CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Cenikor recovery center offers drug and alcohol rehab services. Those suffering from addictions come here as they try and get their lives back on track.
Cenikor CEO Bill Bailey said right now, there’s a huge demand for the company's services.
"The year before last were able to serve around 2,400 individuals, 2,800 during the 2023 and we’re looking to be north of 3,000 this year," Bailey said.
The cost of maintaining this old Ramada Inn hotel, the building the rehab now uses, is still too expensive according to the CEO. The monthly utility bill is over $20,000. Still, the company looked at renovating the place which sits along McBride Lane and I-37 and that cost was also sky high.
”We are looking at renovation cost north of $8 million," he said.
So, the company found an old nursing home on Cantwell Lane, but, Cenikor needed the city to change the zoning so it could relocate into the smaller facility. One that would still allow it to maintain its operations and even expand if necessary.
"Corpus Christi zoning regulations require us to have a different type of zoning than a nursing home in most communities but behavioral health and healthcare are all in the same kind of zoning,” Bailey said.
Council did pass the company’s zoning request. Mayor Paulette Guajardo called it a great move.
"We are actually reverting the zoning to what it used to be in the 80’s, so that we can accommodate this wonderful partner," Guajardo said. "They’ve been a partner with the City of corpus Christi for many years.”
Bailey expects the $3 million renovation of the nursing home to begin in the next 60 days. He hopes it will be completed by the end of the year.
He said the old hotel will be sold and hopefully someone will want to renovate it and open it back up as a hotel or some other business.
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