Western Home Communities buys land from Waterloo water park, plans expansion
Western Home Communities has a large presence in Cedar Falls. Now it plans to expand next to Lost Island Waterpark.
Kris Hansen, chief executive officer of the Christian senior living provider, said it purchased some 53 acres at the corner of La Porte (Hess) and East Shaulis roads earlier this summer from Gary and Becky Bertch, owners of the Lost Island franchise.
The plan is to build a new Waterloo campus, across from the South Hill Golf Course, and call it “Island West.”
Hansen said the initial phase will involve a little more than 20 acres on the western end of the property. He hopes by next spring a contractor will begin building villas.
They’ll possibly be twin homes, 74 units in total, 1,650 or 1,915 square feet in size.
“It’s going to be a pretty big deal for Waterloo,” said Hansen. “We’ve tested the appetite in Cedar Falls and, as land fills up, we thought it’d be a good opportunity to be in Waterloo too. We’re a Cedar Valley organization.”
The company’s largest presence is in Cedar Falls with just shy of 180 acres. When adding in developed and undeveloped land there, as well as in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and now Waterloo, the portfolio totals about 280 acres.
Western Home Communities currently has a total of 1,500 residents in all of its facilities.
“The land became available once the Bertches got clarity around what they plan to do,” said Hansen. “And we had been looking to do a large campus in Waterloo.”
It’s not the first time Western Home Communities had housing in Waterloo.
The senior living provider had owned the Walnut Court Apartments, on Walnut Street, before selling them in 2013.
Hansen said the new villas will continue to promote an active living lifestyle. They’ll be zero entry, as well as have an ease of access and safety, and “smart” technology.
By future residents moving into its community, Hansen said a side benefit is their existing homes open for sale and draw new families, students and workers to the area.
“I welcome Western Home Communities and their new Island West senior living community to Waterloo,” said Mayor Quentin Hart in a statement. “This project offers our precious seniors more options to stay in the community they love or to move here. This truly complements the exceptional healthcare and quality of living amenities already in Waterloo. Congratulations and blessings on 110 years of service to the Cedar Valley.”
