Construction cost hike has Glen Haven seeking additional funds for new facility
Proponents of the Glen Haven Village skilled nursing care complex have another hurdle to clear before beginning construction on the proposed facility.
Bids opened in March revealed a substantial increase in construction costs since the project was initiated more than two years ago at a then estimated price tag of $3.1 million.
Representatives of community-based, non-profit Glen Haven are now working to secure an additional $650,000.
In addition to doing “value engineering” to trim back project costs, Glen Haven is asking the USDA for an additional $400,000 loan and seeking more financial support from the community on top of the more than $1 million that has been donated or pledged to the project up to this point.
Glen Haven board member Larry Raabe said securing the additional funding is “critical” at this juncture of the project.
Plans call for Glen Haven Village to be built among seven renovated cottages on the campus of the Glenwood Resource Center. The state-of-the-art skilled nursing care and rehabilitative center is designed to provide residents a homelike setting with the capacity to house 75-80 residents. Each cottage will house 10-12 residents, with one of the units designated exclusively for memory support and Alzheimer’s care and another set up to accommodate residents in need of short-term rehabilitation.
The new facility will replace the dilapidated 54-year-old Glen Haven Home at 302 Sixth St.
Glen Haven has reached a 50-year lease agreement with the state of Iowa to house the facility on the GRC campus. The project has been slowed by the complicated process of securing a 35-year USDA Rural Development loan. The loan process required Glen Haven to request assured income guarantees from Mills County (up to $1.6 million) and the city of Glenwood (up to $200,000) to cover loan repayment should Glen Haven default.
The initial loan amount of $4.6 million includes about $1.5 million to refinance existing debt Glen Haven has on its assisted living complex – Linnwood Estates. The assured income guarantees from the county and city serve as collateral on the loans along with the $2.8 million appraised value of Linnwood Estates.
At their weekly meeting Tuesday, members of the county board of supervisors were expected to address Glen Haven’s request for an assured income guarantee on the additional $400,000 USDA loan.