- January 27, 2022
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Austin-based Periscope Capital Investments LLC is working to build a dense senior housing community in Cedar Park, hoping to add housing options for a rapidly growing aging population in Central Texas.
The Cedar Park Planning and Zoning Commission gave the OK this month to rezone approximately seven acres for mixed use. Cedar Park City Council is expected to review the rezoning in February.
Sabot Development Ltd. currently owns the land. Periscope has optioned the land and plans to close if and when the project gets final zoning approval from the city.
The proposed development, Hayden Grove of Cedar Park, would be located at 400 W. Park St. Developers propose a multi-story building, as high as 50 feet tall, with 28,700 square feet of retail space. There will be up to 178 housing units, a mix of memory care, independent and assisted-living units.
The price point for the units depends on the services offered, according to developer Robert Wall, principal at Periscope. He said they have the potential to offer housing with services like 24-hour nurses, meal services, transportation and more, or offering more standard housing options.
“[We’re] trying to let the market tell us what the best the best combination is on this site,” Wall said.
The commercial space will include a gym, an amenity center, a salon and a bistro, according to documents submitted to the city by the architecture firm. There will be designated street parking and a two-level parking structure within the building.
The development will also include more than two acres of open space on the south side of the building, according to the developer. Wall said they plan to create natural walkways and a pond, with benches, picnic tables and a potential boardwalk.
Wall said he hopes to start moving dirt on the project in the first quarter of 2023.
Minnesota-based In Site Architects will handle architecture for the project. The developer previously worked with In Site on the first Hayden Grove site in Bloomington, Minn. Cadence McShane Construction will be the general contractor.
In the Austin metro, about 16% of the entire population is over 60 years old, according to data from the U.S. Census. By 2040, some predict residents over 65 will make up about 20% of the metro population, or more than half a million residents, according to the Aging Services Council of Central Texas. In 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the Austin metro No. 2 for the fastest growing population of residents older than 65 in the U.S.
Wall said he chose Austin to launch his business because of this trend. Senior living caters to a huge demographic, growing larger as the Baby Boomer generation enters their mid-70s. But, Wall said, many of the current senior living options in the U.S. were built before this demographic shift.
“I moved here with the idea that the booming economy is going to increase population, increase wages, increase the number of businesses — and those are going to have a peripheral effect on the percentage of senior population through ways that people don’t normally see,” Wall said.
He said the Austin area is ripe for senior housing for a simple reason: It’s where everyone else is moving, too.
“We often see that senior residents’ place is chosen by their adult children, and their adult children are the ones moving to Central Texas,” Wall said. “The demand over the next 10 years in Austin, for senior and age-restricted housing and housing with services, is going to be strong, maybe even stronger than it is today.”
He targeted Cedar Park for this project because it was comparatively less expensive than some of the nearby cities, fitting the Harden Grove brand, which he said is more attainable, less luxury. According to Rent Café, the average apartment rent in Cedar Park is $1,665 for 919 square feet, about on par with the metro-wide price-per-square foot.
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