106 OPPORTUNITY ZONE MAGAZINE | ISSUE 2 • VOLUME 2
Gurjeet : I did my master ' s in engineering . I served in the Indian army ’ s corps of engineers for 21 years where I headed major defense projects , some secret and some not so secret . I ' ve done constructions of buildings at high altitude and in deep deserts . After leaving the army , I have been in the finance business for the past 25 years ; I have a finance company , a real estate company and an insurance company .
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT THAT WON AMERICA ' S MOST IMPACTFUL AWARD ?
Sergey : We are purchasing a former hospital in the city of Hornell , New York , to turn it into an assisted living facility . That facility is going to have about 200 rooms for assisted living and about 100 rooms for special nursing care . The total investment for the project is $ 20 million , $ 10 million of which is going into acquisition of property , and the rest $ 10 million is going into remodeling , converging and renovation of the property .
Gurjeet : Baby boomers are getting old and there is a dire need of assisted living care facilities in the country . It ' s the silver tsunami on the horizon . There ' s a huge shortage , and we thought it is the best opportunity … we are going to have both sides of things , high end facility as well as middle or lower , and people who can be taken care through Medicare , and all that . This is the community which is highly ignored , and they really need it .
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH YOUR PROJECT ?
Gurjeet : Our goal is to take care of the older people who really need help … it is going to be a business cum charity . The
goal is to create an impact in the community .
Sergey : The project in Hornell , New York , is just the first step . We are working right now on several facilities . Our plan is to establish a national chain of such facilities , in every state , or at least in the big cities across the whole country .
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO WIN THE ATP AWARD ? AND HOW DID THE PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION HELP YOU HELP WITH YOUR CAPITAL RAISE ?
Sergey : We hope our win will bring a lot of attention to our project , and it will show investors the importance of our project . A group of people and judges nominated our project as the best for social community impact . This will help us to raise money for our project and to bring attention to the next steps we are planning for the future .
We hope our win will bring a lot of attention to our project , and it will show investors the importance of our project .
WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLETION OF YOUR PROJECT ?
Sergey : Our goal is to complete everything within one year and start operations .
Gurjeet : 2022 will be the year for collection of money , project plan approvals and everything . We may even open at the end of one year in a phased manner . Maybe , in phase one , we open with 50 beds and then in phase two , we open another 50 . As far as the investors are concerned , we are promising them results or returns in the 25th month .
WHEN AND WHY DID YOUR COMPANY GET INVOLVED IN THE OZ INDUSTRY ?
Sergey : I ’ ve been following the OZ industry since the law was being enacted , which I thought was very interesting in how it helps a company to improve neighborhoods , which is usually not the best outcome desired by most developments … now we are just starting our own project here , and we hope that it will do good .
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