Updated May 7, 8:59 a.m.–
By Mike Hazlip– Construction of a more than 40,000-square-foot facility has continued to progress on Dewey Drive near Greenback Lane, unhindered by shelter-in-place orders that exempt construction as an essential service.
Due to irregular boundary lines, the facility, called Shadowbrook Gardens, is technically located just outside the boundary of Citrus Heights on a 3.8-acre parcel in an unincorporated part of the county. It will provide physical therapy services.
A representative for Western Care Construction, Shyrel Gaskey, said construction is about one-third complete and can accommodate 72 beds when opened. She could not give a specific opening date, citing extensive inspections and sign-off’s that often mean waiting periods.
Gaskey said she expects the primary use for the building to be acute rehabilitation for patients being discharged from area hospitals. The facility will serve to help patients recover following traumatic injuries such as a stroke, surgery, or accident until they can return home.
Project documents from Sacramento County show the facility will have space for dining, kitchen, and physical therapy. A new main entrance from Dewey Drive will lead to a patient drop off area at the end of Shadowbrook Way.
The selection process for hiring an operator to run the facility is currently underway, according to Gaskey. She said the final number of new jobs created will depend on which operator is selected to run the facility, but noted that similar facilities require approximately 40 employees in order to fill round-the-clock shifts.
When asked if the current COVID-19 restrictions have delayed the project in any way, Gaskey said, “Not really. The contractors on the job are pretty self sufficient.” She said there have been some delays, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Although the parcels on either side of the facility are in Citrus Heights, county documents show the facility itself sits on a narrow finger of land that puts it in an unincorporated part of the county due to particularly unusual boundary lines in the area. Celtic Cross Presbyterian Church is directly to the south of the project, but is in Citrus Heights, and a single-family home on the opposite side is also in Citrus Heights.
Some county documents and Google Maps list the facility’s address on Shadowbrook Way as being in Fair Oaks, while other county documents list the address as being in Carmichael.
In an email this week Gaskey said the adjacent church has been generous in accommodating the project’s parking needs and said neighbors have “all been wonderful.”
Prior use for the 3.8-acre parcel was residential, according to a county staff report that describes a single-family home on the property that was built in 1952.
A saw shop, detached garage, and storage shed were also built around the same time according to the document. The report said the property was vacant when a use permit for the new facility was submitted.
Editor’s Note: This story was written by Mike Hazlip, who has joined the Citrus Heights Sentinel as a general assignment news reporter.
Mike is a CSU Sacramento graduate, where he worked on the staff of The Hornet newspaper and received bachelor’s degrees in both photography and graphics design. He and his family are proud to be residents of Citrus Heights.
We welcome Mike to the staff of the Citrus Heights Sentinel and sincerely thank our subscribers for making this possible.
