Port Authority issues $5 million to Saint Therese of Avon for senior living facility project

ELYRIA — The Lorain County Port Authority board of directors voted to issue $5 million in bonds for Saint Therese of Avon at its meeting Wednesday. The company, a subsidiary of Minnesota-based Catholic aging care and services provider Saint Therese Communities, closed its purchase in December of St. Mary of the Woods, a senior living facility on Detroit Road in Avon. The proceeds from the bonds will be loaned to Saint Therese, which will use it to refund a portion of a $25 million loan from Minnesota-based Bremer Bank. The company will then eventually repay the loan from the Port Authority. Port Authority Director Jim Miller explained the board often authorizes such bonds for private companies to incentivize economic development. Before the meeting, the Port Authority held a brief hearing for the issuance. The resolution later passed unanimously. St. Mary of the Woods is a 179-unit community on a 23-acre plot of land at 35755 Detroit Road. The property currently has 81 independent living apartments, 49 assisted living apartments and 50 skilled nursing beds, and cost about $46 million. The purchase was part of the company's efforts to expand operations in the midwest, its CEO Craig Abbott confirmed in December. Miller said after the meeting that the Port Authority is continuing to negotiate with development firm Industrial Commercial Partners over the sale of the Midway Mall property. The board voted unanimously May 1 to sell the mall to ICP of Cleveland for $17 million. Miller said final details of the contract are still being worked out. "We're continuing to negotiate," Miller said. "There are some issues and things we have to work out, some conditions we're looking at." Contact Richard Perrins at (440) 687-5172 or email rperrins@chroniclet.com.