs of a growing senior population. Friendship Manor would seriously consider an organizational “match†such as a senior day care center or other type of senior-related group that has an interest in sharing part of their new space.
Friendship Manor has been conducting a Carpinteria to Goleta-wide search for the perfect 4-5 acre location on which to build—ideally a location that would provide easy access to public transportation, local shopping, and medical facilities. Friendship Manor is diligently rising to this challenge of finding the right property, in the right location, with the proper zoning. The organization faces a much more arbitrary, yet major, obstacle to building new housing: As a 501c3 tax exempt property, this becomes a challenge to cities or counties facing increasing deficits.
“Our tax exempt status is critical for us to maintain our affordability,†said Skip Szymanski, Board President of Friendship Manor and also serves as the COO of the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara “Having a broad overview of the affordable housing needs in our area, Friendship Manor is a critical piece in the senior housing market. This allows us to offer incredible value to our senior residents and also sends out an important message about how we operate in the community.â€
“In this economy, a project such as this would generate significant local benefits such as contract work for local companies, and the humanitarian benefit of improving the quality of life for our resident seniors,†added Szymanski. “We also believe that our current location will be ideal for housing UCSB students. We think it’s a win for the greater Santa Barbara Community.â€
Currently, Friendship Manor houses 200 senior residents and employs 40 people. Friendship Manor is a mixed income property allowing seniors of diverse socio-economic backgrounds to live together in one location. Monthly rental rates include meals and utilities and range from $782-$962. Amenities include resident “community†gardens, laundry facilities, beauty shop, library, theatre, pool, computer access, onsite maintenance staff, a small store, exercise area, transportation, covered parking, and a variety of planned on and offsite activities.
Community benefits of a new location
- Provide purpose built housing for approximately 200 seniors
- New construction and landscaping will incorporate green building and environmentally friendly elements
- A convenient location will reduce the need for residents to drive, thereby reducing traffic and safety impacts
- Increased business for local retailers that are located near the new Friendship Manor
- Architectural design will enhance and beautify area
- Workforce housing is increased due to UCSB students freeing up rental units in the area and relocating within walking distance to UCSB
Benefits for Isla Vista/UCSB Area
- Additional housing for students, which is in critical demand
- Reduced traffic impacts in the congested Isla Vista area
- New jobs created to re-create and maintain housing
About Friendship Manor
For 37 years, Friendship Manor has been quietly providing senior housing in the Santa Barbara, California area. It is not just a place to live, but a community that offers comfortable surroundings, which reinforce self respect, self esteem, and encourages new friendships.
For more information about Friendship Manor and to learn about how you can help, please contact Patricia Fabing, Community Outreach Coordinator at 805-968-0771 or on the web at www.friendship-manor.org