COEUR d'ALENE - Four years ago, Tom and Tamara Tanner bought an assisted-living facility in Hayden. They now are developing the first phase of what they envision will be a retirement community four times as large in Coeur d'Alene.

The Tanners, of Hayden, are building the first phase of what they are calling Bristol Heights, a 64-bed assisted-living community, at 2220 W. Prairie Ave. The total project is estimated to cost just less than $2 million. The Tanners will both own and operate the facility.

The first of two buildings in phase one is scheduled to be completed early next month on the three-acre property, and will have 16 beds and nearly 7,000 square feet of floor space. The lot sits between Atlas and Ramsey roads on Prairie.

"We have quite a few people already interested," Tom Tanner said. Some people have already asked to hold rooms, he said.

The second residence building in phase one, which will be equal in size and capacity, is scheduled to be ready in November, he said.

The second phase, with two more 7,000-square-foot residence buildings with a total of 32 beds and a 3,000-square-foot clubhouse for entertainment, would be built in one to three years, Tanner said.

He said all the rooms, with individual bathrooms, will be private at Bristol Heights.

Tanner said they plan to hire 17 people to staff the Coeur d'Alene facility for phase one. Most of those that will be hired are caregivers, he said.

Additional workers would have to be hired for the facility when phase two is completed.

The general contractor on the building project is Williamson-Johnson Co., of Coeur d'Alene. Ryan Neary of RND Architects, in Coeur d'Alene, designed the facility.

The Tanners' Hayden property, called Hayden Valley Assisted Living, is a 16-bed facility. They employ 11 people there, he said.

The Tanners worked for the police department in Idaho Falls before buying the Hayden facility, he said.

An open house for Bristol Heights is scheduled for Aug. 15.

For more information on the project, call (208) 661-6862