News Release - July 18, 2007

 Watermere-at-Southlake Nationally Recognized

SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Innovations in the housing industry are not limited to just the younger, up-and-coming audiences, as was proven by Watermere at Southlake.

Dallas/Ft Worth's newest master planned, gated community won several awards at the 2007 Best of 50+ Housing Awards Program including the Special Judges’ Award for Active Adult Innovation as well as three Silver Achievement Awards for Project Logo, Website and Print Ad.

The judges at the awards program, which is sponsored by the 50+ Housing Council of the National Association of Home Builders, gave only praise for Watermere.

“This community is innovative because it is a very compact site that addresses pedestrian circulation and allows the residents to age in place,” the judges said. “They utilized the site perfectly. It is so well conceived, and you can tell a lot of thought was put into the design.

“The result of the planning is that everything is walk-able due to the incorporated trail system all the way around the community, but cars also circulate well. The community includes nice water features spread throughout the community as well as other good amenity spaces.”

Featuring Luxury Villas and Condominium Homes with 24-hour security, maintenance-free living and all the advantages of home ownership, Watermere at Southlake is an age restricted community for those at least 62 years old with amenities found only at the finest 5-Star Resorts, a country club-style clubhouse and unmatched personalized and attentive services.

To find out more about Watermere, please visit www.watermere-at-southlake.com. 

      Future members and friends enjoyed wine tasting dinners at Farpointe Cellar Bistro on April 24th and May 15th where a good time was had by all.  Then on May 3rd, future members and friends gathered at the Sales Center to enjoy appetizers and beverages and hear a presentation on the fun of travel clubs given by one of their future neighbors.

Upcoming Events

August

West Village Framing Party. 

Family Bar-B-Q event on the Watermere Campus.

Dinner and Wine Tasting Events at local Southlake businesses.

Stay tuned to this page for info on our upcoming mini-workshops with our Design Coordinator, Teri Ray.

Press Release (May 1st, 2007)

Watermere at Southlake Unveils a Three-Year New Home Warranty on all Watermere Villa and Condominium Homes

Watermere at Southlake announced today that new villa and condominium homes will carry a full three-year warranty.  The warranty, which is unprecedented in the homebuilding industry, is three times the standard new home warranty.  In making this announcement, the Development Team said that extending the warranty to three years clearly demonstrates their confidence in the quality of workmanship and materials that will make Watermere at Southlake the premiere age restricted retirement community in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex.  New homeowners at Watermere will have the added security in knowing that any defects in workmanship or materials as well as any issues affecting appliances or fixtures will be repaired at no cost for the first three years of ownership. 

For information, call toll free 1-866-919-4440.

Luxury Condominuims and Homes for retirees in Dallas - Fort Worth

By ADRIENNE NETTLES and JESSAMY BROWN
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERS

SOUTHLAKE (November 2006) -- A sprawling $85 million retirement complex where affluent baby boomers can dine, catch a movie or relax in a park is being proposed for 33.5 acres off West Southlake Boulevard.

The proposal by Integrated Real Estate Group of Southlake is part of a national housing trend intent on capturing empty-nest boomers who are looking to downsize their homes without giving up their active lifestyles.

The Watermere at Southlake would be a gated community for people 62 and older. Its long list of amenities includes a 36,000-square-foot community center with restaurants, a bank, a movie theater, an indoor pool, a health spa, a hair salon, a concierge, a country store and a library with wireless Internet access, according to the developer's plans. Watermere would also offer assisted living and memory care for diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
Americans are living longer, and some are capitalizing on an upswing in the real estate market and higher equity in their homes, said Lauren Shaham, spokeswoman for American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, a group for nonprofit organizations based in Washington, D.C.

Housing studies suggest that Northeast Tarrant County has a growing market for luxury retirement communities, but few exist on the scale being proposed, said Integrated President Richard Simmons. Simmons has developed other senior housing communities throughout Texas, including the Villas on Bear Creek in North Richland Hills.  Simmons said he has secured financing for the $85 million project, but he didn't provide further details.

Several area retirement communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth market offer luxury amenities and services for seniors, but the majority are rental housing, Simmons said. Watermere would have 150 condominiums and 85 villa-style homes for sale only, he said. The one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums with ground-floor garages would start in the high $200,000s, and two- and three-bedroom villas or cottages would start in the low $400,000s, he said. A hundred units would be dedicated for assisted living and seniors with Alzheimer's and dementia.

Watermere residents would pay a monthly service fee to cover the cost of meals, housekeeping, chauffeur, dry cleaning, prescription delivery and a full-time activities director. The fee has not been determined but would likely be in line with other area luxury retirement communities, such as the Edgemere in Dallas, where residents pay an average of about $3,000 a month, Simmons said.

"I felt like Southlake with a high-end product like the Watermere would be something the city would greatly need," he said. "The market is here for it."
Developers hope the facility would attract retirees who want or need to live near their adult children.

"We think our average age of residents will be 70 years old," Simmons said. "We feel that at least half of the people that would live in the Watermere would be the parents of people who want to move their family to the area."

Other developers have also tried to tap into the senior market. In Denton County, Robson Ranch, a resort-style community for people ages 55 and older, is open and is planned to grow to 7,500 homes and feature walking trails and other amenities.

The active-adult community is on a sprawling 2,725 acres at Interstate 35 and Crawford Road; the homes cost $130,000 to $300,000, a news release said.

Next year, the oldest baby boomers, those born during the prosperous postwar period between 1946 and 1964, will turn 60.

"Next year -- next week -- is the start of the baby boomers," said George Linial, president of the Texas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the Austin affiliate of the national organization.

"There are progressive developers out there who see this and are meeting the need," he said.

Boomers want many amenities because they are active and want health care options nearby, Linial said. The Watermark's plan also calls for tennis courts, two city parks, two lakes with fishing piers, walking trails, gardening areas and green areas for putting.
"It's a good alternative. These communities are expensive. They come at a cost," he said.

The Southlake City Council is expected to consider the Watermere proposal at its Jan. 3 meeting. The Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval. If given a final OK, the project would be on the old Remington site on Southlake Boulevard.

Remington, proposed in 2002, would have also been a retirement community. Although it was smaller, at 22.55 acres, Remington proved to be a harder sell. City residents were against apartment-style developments, and some residents worried that the project would set a precedent.

As a compromise, plans for the 365-unit complex were reduced to 314 units, and the design was modified to include a 6-foot wall on the east property line and a row of trees on the west side. The project's developer also scaled back plans for three-story rental cottages to two stories after neighbors complained that they would obstruct their views and be out of the city's character.

The council unanimously approved the plan. Other multifamily projects have since been approved, such as The Brownstones at Southlake Town Square, a 114-unit town house project.

The Remington never got built. Galier, Tolson, French Design Associates of North Richland Hills, which designed the project, has been hired to design the Watermark.

"It was more of a health care campus, and back then the senior industry changed, and no one could get the deal done or the money to finance the Remington project," said Marc Tolson, an architect with the firm. "The Watermere is based on the latest and greatest stuff out there, and it's more of an active-adult campus."

Simmons said the customer profile has been changed. "We will have a health care building that will be for the public, but residents will have priority in placement in the nursing and memory-care units because they live in the community," he said. "That's part of the beauty of living on this campus."

IN THE KNOW

By 2040, Texans age 60 and older will comprise nearly a quarter of the state's population at 22.9 percent, up from 11.4 percent in 2000, according to a 2003 report by the Texas Department on Aging, now the state Department of Aging and Disability Services.

In Tarrant County, the number of seniors is projected to increase 232 percent, from 164,557 in 2000 to 546,529 in 2040.

By the numbers