ORONO – The Dirigo Pines Inn retirement community is open for business.

Though there still is building construction to be done, some residents already have moved in, and there’s room for more, according to executive director Barbara Steller.

“We’re truly unique in that people’s health care needs can be met as they change without moving off the campus,” Steller said Thursday.

The 123-unit inn is located on 58 acres at the corner of Kelly Road and Maine Street. Designed for older adults in various states of health, the facility will have a total of 193 units and was estimated to cost $30 million.

The project is a joint venture of Eastern Maine Healthcare and Josco Partners – businessmen Scott Johnson of Bangor and Joseph Hogan of Standish.Residents began moving in last October to completed apartments on the site, and others have been living at the site’s cottages since November 2002. Of the 69 planned cottages, 19 have been completed.

There are several different housing options for couples and singles at Dirigo Pines. Residents can choose to live at one of the site’s independent living cottages or apartments, or in one of the specialized care, memory loss, or assisted living units. The facility is staffed with licensed nurses and professional chefs.

“The place is magnificent,” Steller said.

Depending on the size of the unit, rent is $2,100 to $2,850 per person per month.

Costs vary with the size of the unit and the level of service that residents require.

“I think that maybe their original goals were to have everything done by that time, but I don’t think that they’ve met their anticipations,” Orono Code Enforcement Officer John Robichaud said earlier this week.

The overall project is about 75 percent to 85 percent complete, and quite a bit of landscaping already has been done, he said.

“There’s still several cottages available, and they haven’t gotten all of the approved cottages built at this point so we’re still doing some construction on that phase,” Robichaud said.

“We’ll get nothing but prettier,” Steller said during a visit Thursday.

Walking around the main building, The Inn at Dirigo Pines, Steller said the site was designed for residents to feel at home.

Each independent living unit is furnished with a refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer. There are several common rooms for social uses, as well as a library, spa, and media and fitness rooms.

A van is available to shuttle residents to local events and activities, and there’s always something happening on site, Steller said.

“You don’t have to do anything, or you can do everything,” the executive director said.

For more information, visit the retirement community’s Web site at www.dirigopines.com.