A place just for senior citizens is nearly complete as crews put the finishing touches on Covington Place Retirement Apartments off Southeast 272nd Place in downtown Covington.

Village Concepts officials anticipate the project to open in February according to the project’s Web site.

Robert Meyers, building official for the city, said “they’re going to town over there.”

“They have quite a lot of the building completed,” Meyers said. “We’re working with them and we’re happy to see them make progress and help them get to the finish.”

Meyers said much of the landscaping is complete, the road is done as well as many of the common areas and most of the apartment units are finished.

Builders have a few details to wrap up and an inspection must be completed before residents can move into the units. The move will be done in stages, Meyers said, because “a final inspection on a building this large can’t be done at once.”

The complex will be four stories with 121 units for seniors 62 and older with a price tag of about $15 million.

There will be three different one-bedroom layouts as well as two-bedroom units. They will have complete kitchens, cable television and utilities will be included in the rent.

In addition, residents of Covington Place will have access to a number of amenities including a social center with full kitchen, a computer and communications center, a media room as well as a library among other things. Small pets will also be welcome.

Having senior housing in Covington is also important to city officials.

When Village Concepts broke ground on the project in December 2007, City Manager Derek Matheson said it was an important day for Covington, “it shows that our downtown is more than just retail.”

And once the apartments start filling up with seniors, Covington Place will bring a demographic that is small in Covington, less than 10 percent of the city’s residents were over 65 as of 2000. Meanwhile, more than a third of Covington residents are under 18, making it one of the youngest cities in the state.

Work on the project has been done by Exxel Pacific Construction. Covington Place will be the tallest building in the city once it’s complete.