A sprawling office complex that once served as headquarters for more than 1,200 employees is set to become senior housing.
Senior Living Development — a firm led by Mark De Pecol, who is also the CEO of middle-market operator KindCare — is advertising the site in Trumbull, Connecticut, for sale to another company or for a future joint-venture development.
The site reportedly housed the headquarters of United Healthcare subsidiary Oxford Health Plans until 2015, when the company moved its offices to nearby Shelton, Connecticut. Local news publication CT Insider first reported on the news Wednesday.
The 17-acre site, tentatively called “Rivers Edge,” is approved for the development of two different senior living properties. Local officials approved a plan to convert the office building into a community with 193 units of independent living, assisted living and memory care.
A conceptual rendering of the community from EGA Architects shared with Senior Housing News shows the building receiving a new facade and landscaping, and project documents show the building will be renovated throughout.
On an adjacent site, the plans call for an active adult project with 147 units. The site is adjacent to a 70-acre park, with a retail plaza and tennis club also nearby.
De Pecol said the approvals represent years of work with local officials. His company first acquired the site in 2018 for a reported price of $3.3 million.
“We spent four years getting it approved, which is very valuable, and we’re either going to sell it or joint-venture with an operator,” De Pecol told SHN.
He added that the site is well-suited for adaptive reuse.
“It was built in the ‘80s, and it’s a good building,” De Pecol said. “It’s also a great project because the building is already built, so you save all those materials.”
Adaptive reuse projects have gained steam in recent years as investors, developers and owners look for creative ways to execute on new communities. Hotels in particular have become a popular product type to adapt into senior living, but other projects have converted properties including former offices, schools and commercial buildings into senior housing communities.
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