Page 52 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2021

neck of the woods | prof ile

Q: YOU’VE RECENTLY RETIRED AND WHAT ARE YOU
INVOLVED IN NOW?
Q: TELL ME ABOUT PRS CONSOLIDATING THEIR
CORPORATE OFFICE TO DOWNTOWN MEDFORD.
BRIAN: I retired in January (2021) and started a senior living con-
BRIAN: I took over as CEO in 2010, and at that time, our cor- sulting business. I’m finishing up some projects, including planning for
porate team was scattered all over. We had some folks in the main the Centennial project for PRS. My son came on and he’s working with
old Manor building. Some people were down on Ellendale Avenue. If me. We picked up a client in Southern California and we’re planning
we’re going to work together everyone needed to be in the same loca- three retirement communities for them. We’ve got four projects up in
tion no matter if you’re working in affordable housing or accounting Portland. So, a little busier than we want it to be, but it’s fun being able
or IT. We outgrew the offices at the Manor. It came down to building a to work with my son. When I left PRS we had almost 5,000 residents
bigger office on Ellendale or building something downtown. We had a and 3,000 staff. The CEO role had become a 24/7 job. I’m enjoying
staff of 100 that we needed offices for. focusing on what I do best, which is project development.

We brought our team members from all over the country into down- I’m still involved in determining how to take better care of people. The
town Medford, so we could be in a space where everybody could really old days of putting seniors in a nursing home are over. How can we
talk. We built a giant conference area in the middle of our office. We take care of people who need long-term care? And how do we design
were hoping that a couple of sparks, like One West Main and Lithia and staff that? What I tried over my career at PRS was to create cutting
headquarters would really transform downtown. Unfortunately, I don’t edge communities that stand the test of time. When you’re investing
think that’s quite worked out. I think downtown Medford still has pos- a couple hundred million dollars in a new retirement community, it
sibilities, hopefully, that will happen over time. The homeless problem needs to be something that’s relevant for 30 or 40 years, not four or
has become significant. If Medford wants to continue to attract busi- five. Getting ahead of that curve and being innovative, that’s the fun
nesses downtown, that issue needs to be addressed. part.

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50 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2021