Construction of Excelsior Wellness’ 25-unit intergenerational apartment complex is underway on Northwest Boulevard and expected to be completed this fall, says Yolanda Pagaduan, marketing and communications director for the Spokane-based nonprofit.

The three-story, $6.5 million development will house youth transitioning out of foster care and older adults seeking affordable and permanent housing. Tentatively named the Excelsior Wellness Intergenerational Living Community, the housing development is rising at 2303 W. Northwest Blvd., on a bluff overlooking the T.J. Meenach Bridge and the Spokane River.

Just north of the site, at 2321 W. Northwest Blvd., Excelsior Wellness opened Gildred’s Garage, a workforce development center focused on electric vehicle maintenance training. Together, the housing complex and training center are intended to promote natural mentorship opportunities between people 55 and older and young adults aged 18 to 24.

While similar models exist outside the region, the living community project is unique in that it is tailored to a specific type of vocational training, says Dean Shipp, senior adviser to the president and board liaison at Excelsior Wellness.

The project is also a response to a community need. Youth transitioning out of foster care at 18, who are not college-bound or employed, are at a high risk of becoming homeless, he says.

“We're taking these transition-age youth, and we're offering mentorship and guidance and vocational or educational counseling,” Shipp says. “And we're supporting them, teaching them foundational life skills that prepare them for life out on their own.”

The $6.5 million development is funded by grants and a $1.5 million equity investment from Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank's community reinvestment initiative, Shipp says. Spokane-based Yost Gallagher Construction LLC is the project's contractor, and Bernardo Wills, also of Spokane, designed it.

Excelsior Wellness provides primary care, behavioral health, housing, and social services to youth, families, and individuals. It's operated by 160 full-time staff. Since the start of 2025, it has served nearly 5,000 individuals, up from 4,000 in 2024. 

The community is intended to serve as a test case for the nonprofit’s broader vision to develop the Excelsior Wellness Village — a $120 million comprehensive plan to build an integrated campus combining health care, housing, early learning, and community services at the organization’s 32-acre property at 3754 W. Indian Trail Road, in northwest Spokane.

“The Northwest Boulevard apartment complex is a proof of concept for the village vision in action,” Pagaduan says. “The model can be replicated … across communities in the Spokane region. And it doesn’t have to necessarily be replicated by us.”

As previously reported by the Journal, in 2024, Excelsior Wellness unveiled plans to develop the village in phases over a 10-year period. As envisioned, the village is being designed as a centralized, integrated campus for people of all ages, offering health care and social services to its residents along with nearby neighborhoods including Balboa/South Indian Trail, North Indian Trail, and Five Mile Prairie.

The comprehensive plan has so far gone through the city of Spokane’s Planning Commission and is currently on the Spokane City Council’s agenda for approval, Shipp says. If passed, the plan will be phased out intentionally, allowing for thoughtful, sustainable growth that is responsive to the community's needs at each stage of life, he adds. 

“The important piece for the village concept is that multigenerational piece,” Shipp explains. “What we’re trying to do here is make services available to people within their ecosystem so they can live and thrive all in one place. What we’ve learned over decades of caring for youth and families is that the outcomes are better when care is accessible to them, and they don’t have to leave their community to find those services.”

The village is designed to allow residents to remain in their community throughout their lives, Pagaduan says, with services and housing developed in collaboration with surrounding neighborhoods.

“It’s a place designed around belonging, for your long-term, whole-person wellness,” she says.  

Plans for the broader Excelsior Wellness Village also include preservation of a culturally significant heritage site on the organization’s campus in the Indian Trail neighborhood. The area, which contains indigenous pictographs on basalt rock formations, a shelter rock containing carbon deposits, and a natural spring, is being developed in partnership with the Spokane Tribe of Indians and is intended to remain protected open space, Pagaduan says.

The site is expected to include an interpretive trail and educational features designed to highlight the area’s history, along with an expanded arboretum, walking paths, and healing gardens. Recreation and wellness amenities, including a pool, gym, athletic fields, and a challenge course, are also planned as part of the campus build-out. 

Pagaduan says the preservation area reflects the oranization’s broader goal of integrating health services, housing, and community space into a single environment while maintaining natural and cultural resources.

“We want to protect and preserve it further and make it more accessible,” Pagaduan says. “Because we believe that physical and behavioral health, cultural belonging, and connection to nature play an important role in holistic wellness.”