Detroit
A New Lease
The company that will purchase Prentis Manor plans
to operate a Jewish assisted living faciliy at the site.
JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER
A
s its last few residents
pack up their belongings
to move, the Meyer L.
Prentis Manor nursing
home in Southfield is about to get
a new lease on life.
The 26-year-old facility, which
is closing its doors next week as
the last of the Jewish Home for
Aged's skilled nursing care
homes, will be recast as an as-
sisted living facility for Jewish
seniors. If the deal goes through,
it should open in early spring or
summer, said John Hamburger
of the Parliament Building Co. in
Southfield.
While Mr. Hamburger is ex-
ecutive vice president and part
owner of Parliament, his other
company, Assisted Living Asso-
ciates, will develop and manage
the new facility. Another entity
he is setting up through Parlia-
ment will make the actual pur-
chase of the Prentis property
from the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Neither he nor Federation of-
ficials would divulge the purchase
price of the 35,000-square-foot
building, which sits on six acres
at the corner of Lahser Road and
Civic Center Drive in Southfield.
However, his company, which
owns two assisted living facilities
in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo,
will sink hundreds of thousands
of dollars into interior renova-
tions, he said. Mr. Hamburger
said the purchasing company will
put in new carpet and furniture
in the rooms, and new wallcov-
erings and lighting throughout
the building.
"Our whole prototype is to
make it more home-like, so any-
thing that smacks of an institu-
tional setting we'll change," he
said.
As part of its agreement with
Federation, the new facility will
become a "preferred provider,"
setting aside 10 percent of its
beds for lower-income residents.
Federation will not provide sub-
sidies, said Mark Davidoff, Fed-
eration's chief operating officer.
Prentis Manor will close Monday.
Prentis, which was, coinci-
dentally, built by Parliament in
the late 1960s, is equipped with
a full kosher kitchen and 100
beds. The new facility may only
offer kosher food to residents who
require it because of the expense
of running the kitchen, but it will
offer "kosher-style" food. At least
50 residents will have their own
rooms, Mr. Hamburger said.
Unlike typical assisted living
setups, the facility will provide a
higher level of care to its resi-
dents, including 24-hour moni-
toring, medication dispensing,
and bathing, grooming and dress-
ing assistance. Mr. Hamburger
said all staffers will be supervised
by nurses.
Jewish community: Dan-
to and Menorah House in
the skilled care area ana
Prentis Manor in the as-
sisted living area. And
that, of course, comple-
ments our owned and con-
trolled facilities, which
include Fleischman and
Jewish Federation Apart-
ments."
With the closure of Fed-
eration-operated Borman
Hall in 1994 and now
Prentis, whose last resi-
dents are leaving Monday,
there are only two kosher
PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT
nursing care facilities re-
maining
in the metro area.
"It's easily converted into an Both are privately
owned.
assisted living facility. It was very
The Marvin and Betty Danto
important to Federation that we
Family Health Care Center on
have a facility like this," said Mr. the campus of the Jewish Com-
Hamburger, a board member of munity Center in West Bloom-
Jewish Home for Aged and Jew- field is scheduled to open Dec.
ish Federation Apartments.
16.
Mr. Davidoff, who noted that
Menorah House, to which
the sale is not complete, said Fed- many Borman Hall and Prentis
eration turned down purchase of- Manor residents relocated, is on
fers from other buyers who did Greenfield Road in Southfield.
not plan to run a health- or com- There is a waiting list to get in.
munity-related facility.
The Jewish Home for Aged, a
"Our overall objective was to Federation agency, continues to
try to make use of that facility in operate Fleischman Residence on
the best way possible for the com- the Jewish Community Campus
munity," he said. "With John in West Bloomfield and provides
Hamburger's purchase of Pren- cultural and religious program-
tis Manor, we will have three pre- ming at Danto and Menorah
ferred providers serving the House. ❑
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