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Balfour Acquires Clare Bridge
The Daily Camera
June 27, 2002
A Louisville-based company building a full-service retirement community bought a competitor's facility in the city on Wednesday for $3 million.
Balfour Senior Care, started by Michael Schonbrun, bought the 30,000-square-foot building owned by Alterra Healthcare Corp. at 282 McCaslin Blvd.
With the purchase, Balfour now owns two sites, with plans to start construction on a third in Louisville later this year. Each of the sites will cater to different needs in the senior community. Once completed, Balfour will one day serve twice as many seniors as it does now.
"We'll really be able to take care of people all the way through the aging process," said Schonbrun, the company's president and chief executive.
When Schonbrun opened the 152-bed Balfour Retirement Community near South Boulder Road and Colo. 42 in 1999, it was quickly followed by two more retirement communities, Alterra Clare Bridge and Wellspring at Louisville.
With a crowded marketplace, Schonbrun said it made more sense to acquire Alterra's site than to build one just like it. Wednesday's purchase gives Balfour increased presence in the expanding market. In Boulder County, 22,670 people were older than 65, according to Census 2000 figures. Nearly 3,000 in the county topped 85 — up nearly 47 percent from 1990 — the census said.
Though it's not Balfour's only focus, the company specializes in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, two ailments more common in later years.
The coming 150,000-square-foot building, which will neighbor Balfour Retirement Community at 1855 Plaza Drive, will house about 130 seniors who are healthy and still mobile. That project will cost slightly more than $20 million.
The new site from Alterra — dubbed Balfour Cherrywood Village and located about three miles away — can handle up to 52 patients who need some daily assistance, including individuals in the early- to mid-stages of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
And Balfour Retirement Community helps residents with heavier needs, including those in the later stages of Alzheimer's.
"(The Alterra facility) was the missing piece," Schonbrun said. In March 2001, Milwaukee, Wis.-based Alterra (AMEX: ALI, $0.09) announced a restructuring effort and plans to sell off certain sites and land. Nine months ago, the company began negotiating with Balfour on the Louisville facility.
Alterra, which posted a $300 million loss during 2001, will sell 102 sites and 33 parcels of land through the restructuring, said Nancy Wier, a spokeswoman.
It currently operates 424 facilities, including three others in Boulder and Longmont