Pearson Partners Inc., a well-known New York developer, acquired a prime parcel of land in northwest Nassau County and obtained all the necessary approvals to begin constructing senior housing. When suspicious and misinformed local residents began supplying inaccurate and potentially damaging information to local media and business people regarding the scope of the project, Garvan created a crisis communications plan to answer and contain the community unrest. The strategy leveraged the long family ties of principals Paul and David Pearson to the community and resulted in a positive full-page feature in New York Newsday, the eight largest daily newspaper in the nation.

A Business That's All in the Family

By EMI ENDO
Staff Writer

David and Paul Pearson know the former Port Washington sand mines a little better than they probably should.

As boys, they admit, they were among the neighborhood kids who would sneak down the while sand bluffs to make the 400-acre Morewood Property their own playground. "I don't know how safe it was," said David Pearson, "but we did it."

As developers, the brothers have found themselves back on the property - legitimately. They recently bought 42 acres on which they will build the first senior life-care center in Nassau County.

The Pearsons are part of Harbor Ridge Associates, which purchased the land for $26.3 million to build the 675-unit Harbor Ridge Estates.

Next to Harbor Links, the new golf course and recreational area being built by the Town of North Hempstead, the housing development will be made up of a continuing-care retirement community and single-family homes and townhouses for the elderly.

It's somewhat of a homecoming for the Pearson brothers, whose family moved to Port Washington from Jackson Heights, Queens, in the late 1950s. The boys - there are four of them - attended Main Street School.

The two older brothers, David, 41, and Paul Pearson, 43, went into investment banking.

In 1992, all four joined to form Pearson Partners, a Manhattan real estate firm. While David and Paul Pearson handle the investment banking and development end, the younger two, John and Andrew, 35 and 30, respectively, do consultant work.

One market they knew they wanted to tackle was senior housing, said David Pearson, who lives on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

About a decade ago, he said, "We went to put our grandmother in a nursing home on Long Island." Their options were limited to facilities with an "institutional feel," he said. "We were also shocked at the cost alternatives for private-pay patients."

They saw a need for a senior life-care facility, in which a resident can buy an independent living apartment with the right to move into an assisted-living unit or skilled-nursing bed if needed.

"Our investment philosophy was, do something close to home and watch it and nurture it," said Paul Pearson, of Syosset. "When we heard of [the available property in] Port Washington it became a natural due to our familiarity with the location and community.

Other partners in Harbor Ridge Associates, formerly North Shore Associates, are Tully Construction, Greenstreet Capital and Affirmative Equities. Debt financiers are Greenstreet Financial and Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Capital.

Run by Marriott Senior Living Services, the continuing-care retirement community will be made up of 310 independent-living apartments, 30 assisted-living apartments and 60 skilled-nursing beds.

The development will also include a 125-unit mid-rise condominium building and 150 single-family homes and townhouses for people age 55 or older.

Some units will overlook the 18th green for a "dynamite view," said David Pearson as he surveyed the property on a recent afternoon.

While prices for the continuing-care retirement community have not yet been determined, David Pearson said they will likely be similar to those at Edgehill, a senior life-care community in Stamford, Conn., that is also managed by Marriott. There, prices range from $255,000 for a one-bedroom to $615,000 for a two-bedroom.

If all goes according to plan, construction on the low-rise buildings would begin in the spring of 1999, with units going on sale later that year. Workers would begin building the continuing-care retirement community in 1999, opening in the year 2000.

The scope of the project has drawn fire and prompted a couple of North Hempstead officials to say the proposed population of the complex would dwarf some of the town's villages.

Referring to the environmental impact studies and a public hearing on the site plan, David Pearson said, "A lot of the questions . . . have been answered in the past."

Still, as soon as a team of architects and engineers is assembled and final details with Marriott are worked out, David Pearson said the company would make presentations to the community, hold focus groups and launch a Web site to disseminate information about the development.

"We want the community to understand our project and be very familiar with it," he said. "We want to hear the concerns of any of our neighbors and be as responsive as we can."

The toll-free number for more information about the housing development is 888-768-6700.