Merchants are hoping for a Valentine’s Day validation.Retailers and others are looking for any signs that an economic comeback is truly mounting.FORT WAYNE – Non-profit Lutheran Life Villages wants to build a $6 million nursing home in what is becoming a trend in Fort Wayne.
The project is an 80-bed, 50,000-square-foot complex to be built on Coldwater Road, south of Dupont Road near the Woodland Lakes subdivision.
Even with the promise of 100 jobs, expected to range from $13 to $15 an hour, officials at the Allen County Council on Aging are sounding a word of caution.
Jenni Showalter, director of development for the Council on Aging, said she certainly doesn’t bemoan strides in the local economy, but she doesn’t want them to create cost and quality problems later.
Luxury living for senior citizens on fixed incomes might prove impractical, for example.
“We do need housing for seniors, so thank God for these types of (operations), but the thing is making sure people can afford to live in them,” Showalter said. “Another concern would be making sure all of the amenities are in place for them or at least having transportation available.”
Construction quality also should rank high on the lists of developers, Showalter said.
“Making sure they’re clean and safe,” she said. “I’m not saying they won’t be, but that’s something you have to consider as well.”
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that by 2030, about one in five Americans – nearly 72 million people – will be 65 or older.
This week, Lamplight Communities began accepting residents at its downtown assisted-living center, 300 E. Washington Blvd.
The Toronto, Ohio-based company spent $4 million converting the former Fort Wayne Hotel and Conference Center into the Lamplight Inn of Fort Wayne. The facility will offer 170 rooms.
Studios and one- and two-bedroom units are available for residents who will pay $2,700 a month for living quarters, meals and assistance. Most residents likely will use Medicaid to help cover expenses, Lamplight officials said. Some seniors will occupy independent-living quarters. An open house is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 16.
But even as housing for aging baby boomers is “literally booming,” responsible expansion is paramount, said Bruce Blalock, Lutheran Life president and chief executive officer.
“Studies show that there is still quite a bit of need for senior housing, but it has to be affordable, and we want to make sure we’re not pricing ourselves out of the market,” he said. “As far as quality, we want to make sure our buildings are around forever, not just 10 years.”
Lutheran Life Villages began in Kendallville in 1931. That campus serves 100 residents. The company also has a location on South Anthony Boulevard that caters to 380 patients. The site added a $1.5 million child-care center in 2007.
“At some point, we’d like to build an assisted-living facility, but that’s only a dream right now,” Blalock said, adding that the 150-unit complex they envision could cost up to $27 million.
“We don’t even have land yet, though,” he said.
For now, Blalock is focused on presenting the Coldwater Road complex to the Fort Wayne Plan Commission during a public hearing at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at the City-County Building.
