Elgin set to open code case on stalled senior living project

The city of Elgin is set to take action on a construction site for a senior living facility where work apparently stopped last fall.

The project, Bright Oaks of Elgin is along Route 20, west of Nesler Road and adjacent to the West Point Gardens subdivision. The city approved the development in 2014.

Through a Freedom of Information request, the Courier-News obtained an email Bright Oaks Group CEO Nader Kameli sent Elgin building department manager Raoul Johnston about the matter on April 19.

In that email Kameli states the group "will complete this project, one way or another." He claims a bank "is working with us to refinance our Aurora project, with the promise of financing Elgin next. This may happen in the next 3-4 months."

"My goal is to get enough bridge funding in place to start the project back up no later than June 1," Kameli wrote. "Please note that based on input from our general contractor, we have less than 5 months of construction left. With availability of funding we will be done with the construction before the end of the year and open it for operation then."

Kameli could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The last time any construction activity at the site could be verified was in October, Community Development Director Marc Mylott said, and the city will be opening a code case on the property. Permits were pulled for the project but are now closed.

"Those would have to be reissued for any work to start again," Mylott said.

There also would have to be a full assessment of integrity of the materials left at the site and of how what has been constructed was left to determine if the materials and the structure as it exists could be used, according to Mylott. Johnston told the company via email April 5 that "Elgin will require an onsite meeting to discuss what measures will be required to restart the project."

A recent visit to the property by the Courier-News showed not only materials left there, but also a construction trailer. A portion of a fence around the partially-constructed building has fallen. And refuse, including an old TV and a tire, had been dumped at the end of a road by the worksite.

According to the Bright Oaks Group website, the Elgin facility is supposed to hold 56 suites for assisted independent living and 25 suites for memory care living, with an opening set for this summer. The Senior Blue Book website states the property was to open in spring of this year and hold 25 units, with rates starting at $5,600 a month. A phone number listed on the site for the project did not connect.

In early 2015, the West Dundee Village Board agreed with the planning and zoning commission's recommendation to approve the Bright Oaks of West Dundee senior living community development. The project is set for final approval by the village board at its May 16 meeting.

The senior living community development will be comprised of two buildings on nine acres along the west side of Route 31, between Village Quarter Road and Market Loop. One building would be geared toward assisted and memory care residents, and the other a mixed-use that would include independent living and retail. The development would also feature a living area called The Bridge, where couples can continue to live together while one needs memory-related care.

"The Bright Oaks/memory care building on Irving Park Road is currently under-construction and is due to open later this year," Edmond J. Cage, Community Development Director for Wood Dale said.

While the Bright Oaks website does not list the Wood Dale project, it does note four locations in the works in Florida.

In Fox Lake, Community Development Director Donovan Day said a Bright Oaks Group project there stalled like Elgin's did in October, but the company has told him work will resume in about two weeks.

The Fox Lake project is supposed to feature 32 memory care units and 64 units for assisted independent living, according to the Bright Oaks Group website. Day said work done in Fox Lake so far had not been as extensive as in Elgin and was limited to footing and a foundation.

"It's my understanding they ran out of money and concentrated on finishing the project in Aurora," Day said.

The Bright Oaks project in Aurora held a ribbon-cutting for its facility at 1340 River St. in late February and is planning a grand opening for June 4.

According to reports, Bright Oaks in Aurora was funded entirely by private sources, using a federal program known as EB-5, a visa program that provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States.

To be eligible, individuals must invest between $500,000 to $1 million in America, creating or preserving at least 10 jobs for American workers. None of those jobs can go to the investors or their immediate families.

According to EB-5 information on a federal government website, if the foreign national investor's petition is approved, the investor and his or her dependents would be granted conditional permanent residence, valid for two years.

Within the 90-day period before the conditional permanent residence expires, the investor must submit evidence documenting that the full required investment has been made and that 10 jobs have been maintained, or 10 jobs have been created or will be created within a reasonable time period.

Kameli told the Aurora Beacon-News that the foreign investors in Bright Oaks are from the Middle East and the Far East. Locally, West Suburban Bank invested in the program.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/elgin-courier-news/news/ct-ecn-elgin-bright-oaks-stalled-st-0511-20160510-story.html

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• Elgin Memory Care, LLC
• Aurora Memory Care, LLC

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• Illinois