The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

 

The new senior housing project - described as "assisted living - is already under construction in Camdenton.

(Reporter photo by Jeff Thompson)

 

Published August 5, 2015

More senior housing units being added to lake area

By Jeff Thompson
LAKE OF THE OZARKS - Senior housing projects are popping up all over the lake area and the latest one could be located in Lake Ozark.

Pete Ramsell from Fish Haven Senior, LP, made a presentation to the Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen last Tuesday night concerning the creation of the Fish Haven Estates senior housing project.

Fish Haven Estates would offer 42 two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedroom apartments.

After the presentation the board approved a resolution “supporting the efforts of Fish Haven Senior, LP in its efforts to obtain financing through the Missouri Housing Development Commission ...”

Fish Haven Road is also the location of a “workforce” housing project which is currently under construction and is nearing completion: the same developers are also involved in the senior housing project.

Lake Ozark is certainly not alone in hosting senior housing projects, sometimes called “assisted living” or “independent living” facilities.

Osage Beach - through the upcoming Arrowhead Centre development project - will not only be another lake area location for senior housing but also another skilled nursing home.

The city had been working with the Arrowhead Centre developers since early summer to first voluntarily annex the former Dogwood Hills Golf Course - approved by the city on June 18 - as well as approve a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Plan for the project.

The $385 million project - which will replace the 228-acre golf course - seeks approximately $55 million in reimbursable TIF funds and will include a Community Improvement District (CID).

In addition to the senior housing and skilled nursing home, Arrowhead Centre will also feature an apartment complex, fast food restaurants and retail and office development that will be added in phases spread out over a 28-year period.

The Arrowhead Centre TIF was approved by Osage Beach on July 16.

The senior housing projects in Lake Ozark and Osage Beach may be months and even years away from completion, but another municipality could have a leg up on the competition.

The City of Camdenton has been working with developers to create a 40-unit townhouse apartment community for seniors in the Camdenton Center Subdivision on Fourth Street since early spring.

A request to rezone the property from R-3 Multi-Family to RP-3 Planned Residential Multi-Family was approved by the Camdenton Board of Aldermen on June 16.

The board also approved a resolution on July 7 that states in part that “the City of Camdenton ... supports economic development and promotes affordable housing choices for the benefit of the senior citizens of the city ...”

In addition, the resolution describes the housing complex as “single-story apartment buildings featuring two-bedroom units with washer and dryer equipment in the units and patios located at the front and rear entries ... “

The proposed single-story apartment buildings on Fourth Street will not be the first senior housing complex in Camdenton; another that has been in existence for years is located on Hopkins Circle, Camden Manors is on Dawson Road while Bristol Manor and Autumn Village are both characterized as “assisted living facilities.”

Likewise, Osage Beach is home to both Garden Gate Estates - described as independent living apartments - and Lakeside Meadows, described as a “senior living community.”

Resolutions of support, such as ones approved by both Lake Ozark and Camdenton, are helpful for developers seeking state and federal funding or tax credits for the projects.

“This is very competitive process and any and all support through letters from the city and others would assist in their successful obtainment of these tax credits,” Camdenton City Administrator Jeff Hancock had said July 7 in a report to the Board of Aldermen.

All of the proposed projects are listed as “affordable senior housing.”

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