Tumwater draws eye of builders

Two apartment complexes in works at same intersection

SCOTT WYLAND, THE OLYMPIAN

TUMWATER -- Two Vancouver, Wash.-based developers are proposing separate apartment complexes for the same intersection in Tumwater.

One complex would have 94 apartments targeted to seniors, and the other would add 144 townhouses to the general rental market.

JEA Senior Living has presented preliminary plans to the city for an independent living center that would be built next to the Hampton Special Care Facility and across the street from Olympic West Retirement Inn, both of which JEA owns.

Keeping things together

The $8 million independent living center would have no on-site medical staff and would help round out a nucleus of options for retirees, said Jerry Erwin, JEA's managing partner.

"We think it's important to keep it close together," Erwin said.

With some elderly couples, one spouse needs intensive care while the other can live independently, Erwin said. So having a clinic nearby -- such as Hampton, which treats Alzheimer's patients -- can be vital, he said.

The apartments would have one to two bedrooms, a cafeteria that serves two meals a day, and room-cleaning service, Erwin said. He declined to say how much the rooms would rent for.

Erwin said he would like to break ground in the next year but is uncertain when construction would actually start.

"It takes quite a while getting through the development process," he said.

JEA has built about 20 retirement centers, including Tumwater's Olympic West in 1978, Erwin said. These centers are scattered through Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, Georgia and Mississippi.

Meanwhile, developer Stan Gass has scrapped plans to build a 96-unit assisted-living center and 96-unit low-income apartment complex on an adjacent 12-acre parcel.

Gass, who has no business ties with JEA, now proposes to build a $10.3 million complex, made up of six buildings containing a mixture of two-bedroom and three-bedroom townhouses.

The two bedroom apartments would rent for $800 a month, and the three bedroom units would go for $900, Gass said.

"There seems to be a great demand for that -- and that's a good location," said Gass.

He has developed apartments and assisted-living sites in Longview, Kelso, Vancouver and Oregon, he said.

Gass said he's preparing a conceptual site plan and is scheduled to meet with the city Feb. 14.

He scuttled plans for the assisted-living center because the property is zoned for a maximum of 29 units per acre, he said. That's far too few for a profitable this type of complex, he said.

This lower density is more suited to multifamily housing, Gass said, adding that assisted-living units tend to be smaller than regular apartments.

In Vancouver, he developed a 78-unit retirement center on 1.1 acres, he added.

Aside from building restrictions, the assisted-living spaces would have taken at least 18 months to fill, Gass said. "The assisted-living market isn't that strong in the Olympia area."

Gass said he decided to nix the low-income housing project because he would've had to wait too long for tax credits.

The state awards tax credits to a limited number of projects per year, and many developers were ahead of him, Gass said.

Both JEA and Gass will have to build their complexes at least 100 feet away from wetlands that stretch between the properties, said Chris Carlson, Tumwater city planner.

They will also have to widen the section of Israel Road that runs in front of their properties, as well as add a sidewalk, a landscaped strip and streetlights, Carlson said.

For related stories go to the Business section.

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