Reeds Landing Declares Bankruptcy, Plans Sale to Loomis Communities

SPRINGFIELD — Citing difficulties attracting new residents in a challenging economy, the area’s largest retirement community, Reeds Landing in Springfield, filed for bankruptcy last month.

However, plans are moving forward for the Loomis Communities, which operates several senior-living sites in the region, to purchase the complex and honor the life-care contracts bought by Reeds Landing residents.

“We’re moving forward with the process with Loomis, and everything looks good,” said Matthew Leahey, administrator of Reeds Landing. “The important thing is that we’ve worked out an arrangement for a buyer of the quality of Loomis to come in and work this through with us, so that our clients’ contracts are honored, and so we can continue in this location offering all the same high-quality services.”

Reeds Landing was conceived during the 1980s by a local group — eventually known as Western Mass. Lifecare Corp. — with ties to Baystate Health. They envisioned a life-care center in Springfield that would provide housing for independent seniors and long-term care services for others, and they came across an ideal plot of land, then owned by Springfield College.

Construction began in 1993, and the center, with 175 apartments and 42 skilled nursing beds, opened in June 1995.

Now, however, a number of economic factors have come together to make it difficult for Reeds Landing to stay afloat, Leahey told The Healthcare News. With retirement savings taking a hit and housing prices low, seniors have less apt to enter into the life-care model at the facility, which requires an entrance fee of between $100,000 and $450,000, depending on the unit and amenities chosen. For many potential residents, the buy-in requires them to sell their current homes, and they’re simply not getting enough on the market.

“The housing market, the economy in general, returns on investments, retirement incomes, all those things led up to this,” Leahey said. Carol Katz, CEO of Loomis Communities, has said the entrance fee will likely decrease under new ownership.

Loomis hopes to close on the property in August after Reeds Landing has discharged or restructured the $28 million currently owed to its bondholders.