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A $7,000 study funded by the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center found that developing senior housing in the area would be beneficial.

The senior center pledged up to $25,000 for studies geared towards developing land currently owned by Centerline Development into living options for senior citizens.

With this initial study saying it is a good plan, further studies would include financial studies, an architectural plan and legal expenses, among other items, totalling about $50,000.

At a March 14 meeting at the senior center, Ian Turner and Nic Alexander of Centerline Development were joined by Jerry Trutwold of Senior Services of America in speaking about the project with senior board members including President Cheryl Hoffman.

Senior Services of America, who would take on the project, manages all aspects of 21 senior-living facilities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, according to its website. Fourteen are in Washington, offering a range of services from independent living to assisted living and memory care.

Trutwold estimated at that meeting that the full project may cost $10-15 million to develop 8.3 acres at the former Centerline School on Spokane Way and nearby property into senior housing. 

The recent study, conducted by SageAge since that meeting took place, says that “based upon the demands calculated in the market area, SageAge feels that an assisted living offering of up to approximately 60 to 80 units could be comfortably developed in the marketplace if the community were not going to participate in Medicaid; if so, this bed count could potentially be doubled, although SageAge would recommend no more than approximately 100 units.

“SageAge feels confident recommending that the Grand Coulee Senior Center and the project team continue with consideration of the development of a new senior living community in the Grand Coulee, Washington market area. Demand for both assisted living and memory care — under both a private pay and Medicaid pricing structure — were more than ample to support a moderately sized community in the market area at current market rates for each care type.

“From a competitive perspective, there are no communities located within an hour’s drive time from the Grand Coulee area. Additionally, there is only one community providing memory care assisted living in the entire defined primary market area, allowing for a high level of opportunity for this specific offering.

The study recommends offering assisted living with a combination of studio and one-bedroom units, potentially combined for two bedrooms, between 400 and 700 square feet to make “a premium offering” for fees that should range between $4,000 and $5,000 a month, plus more for higher levels of care or more space.

Some attending the meeting in March had expressed concerns that it might be too expensive to stay at the facility, or that locals wouldn’t be prioritized.

With the facility to be governed by a non-profit organization, with community members on the board, Trutwold explained that locals could be prioritized by the board and prices kept reasonable.

“The study makes me very optimistic about this,” Hoffman told The Star on Tuesday, adding that more data would be shared at a later date, including data related to income and house values in the larger area.

Separate from the senior living project, Centerline Development has discussed building independent housing options in the same area for those not requiring assistance, and Hoffman suggested that someone could live in a small, manageable house independently, and then later transition to assisted living.