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GranVida Senior Living welcomes new owner
Santa Barbara local Blake Parsons took over mid-February
BY EVELYN SPENCE
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Carpinteria’s GranVida Senior Living Center recently welcomed a new owner: Santa Barbara native Blake Parsons.
Parsons, who took over in mid-February, told CVN his dad was born in Carpinteria. His parents met on Carpinteria State Beach when they were young adults.
“My parents used to own the old Carrillo Hotel,” he said. “That was the first assisted living community that they owned, with a partner. I grew up there… after school, I’d get picked up and taken to the property.”
Parsons graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 2000, attended UC Irvine for his undergraduate education, and came back to Santa Barbara to work for his parents’ company several years later. Eleven years after returning he started his own company, and, in 2019, bought his first assisted living building.
“I knew the (GranVida Building) – I actually toured it when it was an office building before they had converted it,” he said.
Parsons said the GranVida property had been on the market “for a little bit,” and decided to purchase it to bring the operation back under local control.
“In a community like Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, you really have to be in the community and invest in the community,” he said. “That’s not particularly what the larger private equity groups (do).”
“The residents seem to really like that they know someone is invested in their home – it’s not to say the group before didn’t do that, it’s just a little more challenging if you’re further away,” he added. “I don’t know if I can impress upon enough our desire to really be involved in the community.”
The business is managed by Mallard Senior Living Management, co-owned by Ryan Test. A new executive director, Eric Terrill, also started in late February.
GranVida Senior Living and Memory Care is located at 5464 Carpinteria Ave. in Carpinteria. The business can be reached at granvidaseniorliving.com or at (805) 566-0017.
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