This story was updated at 9:50 a.m. on July 31 as more information became available.
CRESWELL – “Sorry we missed you” sticky notes from the Post Office layer Volante Senior Living’s glass doors on 285 Emerald Parkway. Packages of medical equipment stack up outside. There is a light on in the hallway. Someone has swept the dirt into a neat little pile in one of the rooms.
No one is working. No one is “home.”
And apparently, no one will be anytime soon.
Volante’s parent company, Inspired Healthcare Capital (IHC), a senior living private equity firm, on July 18 issued a statement to Senior Housing News that it made the “difficult but necessary choice” to “wind down” its Volante locations and transition its contracts to “well-established third-party operators.”
The news comes after SHN first reported on July 17 that Volante CEO Jeff Fischer had departed from his role after about a year. The reason for his departure was not stated. It was also noted that a former IHC employee, Rudy Venigalla, announced on his LinkedIn page a month ago that he was laid off due to a “company-wide restructuring.”
IHC launched the Arizona-based senior living facility, Volante, in 2023 and operates 24 communities coast-to-coast. It has locations in Eugene and Hillsboro, and a Roseburg location was set to open a month after Creswell.
Mum is the word in Creswell
An open house was scheduled for July 25, but the doors never opened. The Creswell location was expected to open in August.
The facility features 24 units in the assisted-living facility and an additional 24 apartments in a memory care complex. IHC estimated the project cost at $17.8 million.
There have already been walk-throughs and tours, and deposits were being taken to reserve spots.
A community member, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Chronicle in an email on July 23 that his family was “planning on moving our family member into the memory care side as soon as they opened on the 15th and had just delivered our deposit” when Communication Relations Director Cari Velardo told him that employees were let go and will not be opening.
Velardo began working for the company a year ago and said the news “kind of came out of left field entirely.”
“There was no indication,” of a closure, she said. “We were literally making major decisions like in meetings that morning (the closure was announced).” The team learned about the closure during a conference call on July 23.
She said the project was nearly 100% complete. “Some of the furniture for the model rooms was getting delivered. We had just hired our dining director, and we had just hired our maintenance director like three weeks prior,” she said.
“The only thing was, a month or two months prior, they did sell the East Coast Division of (Volante) … They had sold 12 of the properties … and so we were like, are we in any trouble? And they reassured us that we weren’t,” she said.
No other Volante representatives at any of the Oregon locations could be reached for comment. Velardo said that another company took over the Eugene and Hillsboro locations, both of which have residents.
The Creswell resident said he did receive his deposit check, “so no losses. Just disappointing as we were excited to have my stepmother close by. We are moving into an Eugene facility instead.”
“I was really excited to hear in your article that they did receive their deposits back, because my heart was crushed,” Velardo. “I became really close to those families that I worked with, and so I was crushed that I didn’t have answers for them, other than I will help you find relocation, which is is all I can offer.”
Velardo asked that folks who were looking to move into the facility contact her at 458-317-6597, and she will do her best to help them find other options.
City Finance Director Jim Piper, who has been serving as the interim city manager for the past month, said that he and his staff at City Hall have not received any updates regarding Volante’s non-operation.
City manager Vincent Martorello, whose first day on the job was Monday, said he also has not heard anything.
Trouble from the top
On July 24, in a notice to Capitol Fund investors, the Law Firm of KlaymanToskes — a national securities law firm that practices in securities arbitration and litigation on behalf of retail and institutional investors — issued a notice that Volante’s parent company has “suspended investor distributions and halted new offerings amid a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory review.”
According to KlaymanToske, “only 10 to 15 of Inspired’s 35 senior living communities are currently performing well, raising serious concerns regarding the Fund’s financial condition and the potential for widespread investor losses.”
KlaymanToskes stated the firm is investigating “whether brokerage firms and financial advisors failed to conduct adequate due diligence or made unsuitable recommendations to clients to invest in Inspired Healthcare Capital and its affiliated funds.”
Attorney Steven D. Toskes could not yet be reached for comment.
It is not yet known whether or what third-party management will be taking over the property.
What’s next
Velardo said the closure is devastating for her and her executive director, Jami Anderson, formerly Jami Sabrisky, because they know Creswell has no other local option. The closest options are Magnolia Gardens and Middlefield Senior Living in Cottage Grove.
“It is definitely devastating to those people who want to stay in their hometown,” Velardo said. “Jami and I hope that a senior living company will purchase it, and maybe we’ll be back someday, because our hearts are in that community. We just care so much for those people.”
Volante has been running an advertising campaign with The Chronicle since December 2024, and its contract was set to expire in September. The Chronicle discontinued the ad run this week.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Correction: Cari Velardo’s last name was mistaken in the print edition of this story.
