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Mennonite Housing CEO Byron Adrian (center) is joined by city and state officials as well as the engineer, architect and contractor to symbolically break ground on the Fieldcrest senior housing project in Valley Center Dec. 17.

Senior housing growing
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: December 26, 2019

More senior-citizen housing is coming to Valley Center.

Mennonite Housing, which operates Sunflower Gardens on the east side of town, broke ground on the new Fieldcrest campus Dec. 17, signaling the start of construction on a 40-unit complex northeast of the intersection of Ford (77th) and Dexter.

Fieldcrest will be open to low-income residents age 55 and older.

"We feel very positive about our ability to provide a great product for the community of Valley Center," said Byron Adrian, president and CEO of Mennonite Housing.

Fieldcrest will have 24 one-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom units in 10 fourplex buildings. The complex also will have a clubhouse and a maintenance garage, Adrian said.

Some of the units should be ready to rent by the summer of 2020, he said.

"We look forward to having another Mennonite Housing community as part of Valley Center," Mayor Laurie Dove said. "Valley Center is a wonderful place to live and it is a wonderful place to grow old and enjoy the relationships around you. … We are so thankful that this day is happening."

Sunflower Garden on North Emporia opened in 1996. It has since gone through two expansions, bringing the number of residences to 70. The latest was the addition of 28 apartments on the north and east sides of the campus in 2018.

Adrian said Sunflower Gardens has a waiting list of 60 people.

"It's just a real need that's out there," he said.

Mennonite Housing received an award of $6 million in tax credits over a 10-year period to complete Fieldcrest. An investment group purchased much of the credits to finance the project.

Fieldcrest's location presented some challenges, Adrian acknowledged.

Mennonite Housing worked with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to address potential concerns with underground gas and oil pipelines.

Loads of dirt also will be required to elevate the property and bring it out of the floodplain. Adrian said engineers created additional drainage structures to keep stormwater from flowing toward residences to the north and areas to the east.





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