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Eagle senior care facility reports fund-raising success

This rendering depicts the proposed Castle Peak Care Community planned in Eagle.
Special to the Enterprise |

The Castle Peak Senior Care Center has collected 75 percent of the additional funds it needs — approximately $3.4 million in pledges and donations — to proceed.

“That means we can say with certainty that the project will move forward,” said Jenna Zark, director of communications for Augustana Care.

Augustana Care, a Minnesota based non profit organization that owns and manages 23 senior care projects is partnering with Eagle County to build the 64-unit Castle Peak Senior Care Community at a five-acre site located immediately north of Brush Creek Elementary School in the Eagle Ranch neighborhood. The 62,000 square foot project will include 22 skilled nursing beds, 20 assisted living apartments, 12 memory care beds and 10 transitional care units.



The projected cost for the project is $23.4 million. From the onset, Eagle County agreed to be primary player in getting the project started and ultimately the county purchased the care center site for $1.6 million. Additionally, the county agreed to loan $4.4 million to make the project happen. That $4.4 million is a subordinate debt, meaning the county will be paid after other, primary lenders have their money.

Augustana will contribute another $1 million in subordinate loan. That left a $16.4 million funding shortfall and the project received loan approval for $12 million from the USDA Rural Development’s Community Facility Loan Program. The USDA loan has a 3.5 percent interest rate with a 40-year term, a key component in the project’s financial structure.

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But after these loans and donations were combined a $4.4 million gap remained — the amount earmarked for the Castle Peak Care Community capital campaign. That campaign was launched in July and included approaching various municipalities, organizations and individuals for a one-time funding request. As of Jan. 9, the $3.6 million threshold was reached.

“While many other projects falter due to lack of capital campaign donations, we can now say with certainty that the project is definitely going to move forward and will not be held up by lack of financial support from our community,” noted an official release from Augustana. “We are now entering the public phase of our capital campaign to raise the remaining $1.1 million needed to complete the project.

Next steps

Encouraged by the success of the fund-raising effort, Augustana Care Vice President of Business Development Kathy Kopp is hopeful construction can start in fall 2014.

However a number of steps remain before that can happen:

Working architectural drawings must be completed including electrical, mechanical, civil, interior, landscape and structural engineering.

The town of Eagle and the Eagle Ranch Design Review Board must approve a major development plan, final plat and final design plan application.

Drawings will be submitted to Colorado license bureau for a six-step review process.

When drawings are complete, a USDA Colorado architect reviews and approves plans and specifications.

Once USDA and Colorado reviews are complete, drawings are finalized and construction companies are invited to submit bid proposals.

USDA and Augustana Care review bids, select contractors and finalize contracts.

Augustana Care must meet all other requirements of USDA’s letter of conditions, such as an appraisal by a third party once construction bids are finalized.

Construction financing is secured.

Zark noted that the construction loan lender can set conditions that would add other steps to the process. Likewise, if approvals are secured quickly, the teams wants to be ready to begin construction earlier than next fall.


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