Retirement complex adding 80 new units.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

A planned addition to the Willamette Oaks Retirement Apartments will add 56 assisted-living apartments and 24 units for people with Alzheimer's disease, owner Bill Reeve said Thursday.

The complex, located on the Willamette River just north of Valley River Center, opened in 1986 and houses 210 residents in 164 apartments. But, up to now, that has not included people who need assistance with daily living tasks such as bathing and dressing.

Reeve said many Willamette Oaks residents have been thrilled to learn of the company's planned expansion. "Our residents average 84 1/2 years old, and they usually seem to need assisted living in their late 80s," he said.

In the past, Willamette Oaks has helped its residents find other housing when they become too infirm to live independently, "but now we'll have the luxury of them being able to just move across the courtyard to a different kind of unit," Reeve said. "We like to say they're making a move but staying in the family."

Another advantage will be that couples will be able to stay together when one needs more help than the retirement complex now can provide, he said.

"We have 26 or 27 couples living with us, and it will be so much better for them to stay in a familiar place, even when one of them needs a higher level of care," Reeve said. "Because of the age of our residents, we have between 20 and 25 each year who need to make the transition from regular to assisted living."

The project is in the "working drawings" phase, and construction should begin in mid-2008, with units move-in ready during the spring of 2009. At a projected cost of $200 per square foot, the 65,000 square foot addition will come to about $13 million. The real market value of the complex in 2006 was $17.5 million, with a tax bill of $200,000.

In addition to the new construction, Willamette Oaks also will undertake a $2.5 million remodel of the existing retirement apartments next year.

Reeve and his wife, Mary, began Willamette Oaks and a similar facility in Issaquah, Wash., in partnership with the PeaceHealth medical system. The Reeves bought out PeaceHealth's interest in the properties in 1994. They also own additional retirement facilities in Bellingham, Bremerton and Olympia.