Immanuel Lutheran Communities pitches 40-unit expansion at Buffalo Hill campus

Immanuel Lutheran Communities is moving to expand its Buffalo Hill Terrace community to meet what the nonprofit sees as a growing demand for maintenance-free senior living in Northwest Montana.

The organization is proposing to build 40 additional units on the 5.97-acre campus, which borders Crestline Avenue and Ryder Street in Kalispell, and a multipurpose dining room as well as storage space and a surface level parking garage below the residential units. The Kalispell Planning Board on Nov. 14 voted to recommend a conditional use permit for the project to City Council.

The addition, which will rise up 68 feet, will go in on a grassy area connected to the current structures making up the Buffalo Hill Terrace campus. 

Demand spurred the project, said Immanuel Lutheran CEO Jason Cronk. 

“All our units at the Villas are entirely full,” he said, referring to the existing residential portion of the campus. “We have a waiting list of people who want to be here.” 

Cronk anticipates that demand for the type of community lifestyle Immanuel Lutheran offers will increase in the coming years for people aged 77 and above.

The campus is also home to a nursing home, which Cronk says will not be connected with the senior housing in any formal way. 

Once built, units are expected to cost between $208,525 and $730,590 upfront and residents will then pay a monthly fee of between $3,750 and $5,600. Work on the addition is expected to finish in 2026.

Cronk highlighted the amenities that come with living on the campus. It offers a lounge, coffee bar, auditorium, meal services and fitness centers. He described it as a reprieve from daily chores and the sense of isolation many elderly people feel. 

Though no critics testified at the Nov. 14 public hearing on the project’s conditional use permit, several neighbors objected in comments sent to the Planning Board beforehand. They worried that the addition would bring increased traffic to the area and add more competition for curbside parking. Neighbors also opposed the construction work and the height of the proposed addition. Residents argued that medical and medical-adjacent facilities were overrunning the neighborhood, criticizing City Hall for continuing to green light projects in the area. 

In response to the criticisms, PJ Sorensen, senior planner for the city, told the Planning Board that the additional height is appropriate when a request is based on an improved design. Additionally, the extra height accommodates the surface level parking garage, which went toward addressing neighbors’ concerns about parking in the area, Sorensen said. 

The project “otherwise meets code requirements,” he said.

Planning Board members looked favorably on the undertaking. 

“Looks like a good infill project to me,” said member Pip Burke. “You’re not doing any harm, shading anyone’s property — and providing additional parking.”

“Addressing some complaints regarding the neighborhood, it shouldn’t really affect much of what’s going on out there,” member Doug Kauffman said. 

Kalispell City Council is expected to take up the request at its Dec. 4 meeting. 

Reporter Carl Foster can be reached at 758-4470 or cfoster@dailyinterlake.com.