New assisted living center to open soon in Aurora

Bright Oaks of Aurora could be as unique a facility as the program that helped bring it here.

The 53,432-square-foot facility at 1340 River St. will offer 24 memory care and 36 assisted living apartments. But Nader Kameli, Bright Oaks chief executive officer, insists a new concept in assisted living, developed after he visited more than 100 assisted living and memory care communities, will make Bright Oaks different.

"We reject the notion that when people age they're no longer active and productive — that all they want is to eat, be entertained, and sleep," he writes on the Bright Oaks website. "We believe that all people possess energy, intelligence and potential. As aging occurs, it might be necessary to adjust to physical changes, but life can still be new and lively if we're encouraged to grow."

With that in mind, Bright Oaks will feature multiple neighborhoods for both assisted living and memory care residents, functioning as unique communities. There will be multiple dining areas, intergenerational spaces and a life enrichment curriculum that will set it apart from other senior living communities, according to its website.

The facility is celebrating its pending opening between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting for both the Aurora Area and Batavia chambers of commerce. The ribbon-cutting would be at 10:45 a.m. The grand opening for the facility is scheduled for June 4.

Perhaps as unique as the development itself is the way it came to Aurora. When it was announced in 2014, it was hailed by local political officials as different as Mayor Tom Weisner and former Alderman Rick Lawrence.

The project was not helped by local development incentives or recruitment. Instead, it was helped by a little-known 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.

Bright Oaks of Aurora created about 100 construction industry jobs throughout development, and will have more than 50 full-time jobs upon opening, officials said. The jobs include nurses, aides, other medical and personal care providers, physical therapy specialists and administrators.

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.

Between the program's creation in 1992 and 2005, not many investors took advantage of it because the application process was considered difficult, and applications were granted slowly.

But since changes were made to the program in 2011, applications are up, and in 2014, the government had to stop applications until the next fiscal year because it had so many.

The program has been used a lot for redevelopment in places like Las Vegas and New York City.

Bright Oaks of Aurora is the first among 20 senior living communities Bright Oaks Group will be opening in the Upper Midwest, including properties in Wood Dale, Elgin, and Fox Lake in Illinois.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-aurora-brightoaks-st-0222-20160222-story.html

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