The NFL Alumni Association is officially giving its seal of approval to a Florida-based developer to provide assisted living and memory care services for former pro football players.
Pro Football Legends, the marketing arm of the NFL Alumni Association, will be working with Validus Senior Living, a subsidiary of Validus Group, to spend more than a billion dollars toward their development goals.
The NFLAA’s exclusive partnership with Validus includes directing retired players and their families, particularly those needing assisted living or memory care services, to Validus communities. The communities are also being created with today’s younger consumer in mind, Validus Senior Living CEO Steve Benjamin told SHN, noting that the communities “are for everyone.”
The assisted living-licensed buildings, which will also offer independent living and memory care, will be in major cities with high concentrations of retired NFL players, Benjamin said.
Mark Bouldin, who works with Validus Senior Living management on their Inspired Living brand of communities, along with Piper Jaffray, a full-service U.S. investment bank, will spend $1.1 billion dollars constructing 33 assisted living and memory care communities nationwide, during the next five years. Also participating in the construction financing of the Inspired Living communities is ORIX USA, a financial company headquartered in Dallas.
In June of last year, Validus Group announced plans to use an $80 million capital injection toward the development of 10 properties in Florida, with a heavy focus on memory care for the first several projects. Capital remaining from that $80 million will be utilized as part of the billion-dollar-plus pipeline, Benjamin said.
Validus will host a groundbreaking July 16 for its first Inspired Living community in Ocoee, Fla. The assisted living and memory care community will have 124 units, with licensed bed capacity for 158 residents. It will feature a pool, boardwalk, dog park, tiki hut, putting green, fishing pier, and more. It is expected to open during the summer of 2016.
“All of our 33 communities will be under the Inspired Living brand,” he said, noting that buildings are typically 100,000 square-feet and positioned on 12 to 15 acres to support the communities’ external amenities. “We wanted something special outside of the building to attract the younger independent living resident, who will need assisted living as he or she ages in place.”
The strategic alliance focuses on providing a better lifestyle for retired NFL players who need assisted living and memory care services, said Joe Pisarcik, president and CEO of the NFLAA, in an announcement.
“With an aging population and more and more Americans needing memory care services, including some former NFL players, we want to give our members an option that we can stand behind,” Pisarcik said. “We were impressed by Validus Senior Living and its Inspired Living brand of communities and know they will exceed our retired players’ needs.”
Written by Cassandra Dowell
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