Minnesota’s children and youth with mental health needs will soon have a state-of-the-art healing facility where they can receive therapeutic and educational services under one roof. Thanks to a partnership with The Hills Youth and Family Services, Kraus-Anderson, TKDA Architects and Northeast Metro 916, the construction of a 60-bed psychiatric residential treatment facility will soon begin in East Bethel, Minnesota, at 900 189th Ave. NE.
Kraus-Anderson is working with Cambia Hills to provide fee-for-development services and construction management for Cambia Hills of East Bethel, a $26 million, 60-bed psychiatric residential treatment facility serving children. Cambia Hills is the first housing, school and residential treatment facility in the state.
In addition to KA Construction, KA Development is the owner’s rep and is providing preconstruction due diligence, financing options and zoning applications, as well as working with the engineers, architects and the community.
The 62,640-square-foot project is unique because it is the state’s first purpose-built psychiatric residential treatment facility serving boys and girls ages 6-17 who are experiencing mental illness, often with multiple, serious compounding mental health conditions.
The Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District board voted unanimously to provide educational services to the facility. The school will be comprised of 10 classrooms, each with flexible learning spaces for small-group or one-on-one instruction. The school is being designed to meet the needs of students who learn best in a supportive and safe environment, free of auditory and visual distractions found in many typical school facilities.
TKDA is the architect, which is working with Architectural Investments of Louisville, Ky. Every design decision is being made toward supporting healing children.
Residents, whose average stay is expected to be three to nine months, will live in care suites, four rooms and two beds per room, with no visible nursing stations.
The campus will feature new offices for staff, a half gymnasium; commercial kitchen/cafeteria, community room, mechanical and maintenance area, and housing wings. The facility also will include shared space for the school’s use such as the corridors, cafeteria and gym.
Cambia Hills will be situated on a 38-acre wetland site and will be designed to offer each child a window to nature.
When complete, Cambia Hills anticipates hiring 150 employees with a $9 million annual payroll. The well-paying jobs will range from technical positions to doctors and nurses with an average salary of $78K.
Construction on the year-long project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2019.
