Senior-living projects here are faltering or changing direction or timing at least partly due to continuing recession-related uncertainties.

In status changes to three of them, plans for a $14 million skilled-nursing center on the South Hill have been canceled altogether, a once-envisioned $12.5 million active-senior housing development in the Dishman Hills area has been refocused to target younger buyers instead, and proposed cottages in the Valley are on hold while developers work on plans to build more of them more cost effectively.

Extendicare Health Services Inc., a Milwaukee-based operator of long-term care facilities, has dropped its plans for a 120-bed nursing facility on the South Hill, says Mel Beal, Extendicare's senior vice president of operations.

Extendicare had planned to begin construction last spring of a 60,300-square-foot facility on five acres of land on the east side of Freya Street at about 44th Avenue last spring. Beal cited the overall downturn in the economy and lack of funding sources for the decision to cancel the project.

Extendicare owns the South Hill property and now is trying to determine its best use in the wake of the decision, he says.

The company also operates Franklin Hills Health & Rehabilitation Center, at 6021 N. Lidgerwood; the Gardens on University, at 414 S. University; and Cherrywood Place Retirement & Assisted Living, at 100 E. Dalke.

In all, Extendicare operates 258 senior-care facilities in the U.S. and Canada, including 16 facilities in Washington state and two in Coeur d'Alene, the company's Web site says.

In the refocused residential development, Burlington, Wash.-based Landed Gentry Homes & Communities LLC, says it now is aiming its Reserve at Dishman Hills residential development at entry-level home buyers. The development originally was planned as a 50-lot community for active seniors south of the Park Place Retirement Community and across Park Road from Edgecliff Park. Homes were expected to be priced at more than $250,000.

Planned amenities were to include walking trails to tie into the nearby Dishman Hills Natural Area and a community building that was to serve as a hub for social activities.

The active-senior housing market, though, withered as many people approaching retirement age lost equity during the recession in their retirement accounts and the homes they planned to sell and move out of, says Daniel Melville, the company's Spokane-area acquisition and development manager.

Under Landed Gentry's revised plan, the 44-lot Reserve at Dishman Hills development will have fewer amenities. Home prices likely will be below $250,000, with floor plans ranging in size from roughly 1,000 square feet to 2,600 square feet, Melville says. Redmond, Ore.-based Hayden Homes LLC will build the homes there, he says.

Scot Auble, president of Spokane appraisal firm Auble, Jolicoeur & Gentry, says it's difficult to get a return from an investment in developing lots with premium amenities in recessionary times.

"Many prospective purchasers don't appreciate the true cost of amenities when comparing one lot to another," Auble says.

Also, many seniors simply are holding off on purchasing decisions, he says.

"It's probably due to a decline in purchasing power," Auble says. "A lot of retirement accounts are devastated."

In the plans for senior cottages, brothers Greg and Prokey Arger, the owners and developers of the Evergreen Fountains LLC senior living community, at 1201 N. Evergreen, had hoped to start work last summer on 12 cottages there. They have delayed those plans, though, while they seek to buy additional land, that would give the development room for up to 20 cottages in a project now estimated to cost $5 million, Greg Arger says.

"It's a lot more cost effective to build them all at once," Arger says of the delay.

Evergreen Fountains opened in 2008 with 85 independent-living units and 25 assisted-living units in a four-story building and a cluster of six cottages for independent seniors just west of the main building. The occupancy rate at Evergreen Fountains is more than 80 percent, and five of the cottages also are leased, he says.

The Argers had hoped that Evergreen Fountains would reach full occupancy last summer. While Greg Arger says the downturn in the real estate market had slowed the rise in occupancy there to some extent, the Argers have enjoyed a recent uptick in tenants moving in due to improved real estate sales activity.

"Many people are in the process of selling their homes so they can move in," Arger says. "There's still a good market for homes around $250,000, and sales are picking up."

The cottages will be similar to Evergreen Fountains' first group of original cottages, which range in size from 1,250 to 1,450 square feet and rent for about $2,900 a month, he says. That price includes breakfast each day, wellness programs, and activities offered in the main building. The cottages are being designed by Wyatt Architects & Associates PS, of Spokane Valley. A contractor hasn't been selected for the project yet, Arger says.

The cottages will be between Evergreen and Mamer roads, just south of Evergreen Fountains' main building.