New assisted-living units are cropping up in Kootenai County this summer, adding to what already seems to be a peak year for such construction in the Panhandle region, according to one North Idaho economist.


Projects worth a total of $23 million that will add about 216 assisted-living units currently are planned or under way or have been completed there recently. In one of the most recently announced projects, Coeur dAlene Homes Inc. plans to start building a new $8 million facility in Coeur dAlene in August.


Im just struck by how many facilities are being built, says the economist, Kathryn Tacke, who is the Idaho state Department of Commerce and Labor regional labor economist in Coeur dAlene.


Tacke says the trend may be due partly to an aging population in the area. She says the number of residents age 65 and older in the five counties of North Idaho increased by 43 percent between 1990 and 2000. That population has grown another 28 percent since then and is projected to grow 66 percent overall from 2000 to 2010, she says.


We have a rapidly growing retirement-aged population moving here, and we are starting to see our baby boomer residents get older, she says.


The number of 45- to 64-year-olds living in Kootenai County equals 39 percent of the countys total population, which is higher than the national average of 34 percent, Tacke says.


Pearl Bouchard, director of North Idaho Colleges Aging and Adult Services agency, in Coeur dAlene, says the Pandhandle region now has the fastest growing senior population in the state.


The 1- to 5-acre parcels of land available in North Idaho particularly attract younger retirees who are moving from urban areas in search of wide open spaces and relatively cheaper real estate, she says. The baby boomers parents often follow them to the area and create more demand for assisted-living services, and 29 such facilities currently are operating in North Idaho.


Bouchard says the rise in assisted-living construction also has to do with federal funding waivers the state received seven years ago.


The Idaho state Health and Human Services Department requested the waiver in the way it administers Medicaid money to keep people out of nursing homes by placing them in assisted-living facilities. Medicaid previously didnt fund assisted living, so the waiver created a new funding stream for assisted living in the state, she says.


The federal money and subsequent rise in assisted-living accommodations being built in the area have provided a form of low-income housing for seniors, but possibly might also have led to construction of too many facilities, she says.


I think assisted living very well could be overbuilt in this region, she says.


Bouchard says that the projected population growth presents a challenge in planning for senior housing, and she hopes to see creative alternatives to assisted living emerge in the future.


Affordable condominiums, for example, would be attractive to seniors who arent eligible for welfare, are still active, and want the freedom to travel, she says.


Assisted living is mostly for older retirees, but facilities that offer any kind of care require a lot of money to build and maintain, she says. If developers bought well-located land and built reasonably-priced condominiums, they would serve an even larger portion of the retired population, she contends.


The $8 million facility that Coeur dAlene Homes plans to develop will be a two-floor, 45,000-square-foot building that will include 35 assisted-living units and 34 units for people with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia, says Mike Grabenstein, the companys administrator.


The contractor, Rushforth Construction Inc., of Tacoma, is set to build the new facility just south of a four-story, 18,000-square-foot assisted-living facility at 704 W. Walnut that Coeur dAlene Homes also operates. Grabenstein says that structure will be renovated next year after the new building is completed.


LRS Architects Inc., of Portland, Ore., designed the new building, which was funded primarily through loans from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), he says.


Coeur dAlene Homes also plans to expand Heritage Place, a 25-unit independent-living facility at 702 W. Walnut, by adding a 25-bed facility nearby. That facility will be a two-story, 18,000-square-foot structure, and construction of it is expected to begin in April 2006, Grabenstein says. It also will be designed by LRS Architects, he says.


A contractor hasnt been selected yet for that Heritage project, which will be funded through a $2 million HUD grant the company received last fall, he says. Heritage currently has a lengthy waiting list of prospective residents, he says.


Construction of the two buildings, as well as the remodel of the 50-year-old current Coeur dAlene Homes building, will cost an estimated $11 million, he says. The company has 43 employees, and Grabenstein says he plans to add 24 more as the projects are finished.


Meanwhile, Beehive Homes plans to begin developing two assisted-living buildings at 2100 E. Sherman this month, owner Gary Ghramm says. Beehive Development, also owned by Ghramm, will construct the buildings, which will house up to 15 residents each and will have a combined total of 20,000 square feet of floor space.


The buildings will be constructed next to two other Beehive facilities that were built two years ago and house a total of 30 residents. Miller Stauffer Architects PA, of Coeur dAlene, designed the planned new buildings, and PNC Bank, a Maryland-based lender, is funding the $3 million project, which is expected to be completed next January, Ghramm says.


Pinehurst project


Beehive Development also has started construction of a two-story, 30-unit Beehive Homes assisted-living building in Pinehurst, about 25 miles east of Coeur dAlene in the Silver Valley, he says. That project will cost around $3.5 million and is expected to be completed in December, he says.


Beehive Homes also operates a 30-unit, assisted-living facility at 632 N. 21st, in Coeur dAlene. The company currently has about 50 employees and plans to add roughly another 50 once the projects in Coeur dAlene and Pinehurst wrap up, he says.


The first phase of Wellspring Meadows, a new assisted-living facility at 9873 Buttercup Lane, in Hayden, was completed on July 1 and cost about $1.2 million, says co-owner Jim Heberer. Neely Construction Inc., of Post Falls, built that 15-unit facility, which has 7,000 square feet of floor space and was financed by Spokane-based Global Federal Credit Union, he says.


The second phase of the four-phase project will be a 15-unit facility for seniors with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia; construction on it is expected to start in fall 2006, Heberer says. Each facility will offer 24-hour care for residents and employ about 10 people, he says.


Hayden-based Guardian Angel Homes plans to construct a 32-unit assisted-living facility, called Liberty House, next to an assisted-living center that it operates at 1070 E. Mullan, in Post Falls, says Sharon Carr, company spokeswoman.


The new building is to be a two-story, 7,300-square-foot structure. Also planned nearby is a 5,000-square-foot community center that will include a dance floor, a kitchen, and administrative offices, Carr says. Work on both buildings is expected to begin in the next few months.


Human Resources Construction, of Liberty Lake, will build the $3.5 million project, and Forte Architecture & Planning Inc., of Coeur dAlene, designed it, she says.


Separately, Generations Assisted Living & Wellness recently completed construction of a 15-unit assisted-living facility at 13400 N. Meyer, in Rathdrum, and plans to open it on July 15, says Heather Gray, who owns the company with her husband, Tim. The building is the first of four, and the company will employ about 10 people in each building, she says.


Gray, McCrite & Archer Construction & Plumbing Inc., of Rathdrum, built the structure and Tate Designs, of Post Falls, drew the plans, she says. The U.S. Small Business Administration worked with Coeur dAlene-based Mountain West Bank to fund the project.