Kent Shields was recently appointed C.C. Young president and CEO. Photo by BENJAMIN HAGER
Beginning this month, some neighbors will move into a new home with a lake view never before enjoyed from a living-room window. The six-story Overlook at C.C. Young offers 108 senior (age 55 plus) living units with huge windows overlooking White Rock Lake (not to mention spacious quarters, restaurants, a park and a beauty shop that will also be opened to the public). When the Overlook at C.C. Young was announced, not everyone in the neighborhood was excited about the proposed eight-story project. Recently appointed C.C. Young president and CEO Kent Shields was the operations manager at the time. “A tall building like that was unprecedented in the area, and a few of our neighbors were concerned that if we were approved, high rises would start popping up. Like those people, we are concerned about the lake and the park. We decided that, really, the answer was to improve communication. We reminded people that C.C. Young has been in Dallas since 1922; we’ve been at this location since 1963. We are invested in this neighborhood and don’t want to build anything that would detract from it.” Though there were some naysayers, C.C. Young enjoyed the support of most of the community and the current residents, Shields says. “Most of the neighborhood supported the project … 80 percent of our residents are from the Lakewood and Lake Highlands areas. They want to be here because this is home. We are, in a way, obligated to build a place for these residents to live,” Shields says. “And the support from the existing residents for the project was overwhelming. When the city council held the zoning hearing, so many of our residents wanted to attend that we chartered three buses. They filled that little room. In the end, it was approved — for six stories rather than eight.” A few years later, some of the opponents have had a change of heart, Shields says. “I am happy to report that some of those who were most concerned are now some of our biggest supporters. In fact, one of the women who voiced the most concern [has moved] her parent in.”
Learn more about the Overlook and other residences and services at C.C. Young at ccyoung.org, or call the residential living department at 214.874.7474.
