Harborside residents will continue to receive meals under a proposed settlement of $1 million in bills

The residents of a bankrupt retirement community in Port Washington would continue to receive meals under a proposed settlement for unpaid bills, according to court documents.

The Harborside has agreed to pay $712,983 toward its dining-services debt of more than $1 million. In return, food services provider Sodexo Inc. would continue to feed the 181 residents, whose average age is 90, Sodexo attorney Jennifer A. Christian wrote in a letter to a bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday.

She said the residents would have meals until at least Nov. 30 if the judge approves the settlement.

"The parties have reached a resolution of the matters raised by the motion," Christian said, referring to Sodexo’s Oct. 10 request to walk away from The Harborside, which used to be called The Amsterdam at Harborside.

Sodexo, citing the retirement facility's dwindling cash reserves and past-due bills, had asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alan S. Trust to end its 2018 contract to provide dining services.

Laurie Shinaman, Sodexo’s senior director of finance for its seniors business unit, said in a court filing that The Harborside "is very frequently overdue on both pre-bill and reconciliation invoices and regularly incurs contractual interest charges."

Sodexo’s contract to provide meals was to end in September when The Harborside was to be sold to Life Care Services Communities LLC for $104 million.

However, as Newsday reported on Oct. 8, that deal fell apart after state regulators turned down the approval applications because of a lack of information provided by Iowa-based LCS.

In response, LCS executives said they were no longer interested in owning The Harborside after waiting more than nine months for the state Department of Health and Department of Financial Services to review the deal and explain what additional information was needed.

"Sodexo is facing the prospect of being expected to continue to provide vital goods and services to the [Harborside] and its residents ... without assurances — other than perhaps verbal statements from the [Harborside and its attorneys] — that Sodexo will be paid," Edward E. Neiger, another Sodexo attorney, said in a 15-page filing.

Judge Trust has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Nov. 6 in Brooklyn federal court. The Harborside filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors last year, the third such filing in 10 years.

State records show that Sodexo has 66 employees at The Harborside. They were expected to be hired by LCS once it assumed ownership of the upscale facility.

Neither the CEO of The Harborside nor a Sodexo spokeswoman responded to requests for comment on Wednesday.

The Harborside has 329 units and offers different levels of care as residents age, from independent- and assisted-living apartments to a nursing home and dementia care. It is one of four "continuing care retirement communities" on Long Island.

Prospective residents often sell their homes to pay The Harborside’s entrance fee, which is determined by the size of the apartment. A portion of the entrance fee, which was between $527,250 and $2.2 million under one type of sales contract offered in 2021, is supposed to be refunded after the resident dies.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.