Sunwest Management of Salem, Ore., buys Tulsa assisted living center

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Apr 25, 2007 by Kirby Lee Davis

Sunwest Management of Salem, Ore., paid $9.05 million for the Aberdeen Heights assisted living center in Tulsa.

This acquisition marks Sunwest's eighth Oklahoma acquisition in the last five years, making it the state's largest assisted-living provider.

Penny Ridenour, executive director of the Oklahoma Assisted Living Association, attributed that expansion to the growth potential in the relatively young sector. Assisted living only became a licensed field in 1997.

But Wally Gutzler, executive vice president and general council for Sunwest, pinned its expansion on market opportunity.

"We're in about 38 states now," he said. "These opportunities just show up. We don't target states as such. We look for individual opportunities as they arise. It happens that several of them were in Oklahoma in the last few years."

Tulsa County Courthouse records show Sunwest, as Tulsa Senior Living LLC, acquired the nine-year-old Aberdeen Heights at 7220 S. Yale Ave. from DHH LLC.

This represents Sunwest's second Tulsa operation, following last year's acquisition of The Vine. Sunwest renamed that Broken Arrow complex Cedar Ridge.

"They totally gutted and renovated it," said Aberdeen administrator Brenda Collier, a registered nurse. "It's a whole new facility."

Having been onsite at the three-acre Aberdeen complex for only a week, Collier said Sunwest continues to compile information on the 84,650-square-foot Aberdeen Heights and its 82 studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments. She could share no information on its occupancy, renovation plans or employment.

"We will be adding new staff members, in all departments," said the seven-year industry veteran. "We will be improving the quality of living for our guests."

Sunwest also operates two centers in Oklahoma City, Emerald Square and Town Village; two in Muskogee; one in Tahlequah, and one in Purcell. It entered Oklahoma with its two Muskogee acquisitions on Oct. 1, 2002.

"We wouldn't be there if we didn't think there wasn't a good prospect for business in Oklahoma," said Gutzler. "We have bought properties that usually needed some upgrading, either physically or in management. That's general, so I can't say that definitely applied in Oklahoma, but to some degree that's the case."

While she believes the market's biggest boom may be ending, Ridenour expects another round of acquisitions in three years as the assisted living population rises.

"Rural areas that are underserved will pick up more regional companies," she said, mirroring national trends. "Oklahoma City is fairly saturated, but Tulsa still has room for growth, especially when it comes to memory care."