Lilac Plaza, Terrace apartments said to be in high demand

Apartment units at Lilac Plaza and Lilac Terrace are in high demand, with lengthy waiting lists for prospective future residents.

“I generally tell a new person walking in the door who's interested in us that, if they're willing to take a studio apartment, it might be as little as six months,” says Scott Hamann, administrator for Spokane Baptist Homes, which operates the two independent-living retirement homes on Spokane’s North Side that cater to lower-income seniors. “If they want a larger apartment … it’s going to be years, in most cases.”

Prospective tenants must be at least 62 years of age to be placed on the waiting lists, Hamann says.

Together, the facilities have 224 living units.

The 13-story Lilac Plaza, at 7007 N. Wiscomb, has 125 studio units and 49 one-bedroom units, and living spaces range from 360 to 612 square feet.

Monthly rents there range from $600 to $850.

In the adjacent four-story Lilac Terrace, at 7015 N. Wiscomb, one-bedroom units have 540 square feet of living space, and two-bedroom units have 712 square feet of space. Monthly rents in that facility range from $620 to $900.

Most of the units are subsidized based on income levels of tenants, says Glen Pierce, CEO of Spokane Baptist Association Homes.

Units have fully equipped kitchens, individual heating and air conditioning, and a 24-hour emergency response system. Carports also are provided, based on availability as there are about 150 covered parking stalls.

Since it's a fully independent-living community, many residents still own cars, Pierce says.

“We don’t have a lot of empty spaces during the week,” he says.

Other amenities shared by Lilac Plaza and Lilac Terrace include a beauty salon, laundry facilities, a computer center, a library, a coffee and espresso bar, a community garden, an exercise facility, and bus/van transportation.

Lilac Plaza and Lilac Terrace provide a meal program and share a dining room and commercial kitchen.

The program offers one meal each weekday with an option for a weekend box meal. The basic meal is served at noon on Monday and Wednesday through Friday, and a full breakfast meal is served on Tuesday morning.

The cost is $7 for the basic meal, with some options for add-ons at extra cost.

The facilities currently have an award-winning chef on staff who hails from Napa Valley, California.

“He was willing to work here for less money because this was the first job he ever had that had weekends off,” Pierce says. “I think the quality of our food is probably the best it’s ever been.”

In all, the facilities have a combined staff of 18, including a wellness coordinator who was formerly a licensed practical nurse, he says.

Pierce estimates that having a wellness coordinator on staff reduces residents' emergency room visits by 50%.

Tenants have opportunities to participate in several activities, including bingo, karaoke, game nights, crafts, and sewing, some of which are organized by residents.

Lilac Terrace also brings in entertainment, such as the Jerry-At-Tricks band and a Mennonite choir, among other performers, Pierce says.

Spokane Baptist Association Homes also owns recreational property an hour’s drive north, which hosts outings on the Pend Oreille River for its senior-living residents.

“We have a unique opportunity up in Pend Oreille County,” Pierce says.

When the association’s board wanted to make a long-term real estate investment in 2011, he suggested that a property that could be enjoyed by residents until the association decides what to do with it, Pierce explains.

“So in the summertime, we take our residents up there for a barbecue lunch and get them out on a pontoon boat,” he says.

Many of the residents at Lilac Plaza and Lilac Terrace work together to build a sense of community.

Hamann says a resident assembly group with its own elected officers and a board of directors welcomes any resident who wants to be involved.

“They work on different things they want to work on for residents,” he says.

Hamann estimates the average age of residents is in the upper 70s. “It’s gotten lower than when I started here in 2001,” he says. “At that time, it was probably in the mid-80s.”

Consequently, the average length of stay per resident is getting longer, he says.

“Most of our residents spend several years here,” Hamann says, adding that some residents have lived in the facilities for over 20 years.

Pierce and Hamann each have worked for Spokane Baptist Association Homes for over two decades. Pierce started in 2000 and was named CEO one year later. Hamann’s tenure started in 2001.

Both say they find working for Spokane Baptist Association Homes rewarding.

“You have to be service minded because what we do is not for the money,” Pierce says.

Lilac Plaza opened in 1972, and Lilac Terrace was built in 2009.

Spokane Baptist Association Homes also operates the 96-unit Holman Gardens Retirement Community that opened in 1984 at 12912 E. 12th, in Spokane Valley.

The association also owns roughly 7 acres of property about 4.5 miles north of Lilac Plaza, where it may erect new facilities in the future, Pierce says.

“We’ve got some land out north that we’ve pieced together over time,” he says. “It’s always been the plan to address that at some point.”