WINDSOR - If the free golf doesn't win you over, maybe the outdoor hot tub will. Only catch is you have to be 55 or over to enjoy these and a long list of amenities.

The Good Samaritan Society's Water Valley Senior Resort is on track to welcome new residents this coming spring when moving vans from as close as Windsor and as far away as Waco, Texas, start showing up, said Randy Fitzgerald, regional director for the Good Samaritan Society headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The $35 million, 245,274-square-foot facility joins 284 Good Samaritan senior facilities in 24 states. With five stories - the tallest building thus far in Windsor - the senior resort is hard to miss.

"It's going great," said Doug Dohn, president of Dohn Construction. "We're right on schedule. We got a little behind through the winter, but we got caught up with the additional structural steel crew we brought in."

Dohn said construction has been straightforward "for a building of that size." It's also, he added, "been a fun project."

A senior living center fun?

Innes Henderson, a designer with Vaught Frye Architects and the go-to-guy for the Water Valley project, shares Dohn's perspective, noting there are many elements to the building - the Town Center being one of them - that are atypical of senior living centers in general.

"To my knowledge, Vaught Frye has never done an outdoor hot tub before," he laughed. "And if we have, it's not been on a second floor."

Natural stone, stucco and a composite slate-like roof will clad the exterior.

Upon entering the center, visitors and residents alike will be greeted by a two-story Town Center that will include a bank, convenience store, coffee lounge, library, chapel/theater and dining hall.

"We're making it very homelike," Henderson said, adding that it will be akin to strolling along a "pedestrianized street." Skylights will add to the faux outdoor ambiance.



Leasing under way

Though construction won't be complete for months, leasing is well under way, according to Dawn Jensen, director of sales and marketing. Twelve units are spoken for with another 17 in various stages of commitment. "I was at the Crazy Cow (a small, educational dairy that sells to-die-for ice cream and other items right off Fifth Street) and happened to have a folder with me when I ran into an older couple. We started talking about the center and they came over for a tour."

The living center includes 116 residential units and offers 12 different one- and two-bedroom floor plans, each with a den, kitchen and gorgeous views. "We are just trying to create different options for our potential residents," Fitzgerald said. "Different room sizes, different room configurations, some husband-and-wife suites. We're just trying new things."

The average monthly rent is $2,900 per person and includes two meals daily, utilities, housekeeping, parking and educational, recreational, leisure and social opportunities. "There's no admission fee, no buy-in fee, just a straight month-to-month lease," Fitzgerald said. A $2,000 deposit holds the apartment.

Public tours of the center tower are expected to begin after the first of the year, Jensen said.

The second phase of the Good Samaritan Water Valley Resort will begin in 2008 with the construction of 24 twin homes, or 48 residences, and a 24-unit assisted living facility. These will be built north of the first phase. The second phase is projected to cost $12 million.

Martin Lind, the mastermind behind all that is Water Valley, donated an additional 10 acres to the Good Samaritan Society on which the not-for-profit organization plans to build affordable/HUD housing.

Fitzgerald credits Lind and his vision, as well as his generosity, for making the Water Valley Senior Resort a reality. The free golf? Lind made it happen.

Fitzgerald also noted that Good Samaritan will, in fact, be building at Water Valley for at least the next eight to 10 years. Building what? "I don't want to spill the beans just yet," he hinted.

Stay tuned.