Senior residential community in Scottsdale looks for site plan approval after getting rezoning

By Ron Davis, Phoenix Business Journal

The project, which is called Headwaters, is named after its developer. Scottsdale’s Development Review Board on May 2 will consider approval of a site plan, landscape plan and building elevations. Headwaters will consist of a three-story building along with five one-story duplexes totaling 171 units. The project will span 217,400 square feet on 6.7 acres of the 12.5-acre site.

Headwaters is set to be located on the southeast corner of 100th Street and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and east of the Loop 101 freeway.

Headwaters Group is a Denver-based real estate developer that specializes in for-rent communities for adults aged 55 and older. In addition to the Scottsdale project, the firm lists four planned communities in the Denver area along with another in Utah, according to its website.

Headwaters Group launched in Denver a little over two years ago, according to Denver Business Journal. The firm is targeting the development of four to six projects a year, each costing approximately $60 million, in addition to a making few acquisitions every year. The average Headwaters community will include 180 units in primarily suburban areas.

Features of the Headwaters space in Scottsdale will include access to telemedicine, occupational and speech therapy, rehabilitation services, physical therapy, indoor and outdoor community dining and more. A shuttle service provided by the facility is also in the cards, according to Headwaters’ application to the Design Review Board.

At its Feb. 6 meeting, Scottsdale City Council voted 7-0 to rezone the 12.5-acre site from comparable planned neighborhood center to comparable commercial office. That was after the city’s planning commission recommended approval of the project last October on a 6-0 vote.

Headwaters Group worked with Berry Riddell LLC’s John Berry on the rezoning for the project.

The land is owned by Southwest Commercial Property LLC — an entity linked to Desert Financial Credit Union. The new Headwaters facility is planned to be located next to the existing three-story Belmont Village senior living community and across the street from Aztec Park.

With Headwaters Group developing the project, the project’s team also consists of Santulan Architecture, another Denver-based firm, and Kimley Horn & Associates, according to the application.

Global design firm Gensler found urban infill senior communities can offer exciting possibilities for developers as nearby amenities can supplement the offerings on-site at the community. Gensler expects seniors will make up a bigger part of urban communities, as the nation’s over-65 population is only expected to grow in the next 20 years.