‘Multigenerational’ parish campuses coming to Phoenix with new senior living facilities

A rendering at St. Raphael Catholic Church in Glendale, outside of Phoenix where Acanthus Development is set to build senior living. / Credit: Acanthus Development

CNA Staff, Nov 14, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A property development group is addressing the lack of reliable senior housing by building senior living communities on Catholic church properties.

Acanthus Development has closed several leases for its senior living project, which has been more than five years in the making. Acanthus collaborates with parishes by renting land on the church campus and taking responsibility for the development and management of the senior communities. So far, the group has confirmed five leases with local Catholic churches in the Phoenix area.

Chris Bayley, COO of Acanthus Development, told CNA that the organization was formed by Catholics who came together to build a better option for senior care.

“We’re not formally a Catholic organization. It’s a group full of Italian and Irish Catholics by heritage who have grown up in the Catholic community,” he explained. 

“Frankly, we’re all at an age and station in life where we all have had experiences with our parents going through end-of-life things and having assisted in independent living and memory-care-type issues,” Bayley continued. “We’ve not necessarily been enamored with what’s out there in the marketplace right now.”

Acanthus will be building and managing five communities, beginning at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Ahwatukee, an urban village in Phoenix. The following senior communities are set to be on the campuses of St. Clare of Assisi in Surprise, St. Raphael Catholic Church in Glendale, and St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Cave Creek — all just outside the state’s capital of Phoenix.

The communities will be open to people of all faiths, while the management will “abide by all the Catholic mission statements and hiring requirements,” Bayley said.

Acanthus is responsible for the management of the senior communities, which is a key factor for having care facilities on Catholic property.

“We at Acanthus have agreed as part of this program to build from the ground up our own management company,” he said. “That is going to essentially require the management company to abide by all of the Catholic mission statements and hiring requirements so that you won’t find things going on on the premises that are not acceptable to the Catholic Church as a whole.” 

Acanthus plans to make additional donations from the revenue of the communities to support the local parishes. 

“There are zero expenses that are attributed to the parish,” Bayley explained. “The only thing that happens when the parish signs the lease is that they’re entitled to receiving revenues, so it’s only a plus for them.” 

The location helps seniors remain involved in their parish and Catholic community. Based on the group’s experience with their own parents, being near their parish was a key issue for seniors. 

“They wanted to be back with their community, their parish communities, as they were going through these experiences,” Bayley said of his parents’ generation. 

Bayley added that this will help bring together a “multigenerational” Catholic community at parishes that often have a K–8 school on campus as well. 

“You literally are going to be having a situation now where you can have the mother and father with their children going to Mass, but they’ll be able to stop off right there, right next to the church and pick up the grandparents,” he said. “They can literally walk across the parking lot and you can go together as a family.” 

Father James Aboyi, pastor of St. Benedict Parish, called the project “a historic moment for us.” 

“I am excited to have a senior living facility in our parish community that will give us the opportunity to evangelize all generations from early childhood in our St. John Bosco school to the seniors who will be living in the facility,” Aboyi said in an Oct. 31 press release shared with CNA. 

Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix also voiced support for the project, noting that “those of all faiths who are in an assisted living situation can foster a sense of home so close to the heart of parish life.” 

“I commend and am deeply grateful for people of goodwill coming together to roll up their sleeves and find creative ways to uphold the dignity of our brothers and sisters, and live out the Gospel mission to bring Jesus Christ to every heart and home,” Dolan said in the press release.