Eastmont Towers partners with Washington company

Eastmont Towers on Wednesday announced that it has joined forces with a Washington-based nonprofit company.

Eastmont said the affiliation will help both it and Transforming Age enhance their ability to grow.

"This is the right decision for our employees, our residents and our community,” said Carol Ernst, executive director of Eastmont. “We are excited to join forces with Transforming Age so we can secure the long-term sustainability of our mission and reinforce our efforts to serve older adults.”

Much like Eastmont Towers, Transforming Age, which is based in the Seattle area, is a nonprofit senior housing organization. It was formed in 1956 and up until a year ago was known as Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest.

Earlier this year it expanded outside its home state of Washington for the first time with the purchase of eight senior living communities in the Minneapolis area.

Ernst was quick to point out that Transforming Age is not buying Eastmont Towers, which has been in Lincoln since 1965. The company will keep operating under its own name and will retain its separate 501(c)3 status. But it will now be governed by Transforming Age's board of directors rather than its own local board of directors.

One of the main advantages to joining with Transforming Age is gaining access to more financial resources, Ernst said.

She said the company will now take over marketing and development of Eastmont Towers' new Prairie Ridge development near 48th Street and Yankee Hill Road, which will likely open sometime in 2020 or 2021.

Transforming Age also will help develop a master plan for the current Eastmont Towers location at 6315 O St., which will involve "making some major capital improvements" there, Ernst said.

For its part, Transforming Age said it gets to partner with a like-minded organization with similar values and help to ensure the continued viability of nonprofit senior care.

"Many standalone communities across the country are being absorbed by for-profit institutions, but we are invested in securing the future of shared mission–focused values with like-minded not-for-profit partners,” said Torsten Hirche, CEO of Transforming Age.

“In joining forces, we become stronger together and increase the relevance of the not-for-profit approach to serving seniors.”