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Elder care
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Bee Caves Parkway.
The facility is being planned by
Bill Walters, the lead developer of
the Sunset Valley Village, a 300acre
master-planned community
in Austin, and Meridian Realty
Advisors, a Dallas-based real
estate investment management
and development company.
A 53,000-square-foot, 120bed
skilled nursing building and
a 45,000-square-foot, 90-bed
Alzheimer’s disease care building
are planned for the facility.
The developers hope to have
city approval and construction to
start by the end of the year, Walters
said.
“The services of this type of
product are in very high demand,”
he said. “That has been proven by
the market studies we have done
independently as it relates to this
specific location.”
From 2000 to 2010, the number
of people above the age of 64
in Bee Cave grew from 34 to 239.
Demographic shift
Lakeway City Manager Steve
Jones said Lakeway regularly gets
inquiries from developers interested
in building elder care facilities
in the area.
In 2010, 17.9 percent of Lakeway’s
population, or 2,042 people,
was above the age of 64, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau. In
2000, 16.5 percent of the population,
or 1,321 people, was age 65
or older.
DeNucci said elder care facility
developers also look at how many
people in a community are middle-aged
and potentially looking
for a facility for a parent.
“Lakeway has that demographic,”
he said.
Because its population has
largely remained flat, the number
and percent of people over the
Planned senior living facilities
The elder care facilities planned for Lakeway, Bee Cave and
West Lake Hills will provide different levels of care for seniors.
The facilities are estimated to create about 280 jobs in the area,
developers said.
Rooms: 110 assisted-living rooms,
40-room Alzheimer’s disease care unit
Estimated jobs created: Between 75 and 90
age of 64 in West Lake Hills has
not risen as dramatically as Lakeway
since 2000.
But Claunch said a new elder
care facility for West Lake Hills
has been a priority for years.
“I think it’s great we will have
an amenity in our area where
these people can live and remain
connected to the community
they have lived in for many years
but still receive quality care in a
fun environment,” he said.
Jobs and economic impact
Laura Mitchell, Lake Travis
Chamber of Commerce executive
director, said the elder care facilities
would bring new jobs to the
area.
Belmont Village will create
about 120 jobs, the Harbor at
Lakeway will create between 75
and 90 jobs, and the Bee Cave
facility will create about 80 jobs,
developers said.
The jobs include caregivers,
waitstaff, activity directors, physical
therapists and licensed nurses,
Scott said.
“Assisted living is a combination
of residential, health and hospitality,”
she said. “When you combine
those, there is really a great
variety of different skill sets that
are needed.”
Dickman, whose Querencia at
Barton Creek employs about 240
people, said the elder care facilities
can result in other jobs outside
the facility. He said he has
seen an increase in the number of
neurological doctors in the area,
for instance, as more elder care
facilities with Alzheimer’s disease
care units are built.
Friendly neighbors
The elder care facilities have
been welcomed by neighboring
housing and development
communities.
The Harbor at Lakeway will
work with its neighboring facilities
to provide a continuum of
care on the LRMC campus, said
Joel Canfield of Phin-Ker Ventures
LLC, the developer of the
LRMC campus.
The campus has plans for an
independent living facility and
skilled nursing facility.
lakewaY
lakeway
regional
Medical Center
Hamilton Pool rd.
Rooms: 120-bed skilled nursing,
90-bed Alzheimer’s disease care unit
Estimated jobs created: 80
Bee Cave Pkwy.
Bee Cave
Harbor at Lakeway Bee Cave elder care facility Belmont Village
“There are great synergies
among the various planned health
care uses on the campus, in addition
to the full-scope acute care
at the Lakeway Regional Medical
Center,” Canfield said. “The health
care campus environment creates
a unique and inclusive continuum
of care, and the Assisted Living
and Memory Care facility plays a
strong role in this continuum.”
Jones said The Harbor at Lakeway
would result in a relatively
low increase in traffic to the area,
which is a main concern of the
city and surrounding area.
Residents of Buckeye Trail, a
neighborhood next to the proposed
Belmont Village in West
Lake Hills, spoke in favor of the
facility during a December 2011
City Council meeting.
“I’ve been involved in this property
for about 10 years,” Buckeye
Trail resident Jonathan Schoolar
said during the meeting. “I got
involved when retail was proposed
and the number for that,
as far as traffic, was astronomical,
which would have been devastating
from a traffic standpoint. The
impactnews.com • August 2012 | NEWS | 23
Bee Caves rd.
source: Block 16 architects source: Meridian realty source: Belmont village
620
71
360
west
lake
Hills
Rooms: 114 assisted-living rooms,
27-room Alzheimer’s disease care unit
Estimated jobs created: 120
westlake dr.
Lake Austin
day trips for this project is a fraction
of some of the projects we’ve
looked at.”
Also, Buckeye Trail residents
will be able to connect to the
sewer line that Belmont Village
is extending to the elder care
facility. Scott said Buckeye Trail
homes have aging septic systems
and that extending the sewer line
to the area is a way to give back to
the community.
The proposed elder care facility
in Bee Cave, which is near the
Falconhead West development, is
on a piece of land that was previously
zoned for commercial use.
Falconhead West resident Jim
Stanislaus said he was happy with
the layout and concept of the proposed
development.
“We believe that the ‘senior’
uses are compatible with the
neighborhood, and the project
is a responsible and appropriate
way to continue the inevitable
growth of this area,” he said.
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