Assisted-living complex planned for New Ulm

By CHRIS VETTER

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- A new 56-unit, assisted-living complex could be open in New Ulm this time next year, as plans to construct the facility are moving forward this week.

Dean Bloemke, chief executive officer of Welcome To Our Home development of Buffalo Lake, plans to build a $4 million apartment unit next to Ridgeway on German, which also is an assisted-living home.

Bloemke's group previously built the 52-unit Ridgeway site, which is now owned and operated by the New Ulm Housing Alternatives and Development Corporation.

The New Ulm City Council will vote Tuesday on a tax-increment financing package for the company, which amounts to $450,000.

The Ridgeway complex was built in 1998.

"We filled it up, and we enjoy a nice waiting list today," Bloemke said. "We think we'll probably start out at half-full."

Heather Hancock, director of resident services at Ridgeway, agreed that housing in the complex is tight.

"We've been full for a full year now," Hancock said. "People putting their name down now probably have to wait a year."

Hancock said it is frustrating to turn down people looking for room in Ridgeway.

"This time of year, people are looking to be moved and settled before winter, and I have nothing for them," she said.

One of the reasons Bloemke said he is seeking public assistance is to fund the removal of soft ground at the site.

"That was a piece of property that people didn't know what to do with," Bloemke said. "We're taking ground that no one has been able to do anything with."

A tax-increment financing district is even more important now because interest rates are higher than in 1998, he said.

"If we can get the TIF going, we can really get a lower rental rate," Bloemke said. "The financing has to be in place. All this will be rolling soon."

If construction could still begin this fall, Bloemke said the building would open in August. But, if construction cannot begin until March -- after snow melts -- the building may not be ready until October 2001, he predicted.

Bloemke said his company began looking at expanding in New Ulm about six months ago. A professional marketing survey was completed over the summer.

Assisted-living complexes have grown in popularity in recent years, as seniors look for alternative ways to live on their own, Bloemke said.

"It's a way to enable someone to stay in an independent living setting, longer than they might," he said.

There is one registered nurse at along with a staff trained by the nurse. Residents have some services, like laundry and housekeeping, done by the staff.

"We're generally between half and two-thirds as expensive as nursing homes," Bloemke said.

Hancock said people like the independent lifestyle of assisted living.

"Our buildings are not attached to a nursing home," she said. "If you don't need that much medical care, that's where assisted living comes in."

Dave Schnobrich, city planning development director, said the new assisted-living complex should not have any impact on the city-owned apartments, Garden Terrace or Broadway Haus. Schnobrich said the clientele for assisted living is generally different than for general apartments.

Ridgeway is a three-story building, and the new complex also will be three floors and similar in appearance.

Welcome To Our Home has built assisted-living complexes in St. Peter, Hutchinson, Owatonna, Fairmont, Cloquet and North Mankato. The company does not own or operate many of the facilities it built.

"We're an operating arm for these towns," Bloemke said.