LEWISVILLE, TX-With the ability to tap a $100-million development pool, a North Texas-based senior living developer has broken ground on a 151-unit project at the Texas 121 kissing point for three cities. The prototype design, if it works out as planned, will be used to seed a future REIT.

Victor Russell, owner of MMR Realty Advisors in Carrollton, TX says Amaranth@544's developer wants to build a portfolio for a possible REIT plus merchant build with the design. The $20-million project at 2500 Windhaven Pkwy. was funded with a HUD 221 (d) loan from Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates Ltd., a subsidiary of Newark-based Prudential Financial Inc. Russell tells GlobeSt.com that he arranged a two-year construction loan with a roll to a 40-year perm and amortization at a 5.5% fixed-rate interest for Carrollton-based developer Amaranth Inc., a 12-year veteran of the senior housing ranks.

"We have the opportunity to move forward," Russell says, "but we've got to get this one right." He says the three-story building will go vertical in early December and deliver in 12 to 14 months. The 7.2-acre project has an abutting four acres standing ready for a 60-bed assisted-living facility, slated to break ground after Amaranth@544 is up and running.

Meanwhile, a letter of intent is pending for a site in Central Texas. If all goes as planned, ground will break when Amaranth@544 earns its certificate of occupancy.

Russell says the development site was bought in June 2006. Key to the decision was its neighbor, Castle Hills. Russell says the average home price of $700,000 and Castle Hills' 2,500 lots underwrote the decision as did a site where the Colony, Carrollton and Lewisville meet. "If half of those residents have parents, this place will always be full," he says.

Amaranth@544's one- and two-bedroom units will average 1,100 sf. The average monthly rent is set at $1,850. The amenity roster will include class A must-haves like a theater room and fitness center. Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects LP designed the prototype; Northwest Construction Co., also from Dallas, is the general contractor.

"I have 31 potential buyers looking for these types of assets," Russell says. "But we'll hold this one and move forward."