Work begins on new assisted-living center

A new assisted living and memory care center is coming to Kalispell. Burlage Family Properties has broken ground on a 19-bed facility with a $1 million price tag.

Construction began two weeks ago on the Beehive Homes of Kalispell Center at 242 Stillwater Road. The building plan was approved by the city on Aug. 5.

The first phase of the project will be a memory care unit for patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The original plans included designs for future facilities and expansion.

The initial wood-frame, single-story facility will cost $1,044,000 and is being built on former farmland, according to Rick Parker of the Kalispell Planning Office.

“In some respects, it’s just a big house,” Parker said. “Construction-wise they’re similar, it’s that same kind of work.”

Parker said the facility was approved to move forward without a fire sprinkler system. A 24-hour staff and 19-person occupant limit permit the building without an expensive sprinkler or firewall installation, he said.

Owner and operator Josh Burlage brought the first Beehive Home to the Flathead Valley in Columbia Falls in 2011. Last September, he and his wife, Jessi, sold the Columbia Falls facility and purchased the lot on Stillwater Road with plans for a much bigger care unit.

“It feels good and that was our goal in getting started with this,” Burlage said. “We wanted to help as many people as possible.”

Future expansion could include another 19-bed memory care unit, two 16-bed assisted-care living units and four townhomes for independent residents. CJ Construction, which worked with Burlage on the Columbia Falls property, won the contracting bid on the project.

In the past, Burlage has said bringing better assisted living housing to seniors has been a personal endeavor for him. He is heavily involved in the property development side while Jessi is a registered nurse on site.

“We know we’re in the right field,” Burlage said. “We really love seniors.”

Burlage hopes construction will be complete around March, weather permitting.

The Columbia Falls facilities house 29 rooms between two buildings and rent ranges from $2,800 to $3,600 a month depending on room size. Beehive Homes has franchised over 140 homes in 14 states. The company has been in business for 20 years.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.