Opening celebrated for retirement apartments

Pioneer Village renting

MOSES LAKE - Across from Moses Lake High School, 67 new retirement apartments at Pioneer Village are waiting to be filled.

The 84-unit facility boasts fashionable colors, carpet and decor. Monthly rents for the unfurnished apartments range from $561 for a one-bedroom to $709 for a two-bedroom until the end of the year, Pioneer Village Manager Sheri Reynolds said on Thursday.

A grand opening celebration was held this week. Company, banking and city officials spoke at the event.

The project was completed six weeks early by Seattle contractor Excel Pacific LLC and under budget, said David Baus, development coordinator for Village Concepts LLC, which also has other retirement communities in Western Washington.

The City of Moses Lake also helped make the process smooth, Baus added.

If you drive through Moses Lake, you can't help but see a Ralph Kincaid real estate sign, Baus noted.

"Ralph gave the Moses Lake chamber version of what's happening here," Baus said.

He thanked Kincaid as the sellers stood behind Village Concepts and gave them a good deal.

Chuck Weinstock, Washington Mutual's vice president of community lending, said it's nice for the bank to work with a solid group like Village Concepts.

It's great to have an independent retirement facility so people can remain living in town near their families, he said.

Moses Lake Mayor Ron Covey welcomed the business to the community, offered to help them in any way they could and wished them all of the success in the world.

Covey said he toured the facility, calling it "gorgeous" and "a real asset to the community."

The facility will fill a need for aging baby boomers as they're not as spry as they once were and will have to downsize, he explained.

"This is something my generation will look at in a couple of years," Covey said.

Reynolds said after the first of the year, the rental special is over and one-bedroom rents go to $591 per month. Two-bedroom apartments will rent for $673 per month.

People must meet financial eligibility requirements to live at Pioneer Village. It means a single person's annual income must be less $22,080. A married couple's annual income must be less than $25,260.

The income qualified program is supported by the state Housing Finance Commission

Current Pioneer Village residents include people from Seattle, Iowa and local people, she said.

The facility is near schools and students have visited, she said.

Some students from the nearby Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seminary helped the residents move in, Reynolds noted.

Village Concepts Chief Financial Officer Pete Jorgensen said Moses Lake needed a nice, safe and affordable senior housing because there's some very low-income older apartments in the area.

For more information, go to www.villageconcepts.com.