Merrill Gardens expects to start moving residents into its soon-to-be-complete senior living community off South Division Street in downtown Auburn early in the new year.

When the company hosts its grand opening, however, is as yet not known, but it could be by the end of March.

“As far as construction goes, it continues to be a bit of a moving target. We are expecting to start moving residents in at the end of January,” said Lynda Krill, general manager for Merrill Gardens. “We will start doing tours of the building near the end of December.”

The leasing office at 14 S. Division St. has been open since September.

Teutsch Partners LLC, the Seattle-based real estate development firm that is doing the construction, describes Merrill Gardens Auburn as a 168,331-square-foot, four-story, retirement community, with 111 assisted-living units, 16 memory-care apartments and a below-grade parking level.

The three stories of memory-care units above ground will be divided between one-bedroom, one-bath studio and two-bedroom, two-bath apartments.

The U-shaped configuration is visible from South Division. Part of the center-landscaped courtyard is to be accessible to the public. One entrance will be off First Street Southeast, the second off Second Street Southeast.

Between the Trek Apartments on East Main and the Merrill Gardens project, City officials say, there will be soon be 300-500 new residents downtown.

In 2007, the Economic Development Administration awarded the City of Auburn a $2.2 million federal grant and a $7.2 million local revitalization bond to upgrade streets, sidewalks and utilities to support such construction downtown.

Merrill Gardens is a privately-owned, family-run company that owns and operates 21 senior living communities in four states, with a focus on lifestyle. No two Merrill Gardens communities look exactly alike.