Family Owned: Broadway Court Estates keeps senior living community in the family

In a time when many senior living communities are corporate-owned, Broadway Court Estates stands out.

Geraldine (Geri) Sarff and her late husband Harold started the business in 2001 with their three sons, Hal, Larry and Andy.

Now, a third generation of Sarffs has joined the business. Chances are, when you enter the lobby, you’ll be greeted by Geri’s granddaughter, Paisliee Sarff.

“I’m at the front desk,” she said. “I’m the eyes and ears of the place. It’s a lot of fun!”

Her grandmother smiled and said, “The residents love her and rave about how nice she is.”

In the 1980s, Geri, a registered nurse, worked in a skilled nursing facility in Spokane Valley and later served as administrator of a small nursing home on the North side.

“I saw there was a need for a different kind of care – not everyone needed that level of care,” she recalled.

When one of the residents moved out of the nursing home, Geri discovered she’d gone to live in an adult family home.

“I visited her and was really impressed.”

In 1985, she opened Colonial House, an adult family home in the Valley. At the time, such homes could only have four residents, so Geri’s son, Larry, opened one next door and her son Hal opened one next to him.

By 1990, they’d opened Colonial Care Assisted Living, and in 1994, the family purchased property and built Colonial Court Assisted Living.

Working together is all they knew.

“We each had our own responsibilities and job descriptions,” Larry said.

Geri kept her finger on the pulse of the trends in senior living, and in 2001, they built Broadway Court Estates, an independent living home.

Having sold the other facilities, the family turned their focus to their new project. Hal took on the role of chief financial officer, Andy became the maintenance director and Larry assumed the position of operations manager.

“My husband named the ’50s Cafe and made the sign,” Geri said.

Andy nodded.

“We did a lot of the landscaping and deck designs ourselves,” he said. “We didn’t want it to be cookie-cutter.”

The facility features 119 one- and two-bedroom apartments. Amenities include an indoor pool, fitness rooms, two libraries, a chapel, a computer center, a game room and a dance floor.

It’s a residence created with active, engaged seniors in mind.

“We have three activity people and two of them have been with us 20 years,” said Geri.

Broadway Court Estates also features a salon, with a stylist who has worked for the family for 30 years. She’d previously been at Colonial Court.

Geri’s grandchildren grew up spending time at Broadway Court Estates.

“Lots of family got their first jobs here,” Paisliee said.

Her brother, Andrew, is one of them.

“I was 8, and I got paid $10 a day to do yard work,” he said.

The Sarff brothers also own three Mega Wash car washes, and Andrew is their marketing manager.

They’re still involved at Broadway Court Estates.

Larry leads the monthly tenant meetings and said the advantage of living in a locally owned facility is their ability to respond to their tenants’ requests quickly.

“We can make decisions rapidly, and that makes us unique,” he said. “When you work with family, you have to get along.”

Disagreements are quickly settled.

Hal’s daughter, Natalie Mueller, is stepping into roles in finance and operations.

“We work out any disagreements as a group,” she said. “We have to find solutions.”

The family not only works together – they play together.

“We take family vacations together every other year,” said Larry. “There’s usually 20-25 of us.”

After decades in the business, with her grandchildren assuming various roles, Geri is eyeing retirement.

That’s not to say she’s absent from the facility.

“I’m here every week to get my hair done,” she said. “And I usually eat lunch and dinner here.”

She takes pride in the facility that many seniors have called home over the years.

“It’s a nice place to work,” she said. “But I’m most proud of my sons. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to expand like we did.”

That expansion was all part of her vision.

“I wanted my sons to have the opportunity to do good work here, so they wouldn’t have to leave Spokane.”

Contact Cindy Hval at dchval@juno.com