The Tradition Senior Living is planning 348 high-end apartments for seniors on the site of the former Signature Point apartments on the southeast corner of Lovers Lane at Matilda.
The Dallas City Plan Commission recently approved plans for the senior living complex, a smaller assisted living facility and a 50,000-square-foot retail pad. The plans also include a separate 336-unit apartment complex with an underground parking garage on the 12.8-acre site. Another developer, Richardson-based Carbon Landmark Development, is on board to build the second apartment complex, which would not be exclusively for seniors.
Plans for both apartment complexes allow for as many as four stories — 54 feet for the senior living complex and almost 57 feet for the other apartments. Setbacks, the minimum distance a building must be from the curb, are 25 feet at Lovers, 15 feet at Amesbury and 20 feet at Milton.
The retail pad, at the corner of Lovers and Matilda, would be ideal for a bank or other professional building as well as a small retail development. Tradition chief executive officer Jonathan Perlman lives less than 2 miles from the project, in Highland Park, and he says he is picky about what kind of business he would lease the space to. No check-cashing places, for example.
A previous owner’s plans to redevelop the site in 2008 met opposition from neighbors, and those plans for a mixed-use development fell through. But so far, the majority of neighbors in nearby condominiums and apartments are in support of the new plans, Perlman says.
A senior-living facility, he says, is an ideal neighbor. Its residents typically no longer work, so they don’t add to traffic at peak hours. They are quiet retired professionals who add some economic vibrancy to the neighborhood, he says.
Tradition’s first senior-living complex on Prestonwood Trail opened in September and already has 140 residents. Perlman gave us a tour of that facility this week. Rents there are $2,795 for a 720-square-foot one-bedroom or $4,895 for a 1,650-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath. That comes with a list of amenities as long as you arm: all utilities, cable TV, weekly housekeeping, daily breakfast, 30 meals a month in the onsite restaurant, health and fitness programs, an indoor pool, underground parking and scheduled transportation to shopping and cultural activities.
And that’s not all. The whole complex is centered on an outdoor courtyard with a waterfall. There is a bistro with coffee and tea available at all times. There’s a movie theater, a library with computers, a billiards room, several lounges with overstuffed furniture and flat-screen TVs and a dog park.
The plan commission approved the Lovers Lane proposal June 16, and Perlman hopes to get on the Aug. 10 City Council agenda. If council approves it, demolition will begin right away, and construction would start as early as eight months later.
