Sold! Avila University buys Villa Ventura Senior Living

By Jill Draper

The rumors are now official. Avila University is buying the shuttered senior living facility Villa Ventura for student housing and expects to have 350 to 400 graduate students and upperclassmen living there this fall.

University president Jim Burkee confirmed the agreement, but declined to name the purchase price, which he said is still being finalized. The 4.6 acre property at 12100 Wornall Road will require a special use permit and rezoning to multifamily use before students move in, but Burkee does not expect any neighborhood opposition. 

“It’s a godsend, something very serendipitous,” he said, noting that Avila University’s population of local undergraduates and international graduate students has been growing “extraordinarily fast.” Last fall the university saw its largest numbers yet with 501 freshmen and transfer students, and this fall he expects similar numbers with an additional several hundred grad students seeking master of science degrees, mostly in business, computer science and IT.

Burkee said the Villa Ventura property is in great shape and will require very little renovation. New furniture will be added, and the university will be asking for a sidewalk on the west side of Wornall, plus a crosswalk in front of the facility. The campus is no more than a couple hundred feet away on the east side of the road.

According to Burkee, no dining hall is planned, partly because the 173 senior units have kitchens, an amenity especially appealing to international students. The units vary in size, but those with two bedrooms and two baths will be able to house four students each, he said.

The three-story Villa Ventura was built in 1978 and was managed by Senior Star as an independent and assisted living community until it abruptly shut down in December 2023, citing low occupancy caused by an oversupply of similar facilities in the area. 

Burkee said university officials had been looking at the former nursing home at Wornall and Blue Ridge Boulevard as possible student housing, but found out the property was not available. “Just on a whim last November, I hunted down the parent company of Villa Ventura to see if they had any extra space to rent out,” Burkee said. “When I called, they said we just met today and decided to close it down. It was a real gift—very good fortune on our part.”

Funds for purchasing the 46,441 square feet facility will come from university resources and philanthropic support. No endowment money will be needed, Burkee said. He added that two existing dorms on campus, Ridgway Hall and Carondelet Hall, also will increase capacity when renovations are made in the future.

Center Planning and Development Council will hold a community meeting to discuss further details and the necessary rezoning change (from R 1.5 to R 7.5) at 7 pm Tuesday, May 21, at the Trailside Center, 9901 Holmes Road.