A 150-bed, 45,768-square-foot Waterbury nursing home property that closed last year amid financial and other issues recently sold for $2 million to investors who own a handful of elder-care facilities.
Fuzail Rizvi, a partner in R&R Care, said his organization bought the property at 128 Cedar Ave., to reopen it as a “residential care home.” It will be a long-term residential setting where residents get help taking medication and are served prepared meals.
Rizvi said his group is close to completing a state “certificate of need” review. He hopes to open by the close of the year.
Based in Virginia, Rizvi and his business partner, Manosij Roy, operate several similar facilities, including one in the former Elton Hotel property in downtown Waterbury. The pair paid $4.64 million for that six-story, 68,280-square-foot building at 16 West Main St., in December 2021.
The Elton, completed in 1904, was the site of an early-morning speech by John F. Kennedy on the eve of the 1960 presidential election. The building was later converted to a nursing facility.
Rizvi, reached Monday, said he has seen a constant demand for that facility’s 100 beds, making him confident of the market potential for an additional outpost at 128 Cedar Ave.
The Cedar Avenue property was purchased by a limited liability company tied to Roy and Ahad Rizvi, who is Fuzail Rizvi’s son. The $2 million sale was recorded by the city on Oct. 7.
Fuzail Rizvi said he anticipates the Waterbury facilities will offer efficiencies and savings through shared resources.
Waterbury Gardens, the nursing facility that last operated in the Cedar Avenue building, closed last year after it was taken over by a state-appointed receiver. At the time, 125 staff worked at the facility.
The state took control of Waterbury Gardens in 2019. By last year, court-appointed receiver Katharine Sacks, petitioned for closure, citing staffing shortages, monthly operating costs of $1 million and problems with the property, according to a CT Mirror story.
At an Aug. 3, 2023, hearing, Sacks said the facility was “no longer financially viable” and not a good candidate for sale because it required costly repairs and a large mold remediation project, according to the CT Mirror.
Gerry Matthews, of Matthews Commercial Properties, brokered the sale with his son, Noah. Gerry Matthews said the state had remediated mold inside the building before it left. He described the building as otherwise solid.
“When we took over the listing, every room was immaculate,” Matthews said. “The state put a ton of money into the place. There was nothing major I could see. I have been through it several times with inspectors. They have a nice building for the money.”
The two-story, brick-sided nursing home building at 128 Cedar Ave. was completed in 1970, according to city assessing records. It sits on a nearly 2.6-acre plot.
The building was sold by Waterbury Gardens Holdings LLC. Waterbury Gardens Holdings paid $4.84 million for the property in 2016, according to assessing records.
