St. John’s Lutheran Home is now officially the owner of 51 1/2 acres of the former Albert Lea Golf Club. It plans to build dwellings for seniors on part of the property.

St. John’s Lutheran Home Administrator Scot Spates said Tuesday the transaction of the land — which includes what most Albert Leans know as “the back nine” — closed last Thursday.

St. John’s purchased the land from American Bank of St. Paul for $7,200 per acre. The land had been in the hands of the bank after it was surrendered by commercial developer Scott LaFavre following the property’s foreclosure. At the time LaFavre owned the land, it was known as Eagle’s Rest development, though the development never came to fruition.

The remaining portion of the former development is still for sale.

Spates said St. John’s may use the portion of land it purchased for multiple facets in the future, but the first goal will be to develop a facility with 35 to 40 independent living units.

He anticipated this would start during the next three to five years, largely depending on when things could be worked out for the installation of necessary infrastructure.

“We’re very excited,” Spates said. “The board is anxious to start the planning phase and figure out how we can best use the land.”

He said the board of directors for St. John’s Lutheran Home started looking at purchasing property about two years ago. The board had looked at property off of the Sunset Street extension, near City Arena and near the old Wedge Nursery.

It started looking at the former Albert Lea Golf Club property about eight months ago, he estimated.

He said the board was drawn to the former country club land because of its in-town location and its views.

“It’s the perfect setting for a senior campus,” Spates said.

He noted that the board also wanted to make sure that St. John’s purchased enough land so when its current facility needed to be replaced, there would be the land to do so.

St. John’s Lutheran Home opened its doors to residents in January of 1962. It is just one year shy of being opened for 50 years.

Spates said the board had to consider what might need to happen as mechanical systems in its current facility age and new state and federal codes are implemented.

As baby boomers age and enter nursing homes, they may have increased expectations for these facilities as well, he added.

He said a rough estimate for when the facility might need to be reconstructed would be in 30 to 50 years, he said, though there is no way to predict that at this time.

Though this is further in the future, Spates said in the meantime, he and the board will be planning the footprint for the site. In addition to the independent living building planned for the near future, there could also be other specialized projects as well, such as a facility for people with Alzheimer’s.

He said the board was interested in a new independent living facility because of a 2009 housing study that concluded there was a need for an additional 35 senior housing units in Freeborn County by 2013. The study also talked about the need for a facility for people with Alzheimer’s.

St. John’s Lutheran Home’s facilities are currently on 7 1/2 acres.