Texas Real Estate Business

MAY 2017

Texas Real Estate Business magazine covers the multifamily, retail, office, healthcare, industrial and hospitality sectors in Texas.

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34 • May 2017 • Texas Real Estate Business www.REBusinessOnline.com SENIORS HOUSING GETS INTO THE MIX Developers see opportunity with new communities integrated into large-scale mixed-use projects. By Jeff Shaw G enerally, when one thinks about the massive, new mixed-use projects under development, a few images come to mind. Apart- ments, offices, hotels and retail mixed together, with some green walking trails and open spaces. Seniors hous- ing, however, is probably not among those first impressions. This idea is changing, though, as mixed-use developers and seniors housing owners and operators begin to see the mutual benefits that senior living can bring to a project. The demographic wave of Baby Boomers hitting retirement age will nearly double the 65-plus population in the U.S. by 2050, from 43.1 million to 83.7 million, according to projec- tions by the U.S. Census. The tactic of integrating seniors liv- ing into mixed-use developments is becoming more common throughout the country. Usually high-end devel- opments, the target market is seniors with disposable income. While the projects are a one-off concept for most seniors housing developers, some are making it a cornerstone of their devel- opment philosophy. For example, Georgia-based Forma- tion Development Group, a subsidiary of private equity group Formation Capital, has opened four communities in mixed-use developments in Texas and Illinois since 2009. The company has a fifth currently under construc- tion in Pennsylvania. "That's an in- tentional strategy on our part," says Mark Maberry, an executive vice pres- ident with the company. In Katy, Texas, Formation opened The Solana at Cinco Ranch (later re- named Atria Cinco Ranch) with 126 units of independent living, 38 units of assisted living and 20 units of memory care. The community is located within the Cinco Ranch master-planned com- munity, which includes single-family homes, nature trails, a swimming la- goon, four shopping centers and nine grocery stores. Nearby in Houston, Formation re- cently expanded The Solana Vintage Park development to add 117 units of independent living. The property is located within the Vintage Park lifestyle center, which features apart- ments, a hotel, award-winning res- taurants, boutique retailers, medical office buildings and a hospital. The new Formation development in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh, is within a 47-acre project known as The Village of Cranberry Woods. Eventually, the property will contain a hotel, apart- ments, 37,000 square feet of retail, a 10,295-square-foot restaurant and 5,000 square feet of office space. For- A FULL COURSE OF AMENITIES AT VILLAGE AT THE TRIANGLE More developers are seeing the mutual benefits to retailers and seniors housing developers by building on the same large, mixed-use property. In Austin, Texas, the 30-acre Triangle development features more than 750 apartments, 120,000 square feet of upscale retail, restaurant and commercial space, and a rehab hospital all nestled around a three- acre park and pond. In the center of the larger development, W2 Real Estate Partners is building Village on the Triangle, a seven-story, 206-unit seniors housing community. The resort-style community, due for delivery in early 2018, will feature a heated saltwater pool, movie theater, full-service salon, putting green, library, convenience store and many other amenities. "It's unique to have a seniors housing site in the densely populated urban core, particularly within a well-known mixed-use project," says Steve Freche, executive vice president with W2 Real Estate Partners. "When we looked at the five-mile radius around the site, it was clear that this long-established Austin submarket in close proximity to Austin's finest hospitals was very much underserved in quality senior living options." The Triangle also provides additional entertainment, such as a farmer's market, monthly concerts and recreational facilities such as bocce courts. —Jeff Shaw The Solana at Cinco Ranch, featuring 184 units of independent living, assisted living and memory care, is located within the Cinco Ranch master-planned community in Katy, Texas.

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