NEW LONDON -- Glen Oaks Senior Housing and Care Services in New London has been sold to a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization.
Living Services Foundation LLC became the owner April 7, said Larry Juhl, former Glen Oaks owner who is staying on as administrator. Juhl's parents and another couple opened Glen Oaks in the 1960s.
Juhl would not disclose the selling price for the 80,000-square-foot campus.
All 140 staff members will remain employed with Glen Oaks, which includes a nursing home, assisted living, senior citizen apartments and home health services, Juhl said. About 115 people live on the campus and a varying number of people use its home care services, called Lake Region Home Health.
"There haven't been really any changes made except the paychecks are coming out of a different bank, so to speak," Juhl said.
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Juhl, 55, said he thought it was time to sell the business. More senior care facilities are becoming owned by nonprofit organizations, he said.
"There aren't many of us left," he said of privately-owned senior care facilities.
Juhl plans to stay on as administrator for one or two years, while his son, Luke, becomes licensed to be administrator.
Luke Juhl is graduating in May from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul with a major in entrepreneurship, his father said. He will begin working at the center as administrator's assistant after graduation.
Glen Oaks is the city of New London's largest property taxpayer. Now that it's a non-profit, it expects to save about $100,000 in property taxes annually, Juhl told the Kandiyohi County Board earlier this week.
The nursing home portion of the campus will be exempt from property taxes, but the rest of the campus will not, said Trudie Guptill, New London city administrator.
Guptill said she doesn't know how the change will affect the city's property tax income. Using 2005 figures, the city could be out about $3,400, she said. But changes in property values could balance that out, depending on how much the value of campus increases, she said.
The campus' taxable market value was $1.46 million in 2005, according to the city.
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Leland and Alice Juhl and Dr. Jack and Irlys Guy opened Glen Oaks as a 62-bed nursing home in the 1964. Larry Juhl and his wife, Paula, became the owners in 1993.
Juhl said Living Services is considering creating more private rooms and making some upgrades. They've scheduled meetings with an architect, he said.
About 16 acres of undeveloped land on the campus has not been sold, Juhl said. He said he doesn't know what will be done with that land, but said Living Services would have rights to it if it chooses to buy it.
A message left with a Living Services Foundation representative was not returned by Thursday evening.
