The owner of what used to be Iola Nursing Center faced a skeptical group of potential neighbors as he considers the fate of the old nursing home complex.
Shane Lamb, of Rural ReDevelopment Group in De Soto, invited neighbors of the sprawling facility on North Walnut Street to share their views at a Thursday gathering. More than a dozen showed up.
Their points echoed what they told the complexs former owner when he unsuccessfully appealed for a zoning change earlier this year to convert the property into an apartment complex: they are universally opposed to seeing the land converted into a multi-family property.
Heres the problem, explained Deana King, one of the neighbors. Once we rezone that, youre not saying Im keeping this (property) forever. Its an opportunity for you to rehab it, and maybe sell it. Once you do that, then anybody can come in and run it differently.
Mike and Nancy Ford noted that converting the old nursing rooms into single apartment units would likely dissuade middle to upper-income residents from the area, because of the small area each apartment would cover.
You cant tell me youre not going to have low-income in a 300-square-foot apartment, Mike Ford said. You think youre doing us a favor by coming down here and wanting to make money off of it.
Thats why we only want to see single-family housing, King said. Thats what we want to see: moderate, modest single-family homes.
The problem with that approach, Lamb responded, is the cost of converting the property to single-family homes.
Its very hard for developers to even break even here, he said.
The cost for making one home, he estimated, would be roughly $300,000.
Acknowledging the hostile response from those in attendance to rezoning the land for an apartment complex, Lamb asked the group for ideas.
You know the town, obviously, a little better than I do, he said. You may know a need that what we havent come up with.
Audience member Scott Fehr suggested Lamb pursue avenues for a healthcare facility, such as a dialysis unit.
Because of a deed restriction put on the property by the lands former owners, the facility can never again host a nursing home or assisted living center, Lamb noted. He said he would look into whether other medical uses were permissible.
Others mentioned using portions for an indoor storage facility, or office rental space.
