Taylor Community doubles capacity with new facility in Wolfeboro

The Back Bay facility of the Taylor Community in Wolfeboro. (Photo by Daniel Sarch/The Laconia Daily Sun)

After two years and around $30 million, Taylor Community’s newest facility is now open and welcoming new residents. With the new Back Bay facility and the recently acquired Sugar Hill campus, the nonprofit retirement community has nearly doubled its capacity.

“We opened up a state-of-the-art, 65,000 square-foot, amazing facility that allows us to offer a full continuum of care in Wolfeboro as we do in Laconia,” said David Pearlman, chair of Taylor’s board of trustees. “It’s going to offer the full menu of our services, ranging from independent living, assisted living, to nursing and memory care.

“It’s an extraordinary time for us.”

Taylor Community has been providing residential options for people in their golden years since 1907. The organization was limited to Laconia for the vast majority of that time, with its Wolfeboro property offering only a small cluster of independent living cottages built in 2001.

Then, in 2021, Taylor completed its purchase of the Sugar Hill Retirement Community, located off Route 109A, which added 72 independent living and 14 assisted living residents as well as 118 acres of land.

Around the same time as the Sugar Hill purchase, Taylor turned a fresh eye to its 33 acres in the town’s Back Bay area. While it’s been helpful to have a collection of cottages there for independent living, it’s been misaligned with the organization’s philosophy of providing a continuum of care. That property is now back in alignment, as the new facility adds 30 units for assisted living, 14 nursing home rooms, and 14 dedicated to residents with memory loss.

“It just opened this week, we just started to move people in,” Pearlman said. “We are open for business.”

The new facility requires the hiring of 45 employees, bringing the total Taylor workforce up to 277.

The expansion brings continuum of care to Wolfeboro, and does so under a nonprofit model. Pearlman said the organization keeps a busy schedule of events, which are open to the public as well as its residents, and provides around $2 million each year in services to residents who are unable to pay for them.

“When you move to Taylor, to one of our communities, you get situated,” Pearlman said. “Life has many turns to it, you could find yourself out of money. We will never turn our back on you.

“Once you’ve become part of our Taylor Community, we have the capacity to take care of you for the rest of your life.”

Pearlman has been involved with Taylor Community for a decade, chair of the board for most of that time. He said the organization has been seeking opportunities to further its mission, but has been very conservative in its choices. He said the expansion was financed through a comprehensive debt refinancing performed with Bank of New Hampshire.

Though the growth in Wolfeboro represents a significant expansion, Pearlman said it’s a sound financial move, particularly in light of population forecasts.

“It’s a combination of the evolution of the demographics, not only in the Lakes Region, but across the country. The demand for this type of living has greatly expanded. As people go into their senior years, they’re looking for the most productive way to extend their lives, and these kinds of facilities, with their full complement of senior care, offer activity-filled, event-filled [living] along with lots of friends and extended family all in one location.”

One of the outdoor courtyards at the Back Bay facility at the Taylor Community in Wolfeboro. (Photo by Daniel Sarch/The Laconia Daily Sun)

Taylor also owns about 4 acres of land with waterfront on Back Bay, located across Bay Street from its new facility, which it bought about a year and a half ago. Pearlman said there aren’t specific plans for that property yet, adding that the organization’s focus will shift back to the other side of Winnipesaukee.

“The next thing on our docket is to look to see what we can do on the Laconia side as we look to enhance our campus,” Pearlman said.

Impact on a growing need

Mary DeVries, president of the Wolfeboro Area Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Taylor’s investment.

“Wolfeboro is glad that Taylor Community chose to expand here, and our chamber of commerce has seen even greater involvement here in the community, so we’ve benefitted in that way, as well,” DeVries said. “It is another amenity that is available here in Wolfeboro that draws people here that, in turn, support our year-round economy.”

Brendan Williams, president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, said Taylor’s expansion is notable, though it isn’t accessible to all.

“Taylor Community has long offered quality for those who can pay privately, and not need the Medicaid safety net for their long-term care. This certainly makes them one of our state’s larger continuing care retirement communities, and a great aging-in-place option for those who can afford it. I commend their leadership in [Vice President of Clinical Operations and Administration] Mark Latham.

“Regrettably, as the majority of those who need nursing home care are on Medicaid, and the Medicaid option is almost nonexistent for those needing assisted living care, this will not help with access issues currently facing the Medicaid population in New Hampshire,” said Williams.

Pearlman acknowledged the challenge of senior housing for those on Medicaid, but noted the Taylor model provides free care to many residents who would otherwise depend on Medicaid when their resources run out.

“If they outlive their resources, and people do, we take care of them,” Pearlman said.

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