Preliminary plans have been filed with the city of Spokane Valley for the construction of 29 multiunit residential structures at the 200-acre campus of Spokane Valley Good Samaritan Village, but a land-use planner whos familiar with the plans says the retirement center hasnt decided yet to go ahead with the project.


The plans show that each of the 29 buildings would have two to four independent-living units, and the structures would be spread out over 152 acres south of the current Good Samaritan complex, says Carolbelle Branch, a spokeswoman for the city. The property is located at 17121 E. Eighth, in the Greenacres area about a mile east of Sullivan Road.


Jacki Schmick, housing and marketing director at Spokane Valley Good Samaritan, says she cant comment on the plans until theyre approved.


The land-use planner, Frank Ide, whos with Taylor Engineering Inc., the Spokane firm that filed the preliminary plans, says, Good Samaritan is exploring the financial feasibility of going forward with the project. There seems to be a strong demand internally. They have some independent-living units and are looking at constructing more.


Ide declines to disclose estimated construction costs for now and says no contractor or architect has been selected for the project yet.


Its still preliminary, he says. Good Samaritan wants to see what the city would require.


Branch says an undetermined number of the structures would have two stories, and the rest would be one story. Each building would have about 5,000 square feet of living space, although some might be larger, and the 29 buildings would have a combined 145,000 to 160,000 square feet of floor space, she says.


Spokane Valley Good Samaritan Village is owned by Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, a nonprofit long-term care provider based in Sioux Falls, S.D. Ide says the decision about whether to go forward with the project here will be made by members of the societys staff in Sioux Falls.


The Spokane Valley Good Samaritan campus has a 97-bed skilled-nursing facility, the 27-unit Village Inn assisted-living facility, the 79-unit Samaritan Towers independent-living apartment complex, and 28 independent-living duplex structures.


Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan provides care and support services for seniors in 230 locations in the U.S., including the Fairfield Good Samaritan Center retirement and nursing-home facility in south Spokane County and a retirement and nursing-home facility in Blaine, Wash., in the northwest corner of the state.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.