Retirement News : Seniors : Windsor retirement village gaining ground

Windsor retirement village gaining ground

Date Added: 19-04-2005

With its lakes, trails and golf courses, Water Valley already is rich in leisurely living.
By late 2006 or early 2007, the large Windsor residential community could have another amenity — a retirement village.

Good Samaritan Society, the nation’s largest builder of retirement communities, is planning a 200- to 225-unit facility to be built into the bluff on the east side of Weld County Road 17.

Good Samaritan has retirement

villages in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.

“Windsor is a wonderful community for us to expand our mission,” said Randy Fitzgerald, Good

Samaritan’s regional director for Colorado and Kansas. “People love the smaller town, the community. Probably the most important reason is to be part of Water Valley and that lifestyle … It’s going to be a community within a community.”

The $20 million to $25 million first phase of development calls for 60 to 90 independent living units. The total project would take three to five years to build.

Fitzgerald said the campus will include independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and individual patio home units.

Plans are close to being submitted to the town of Windsor for review. Water Valley President Martin Lind is excited about the addition to his development.

“It’s a fantastic facility for this area,” Lind said.

Good Samaritan Society, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., has 250 facilities in 25 states. The organization also has Colorado campuses in Estes Park and Boulder.

“We’re the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of senior services in the country, and we’re just very excited to expand our mission in Water Valley and Windsor,” Fitzgerald said.

The age-restricted village requires that at least one occupant of a unit be 62 or older.

Fitzgerald said it won’t be hard to attract residents to the Windsor facility, especially after the American Association of Retired Persons last spring listed Loveland-Fort Collins as the top area in the nation to “reinvent your life.”

“Northern Colorado is being recognized as a leading place for seniors to retire, and I have a feeling Water Valley is a bull’s-eye,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve had inquiries from all around the country about Water Valley.”

About 50 to 60 people would work at the facility, Fitzgerald said. The complex will potentially spread to the west side of Weld 17 with a 40-unit U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development facility.

“We’re just very excited about that because we could offer all the services of Water Valley and Good Samaritan to residents of all income levels,” he said.

That project would take a couple years to develop and is contingent on receiving funding from HUD, Fitzgerald said.

The plan is to connect the two campuses with a road traveling under County Road 17.

Fitzgerald expects to have a better idea of the project’s timeline in the next 30 to 45 days. He’s hopeful Good Samaritan could break ground in early 2006.

The main facility would be built into the bluff in south Water Valley. The buildings won’t be taller than the ridge line, he said.

“We want to take advantage of the wonderful views of Water Valley and Windsor,” Fitzgerald said.

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