D2 Architecture Puts “Life” in Three Dallas Senior Living Projects

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Ventana by Buckner

Ventana by Buckner

If we’re lucky, we age.  If we’re not, we either die early or equally tragically, become old. What’s the difference between aging and getting old?  It’s the difference between continuing to lead your personal definition of an active and engaging life versus always finding one more change to bitch about while counting out your remaining heartbeats. Climb a mountain versus get off my lawn.

Of course while our attitudes and demeanor are largely controllable, physical limitations can be more fickle.  I stay active in part because I know there will come a time when stamina, or worse, mobility will abandon me. There may also come a time when my mental acuity and memory become physically impaired.

When these things happen, living independently becomes less ideal.  But fear not, the days of shipping grandma off to “the home” are fading away.  Just as technology and gerontology advance, so do the ways in which people age.  We’ve all heard the tropes that “50 is the new 40,” etc.  For years the meaning of “old” has been changing as people take more control and expect more out of their latter years than soft food and a TV blaring Matlock reruns and Wheel of Fortune.

Dallas has three projects coming online that help residents bridge the gap between independent and assisted living.  Recently I spoke with David Dillard, the “double D” of D2 Architecture, which specializes in senior living.

Communal Patio at Ventana. Is that a S'mores Table?

Communal Patio at Ventana. Is that a S’mores Table?

Ventana – A New Window on Aging

At 12 stories, Ventana will be located on Central Expressway a pinch south of Northwest Highway.  If you’re driving east and taking the ramp to Central south, you’ll note there’s an empty plot between the ramp and the Hyatt House hotel.  That’ll be it.  Neiman’s and Cheesecake Factory on your doorstep.

Ventana Site Plan

Ventana Site Plan

Ventana is being developed by Dallas-based Buckner International, who’ve been around since 1879.  They’ve focused on the beginnings and endings of life by developing orphanages and senior living facilities … the middle years are up to you. Like many senior living facilities, Buckner has religious roots, specifically Baptist.

One-Bedroom, 1.5 Bathrooms with 1,127 Square Feet

One-Bedroom, 1.5 Bathrooms with 1,127 Square Feet

Ventana will have 179 units that range from 900 to 2,500 square feet. Gone are the days of fake Chippendale and needlepoint tapestries.  Ventana is for the modern senior.  Open floor plans are not only fashionable, but easy to navigate when assistance is required.  For those not wanting to book visitors in the neighboring Hyatt, there are multi-bedroom units also … just like a “real” condo.

Ventana Sample Interior Rendering

Ventana Sample Interior Rendering

And in a way, these are condos.  A resident purchases their unit and pays a monthly fee (like HOA dues) that gives them access to all the levels of available care.  The fee is inclusive so it doesn’t raise suddenly when a resident requires more care.  Upon move-out, 90 percent of the purchase price is refundable.  Given the financials, I wondered how this was sustainable.  First, Buckner is non-profit.  Second, they’re able to take advantage of market forces.  For example, if you buy your condo at $500,000 and taking $450,000 with you upon departure … that’s $50,000 to Buckner.  After a spruce-up, Buckner resells the unit for $650,000 … that’s another $85,000 for Buckner ($150,000 – 90% eventual resale).  That, along with the monthly fees, keep the place running.  Residents “lose” asset appreciation in exchange for end-to-end care.  Not a bad deal.

So well has Ventana been received that while the average age in most Continuing Care Retirement Centers (CCRC) is 80 years old, Ventana’s residents are averaging 72 years old.  It may not sound like a lot if you’re 35 and view “60-to-the-grave” as one lump, but what it says is that more residents still leading vibrant, unencumbered lives view this as a long-term place to live. It’s shedding the “old folks home” stigma.  Certainly amenities like bark parks, multiple dining options and customizable catering, rooftop deck and garden, outdoor kitchens and fitness center, it’s more resort than nursing home.

C.C. Young's Vista

C.C. Young’s Vista

C.C. Young’s Vista

Methodist affiliated C.C. Young has been around since 1922 with 20 wooded acres on the north shore of White Rock Lake.  As you can imagine, the Baby Boomer bump means we’ve got more older people who have vastly different needs since those early buildings were built.  C.C. Young has embarked on a 10-to-15-year project to rehabilitate, repurpose and reconstruct the buildings that make up their campus. The Vista is the first phase of the eight-building project.  As a whole, the complex offers independent living, assisted living, memory care, nursing services, home health, hospice, wellness, and rehabilitation.

Unlike Ventana where you purchase a condo and live there regardless of your care needs, C.C. Young’s units are rented and grouped.  By “grouped” I mean that those at a similar level of care are clustered together in “neighborhoods” around the campus.  Within neighborhoods there are “households” for up to 16 residents (people are social).  This entails moving as resident’s needs and limitations change.  Assuming someone else is doing all the moving, I think it would be kinda cool to have different views every once and a while.

The Vista will have 221 units and is due for completion in 2018.

Legacy at Midtown Park

North of Meadow Road and east of Mendeville Lane just east of Central Expressway will be the 10-acre Legacy at Midtown Park.  Still in the design phase by D2 and the developer/owner, final images are not available (and so you likewise can’t reserve a unit here yet either).

For those with a few more years before shopping for these accommodations, keep an eye out for future updates on this project.  The location is pretty great.  Very close to all the new restaurants at Walnut Hill and Central Expressway … it’ll also spitting distance from the Social Security Office where you can complain about your benefits being ravaged (after decades of paying into the system) should legislation announced last week by Texas Republican Congressman and senior citizen Sam Johnson be enacted (ahh, another Texas politician to be proud of). And why should Johnson care?  As a U.S. Congressman, he has a pension for life that’s a heck of a lot larger than a Social Security payment.

It was fascinating to talk to David Dillard.  I never understood the varying complexities of designing senior care-based residential projects … hopefully being decades away from needing them, my ignorance is understandable, but interesting just the same.

One humorous thing I learned is that my condo building is referred to as a NORC … Naturally Occurring Retirement Community.  So maybe I’m already in my “‘til the end” home.

 

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016, my writing was recognized with Bronze and Silver awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].

 

Jon Anderson is CandysDirt.com's condo/HOA and developer columnist, but also covers second home trends on SecondShelters.com. An award-winning columnist, Jon has earned silver and bronze awards for his columns from the National Association of Real Estate Editors in both 2016, 2017 and 2018. When he isn't in Hawaii, Jon enjoys life in the sky in Dallas.

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