Beaverton-based Touchmark plans to add a memory-care facility, the final element to the master plan for the southwest Bend senior-living complex that opened in 2003.

The new 39,000-square-foot building will join the homes and apartments that offer independent living, residential and home care for those ages 55 and older at the nearly 25-acre development at Mt. Bachelor Village.

Memory-care facilities provide secure living for people with Alzheimer’s or other kinds of dementia. The state Department of Human Services must endorse them, according to state administrative rules.

Touchmark, which submitted site plans to the city of Bend late last month, is the second company in recent months to seek approval for a new memory-care facility in Bend.

Founded in 1980, Touchmark has been steadily adding memory care to its retirement communities around the country. It runs 11 in eight states and one Canadian province.

The company now wants to add memory care in Bend so it can offer a wider variety of services for both current residents and others, said Tom Biel, an executive vice president.

“If their needs change, then we’re here for them,” Biel said.

The memory-care sector appears to be on the rise locally.

Frontier Management LLC of Durham, which runs a memory-care unit next to its Aspen Ridge Retirement Community in northeast Bend, received site-plan approval in April from the city for another memory-care facility on Powers Road, between Southeast Third Street and Parrell Road.

Memory care also is available at the Cascade View Nursing Center on Southeast Wilson Avenue in Bend, as well as in Redmond, La Pine, Madras and Prineville, according to The Bulletin’s archives.

The demand for memory care could continue to increase locally, said Scott Neil, the assistant manager of Touchmark’s Bend location.

“With the population in Central Oregon, especially as a popular retirement destination … you do see that need increasing,” he said.

Across North America, too, the number of people with Alzheimer’s alone — excluding other types of dementia — will quadruple in the next 15 to 20 years, Neil said.

The new facility will cost about $10 million to build. The first floor will comprise 32 studios for memory care, and the second will have 19 homes where residential care will be provided. Residential care offers round-the-clock support but encourages independence.

After the expansion, Touchmark will take on about 30 new employees, bringing the total to around 115, Biel said. He would like to see construction start as soon as possible and finish sometime next year.