JV Readies for Five Assisted Living/Memory Care Facilities

HOUSTON-After a successful development of four assisted living/memory care facilities, PinPoint Commercial LP and Thrive Senior Living LLC are gearing up to go north on five more such facilities to be located in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. The projects are scheduled to break ground in early 2013, will take about a year to complete, and will carry an all-in price tag north of $80 million.

Charles Turner, principal with locally based PinPoint, says the partnership between the locally based PinPoint and Thrive Senior Living of Atlanta, GA came about with help from a third party. Though PinPoint's development capabilities have been geared toward industrial and medical office properties, "they really helped educate us on the product and their philosophy on how they wanted the facilities to work," Turner explains.

Rather than the standard single-building or institutional-looking structure characterizing most assisted living/memory care facilities, the Thrive buildings are designed to resemble interior mini "neighborhoods," complete with restaurants, stores, spas, a sports bar and even a gym. In addition to spacious rooms, the facilities introduce technology, ranging from touch-screen computers for those with dementia to wireless caregiver alert systems and electronic monitoring. "Any time a son or daughter checks in on mom or dad through the electronic monitoring systems, it help builds peace of mind," Turner says.

To prove their mettle as partners, PinPoint and Thrive colluded on Grace Manor Port Orange in Port Orange, FL, which involved refurbishment of a distressed project. With the success of that project, "we realized it was a good marriage," Turner says.  The partnership led to the building and completion of three other assisted living communities in Atlanta and Georgetown and Keller, TX.

Then followed two years of travel and due diligence throughout the south and southeast to find the right sites for the next phase of developments. Out of that came a list of 30 potential sites, with five of them containing traits desirable for development. Namely, affluent communities; little, if any, competition and a large senior citizen community of individuals age 75 and above.

The surprise in the location group, however, was Tampa. "I avoided Florida, at first," Turner tells GlobeSt.com. "But there's a whole pocket of north Tampa that doesn't have an assisted living facility." Furthermore, he points out, a 200,000-square-foot hospital, Wesley Chapel Medical Center, just opened near where the site of the assisted living/memory care facility will be built. Turner says that particular area of Tampa seems to have flown under the radar when it comes to senior care.

Though the due diligence and research revealed about 30 possible locations for future assisted living/memory care facilities, Turner says to do it right, the joint venture won't develop more than five facilities a year. "With our other projects, we don't want to overtax ourselves," he adds.

The planned assisted living/memory care facilities are:

• 104-bed Legacy at Falcon Point; Roesner Road and Katy Gap, Katy, TX
• 120-bed Legacy at Forest Ridge, Interstate 35, Schertz, TX
• 90-bed Legacy at Crystal Falls, Lakeline Boulevard and Crystal Falls Parkway, Austin
• 104-bed Legacy at Red River, Airline Drive and Interstate 220, North Bossier, LA

104-bed Legacy at Highwoods Preserve, Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Interstate 75, Tampa