Retirement Center Taking Shape Construction Begins On Clare House Project At Palouse And 48Th

Thu., May 21, 1998

Amy Scribner Staff writer

The first phase of construction began last week on a South Side retirement center.

The Clare House Retirement Community, at Palouse Highway and 48th Avenue, is geared to provide affordable retirement housing. Rent is month-to-month, and there will be no fees to move in.

“The dream was a campus that would be totally affordable,” said developer Harry Green, of Harry Green and Associates Inc.

The first building will offer 124 units in a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. The facility will serve people at or below median incomes.

Green said the building will include a library and a computer lab with Internet service and video conferencing. A community center will offer a pool and gym.

Additional phases will add bungalow-style homes, assisted living quarters and Alzheimers facilities. The entire complex will include 418 units.

Holy Family Adult Day Care will base a South Side center at the facility.

Green said he hopes to finish building in three to four years.

Neighbors opposed the project in its early stages, complaining of higher traffic volume and flooding. Green plans to build a retention pond to evaporate stormwater.

The hearing examiner allowed the site to be rezoned last year from single-family units.

“I think we’ve shown we’re a very good neighbor,” Green said.

Green has previously transformed the former Holy Names Academy on the North Side and the old Edgecliff Hospital in the Valley, making both retirement centers.

The Clare House is named for Sister Kathleen Clare Gorman, Green’s principal at St. Aloysius Grade School in Spokane.

“She’s dedicated her life to giving,” he said. “It just seemed natural to name this for her.”

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