Retirement village planned near WVU-P

Nursing home owner looking for investors

By JODY MURPHY, jmurphy@newsandsentinel.com
PARKERSBURG —A local nursing home owner is harboring hopes of constructing a sprawling retirement village in Wood County.

Michael Miller, owner of Ohio Valley Healthcare, has plans to construct an all-inclusive retirement center on the outskirts of Parkersburg. Miller’s plan calls for 80 independent-living apartments and up to 30 homes on a 300-acre site that borders WVU-P and includes a 15-acre pond.

Phase one of the project would include an assisted-living facility and Alzheimer’s unit.

Miller said the center would include restaurant and barbershop facilities, an indoor pool, spa and exercise equipment, a library, a small movie theater and walking trails.

“It will have many of the facilities you associate with a city,” Miller said.

Miller said the village would also feature a shuttle service to provide transportation to Parkersburg and Vienna for doctors’ appointments, groceries and shopping.

“It has the all the different amenities and services you need for this type of facility,” he said.

The one-to-three bedroom apartments would range in size from 900 to 1,200 square feet. The homes, which would encircle the property’s lake, would range from 1,800 to 2,900 square feet. Miller said the average cost for the dwellings would likely run between $1,500 and $2,000 a month.

He estimates the cost of the project would run about $30 million. Some of the infrastructure (roads and base electrical work) have already been completed.

Miller said Wood County could easily support such a facility. He said many of the residents at Marietta’s Glenwood retirement facility hail from Wood County.

“I know the demand is there,” he said. “It is a matter of being able to have the facility available.”

To begin construction of phase one, Miller said he’ll need about 70 commitments from prospective buyers. He’s asking buyers to put down $500 or $1,000 in a escrow account toward purchase. Miller said the money won’t be spent and the buyers would retain the right to pull out. Miller said the money would be used to show the bank he has the commitments needed to greenlight the project.

“The banks want to be certain they have commitments,” he said. “At some point, we are going to have commitments from individuals.”

Miller said he has brochures, but he hesitates to show them.

“They don’t really show what we plan to do,” he said. “The only way I know how to do that is to bring them out and show them the project and show them the area.

“A product like this you want consistency and quality.”

This spring Miller plans to begin a marketing campaign. Right now, he’s trying to outline a list of potential buyers to target.