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The Valley View Village retirement community is continuing work on its 54,000-square-foot assisted living facility at 2571 Guthrie Ave.

Brad Cole, executive director for the community, said construction delays have pushed the anticipated completion date from fall to winter of this year.

“We haven’t set any opening date in stone yet, but we are aiming tentatively for December,” Cole said. “But it all depends on Mother Nature.”

Cole said construction was delayed during the latter part of the winter because the city of Des Moines wouldn’t allow Valley View to pour concrete when temperatures were below 20 degrees. This set back the pouring of the foundation.

Cole also said it will take extra time for the facility to be inspected in order to ensure that it has its correct permits and credentials.

“We have to license it for assisted living and for our kitchen, so those are both necessities that we have to rectify in order to get established, going through the inspections and the approvals,” he said. “And if some things are not kosher, we’ll have to fix it.”

Once complete, the apartment-style living facility will contain 54 individual units that feature a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. Cole said each unit was designed to “give the resident an opportunity to still be independent and yet get the care that they need without having to go to that next stage.” Approximately 20 jobs will be added once the construction is complete, he said.

However, construction won’t be finished when the assisted living apartments open, Cole said.

The three-story complex is the first of a multi-phase project at Valley View. The next phase will be a smaller apartment-style assisted-living building that will contain 30 units located on the north side of the manor. Cole said the long-range plan is to construct a health center, which would be the next “major change.” Other future plans include new brownstone housing units that would replace the current cottages.

Cole said he isn’t worried about extending beyond the community’s 16-acre parcel, noting the architects designed each phase with the intention of staying within the property boundaries. And when asked if financing for future projects was a concern, Cole remained optimistic.

“(The economy) has made it more challenging for us – banks don’t lend as freely – but I tell everyone that we are a Christian organization, so we just need to have faith,” he said.