Sears Methodist plans upscale retirement village in West Waco. - Waco Tribune-Herald (Waco, TX)

Byline: Mike Copeland

Dec. 8--Businessman Bob Davis is helping to bring a $65 million retirement village to far West Waco, and he knows who the first residents will be: his mom and stepdad.

Wesley Village will go up on 62 acres at U.S. Highway 84 and Old Lorena Road, on land Davis and his wife, Erin, made available to Sears Methodist Retirement System. The Davises donated some of the land and sold the balance.

Sears Methodist president and CEO Keith Perry announced Thursday that the company will fill Wesley Village with 'executive' homes and apartments for people near retirement age and older.

Davis, who serves as chairman of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, said he already has moved his mother, 79-year-old Ellen Jones, to Waco from Amarillo and hopes to make her and his 86-year-old stepdad, Jack Jones, the first homeowners.

'I'm proud of him,' said Ellen Jones of her son. 'He's worked hard on this.'

'He's kind of persistent, like a pit bull,' said Perry of Davis.

Perry said Waco already appeared on his radar screen as a good site for a senior village. But Davis' doggedness in pursuing the project 'moved the Waco time frame up a year to a year and a half.'

Abilene-based Sears Methodist operates 13 other centers around the state, including the Wesley Woods Alzheimer's Care Center in Waco.

Perry said Waco will be getting a state-of-the-art senior community that will suit residents who need little, if any, assistance -- as well as those who need some help with daily activities such as bathing or eating, or who need skilled nursing care.

Expect Phase 1 of the village to be in place by 2009.

It will include:

--50 single-family homes sized 1,800 to 3,500 square feet and priced $175,000 to $300,000.

--60 apartments sized 800 to 1,400 square feet, with monthly rental rates yet to be determined.

--40 assisted-living apartments.

--30 skilled-nursing beds spread over three houses.

--Amenities such as a wellness center where seniors can exercise, a full-service bank and pharmacy, movie theater, ice cream parlor, country store, private dining room and walking trails.

Future phases, Perry said, may include a medical clinic exclusively for senior care, retail shops and more apartments or homes.

Wesley Village will emerge right across Highway 84 from Bear Ridge Golf Course, which could provide seniors with another leisure option.

Early next year, Perry said, Sears Methodist will host lunches and dinners for about 100 seniors or children of seniors locally to get feedback on how Wesley Village should be designed.

It also will begin taking deposits on homes and apartments.

'By law, we must have deposits on 70 percent of our independent living units before we can get financing,' Perry said. The nonprofit entity gets funding for its projects through the sale of tax-exempt municipal bonds.

Perry said Wesley Village will offer the latest in senior-living technology.

'A home may have a built-in computer in the kitchen where residents can check the menu in our dining room, e-mail their children, check stock reports, or issue work orders for our maintenance people,' Perry said.

Other systems can monitor the movements of residents to ensure their safety and that they are taking their medications.

Kent Keahey, president of Providence Healthcare Network, called the proposed Wesley Village 'an excellent concept.'

Providence has a senior facility of its own called Providence Park, but it and Wesley Village have little in common. Providence Park has no single-family homes and 240 nursing beds to Wesley Village's proposed 30 nursing beds.

'The elderly population is growing, and Wesley Village provides another option,' Keahey said.

Arthur Hohenberger, president and CEO of Hillcrest Health System, said: 'As people begin to age, not everyone needs to be in a nursing home, obviously, but they need some assistance. This sounds like a way to transition from one care setting to the next, which has been very successful in Texas and other parts of the country.'

David Hicks, 53, joked that he might make a reservation to live at Wesley Village.

'If they, in fact, do pull it off, I think it will be an incredible asset to this community. Obviously it's a sizable investment, and I believe there's a market,' said Hicks, city president for Compass Bank in Waco. 'Just as a banker, I see a lot of clients who need that type facility or environment. But you usually find it near large metropolitan areas, like a Dell Webb community.'

Sears Methodist will make heavy use of local subcontractors to build the village, likely creating more than 300 construction jobs.

The village itself will need about 130 employees, Perry said, including nurses, social workers, dietary experts, a chef, people to keep the

lawns manicured and maintenance workers.

Sears Methodist considers its work a ministry, he said, and as such it makes certain perks available to employees.

'We provide free health insurance, and if you work for us one year, we'll send you to college and pay your tuition,' Perry said.

Davis said Thursday that landing Sears Methodist's $65 million development serves as a 'bookend' to last January's economic development announcement that Sanderson Farms would spend more than $60 million building a hatchery and chicken processing plant in Waco.

Personally, Davis said, he wanted a senior campus that would well serve his mother and stepfather. But he believes all of Waco will benefit, and he likes the location in growing far West Waco. Many residents moving into the Highway 84 corridor are the city's more affluent.

Sears Methodist has a history of serving Waco. It opened its Alzheimer's care center here in 2004. It now employs 154.

Sears Methodist gets its Sears name from two West Texas ranching families. It first opened its doors in 1966 to 30 residents in Abilene, and today serves more than 2,000 residents on campuses throughout Texas.

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