Scottsdale-based Solterra Senior Living is building three low-income assisted living projects totaling $66 million.
The first project, called Bridgewater Deer Valley, is set to open its doors June 5 in a former Comfort Inn hotel in north Phoenix, with a midtown Phoenix location to open in 2018. A third location is slated to break ground in Avondale later this year.
Each community is expected to employ 100 full-time and part-time employees when they reach full capacity.
The 166-room Bridgewater Deer Valley at 2641 W. Union Hills Drive will cost $17 million to develop. The architect is Devenney Group and the general contractor is Caliente Construction. J-Bar Cos. is the developer.
The second Bridgewater project is at Third Avenue and Indian School Road on a 2-acre parcel. The 132-room building will be seven stories high, said Steve Jorgenson, president and CEO of Solterra Senior Living.
The third Bridgewater project in Avondale will break ground later this year. That project will be 152 rooms and cost $23 million to develop.
The midtown Phoenix and Avondale projects are being designed by Orcutt/Winslow and built by Kitchell.
Founded 10 years ago, Solterra Senior Living has four other senior retirement communities focusing on private pay patients.
Jorgenson said he was approached by an East Coast group that was interested in developing low-income housing tax credit properties. They partnered on the Bridgewater projects to provide assisted living for low-income residents.
For the two Phoenix properties, they used Phoenix Industrial Development Authority to procure the bonds and will use Arizona Industrial Development Authority for the Avondale project.
Seniors who qualify for the state Medicaid program, which is called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System based on a managed care model, can get a semi-private room for $2,300 a month, which includes meals, housekeeping and care services, Jorgenson said. That’s about half the price for traditional assisted living units, he said.
The projects in midtown Phoenix and Avondale will offer memory care units and can accept up to 15 percent private pay patients, who would be charged a higher rate, he said.
