{"id":221782,"date":"2026-03-26T18:13:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T18:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/221782\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T18:13:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T18:13:58","slug":"plano-commission-oks-senior-living-development-at-park-boulevard-ohio-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/221782\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano commission OKs senior living development at Park Boulevard, Ohio Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPlans to build an independent senior living facility on the site of a vacant gym on the corner of Park Boulevard and Ohio Drive are moving forward in Plano.<\/p>\n

The Plano Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the project 5-2 at a March 24 meeting<\/a>. Commissioners Michael Bronsky and J. Michael Brounoff voted against the project. City staff recommended the commission deny the request, largely because the facility would exceed the height requirements laid out in the broader planned development.<\/p>\n

Plano Senior Planner John Kim said the city had received 166 responses from Plano residents opposing plans for the facility as of March 20.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Integrate Real Estate Group<\/a>, a senior housing company based in Southlake, wants to turn the 6.3-acre property into a five-story Watermere independent living and active adult facility, according to city documents.<\/p>\n

The facility would use a podium design, with a parking garage on the lower level and four floors of residential units on top. The building could be as tall as 65 feet and would include roughly 250 units.<\/p>\n

The property is part of a 108-acre planned development district, which caps buildings at two stories. Those rules were initially put in place to limit the intensity of the development for neighborhoods across the street, Kim said.<\/p>\n

“><\/p>\n

After the commission tabled the rezoning request at a Jan. 20 meeting<\/a>, the developer added elements to the proposal to limit visibility, including:Restricting the top floor facing Ohio Drive to seven unitsUsing windows above eye level in nonresidential areas on the top floorAdding solid screening to outdoor areas like balconies or patiosThe proposal also stipulates that any part of the building above two stories must be set back at least 120 feet from Ohio Drive, per city staff\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n

The local impact<\/p>\n

Amy Guthrie, a Plano resident who spoke in opposition to the rezoning, said it would create \u201cserious privacy concerns for nearby homeowners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scale of the building would make it the tallest structure in the neighborhood, significantly altering the character of the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Commissioners also cited concerns about potential impacts on neighbors in their Jan. 20 decision to table the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue in this case is not the quality of the development. It\u2019s not the need for senior living, which is beyond dispute at this point,\u201d Brounoff said. \u201cThe sole issue in this case is impacts on neighboring properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natasha Jamal, the owner and executive director of a Montessori school near the proposed facility, raised safety concerns at the Jan. 20 meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re opposed to any construction of this magnitude being built adjacent to our school,\u201d she said. \u201cAny development at this location would negatively impact our ability to safely operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim noted that construction on taller buildings, like the proposed multistory senior living facility, can lead to increased risk due to falling objects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are still concerns regarding the impact from debris, noise and dust during the construction process,\u201d Kim said at the March 24 meeting.<\/p>\n

On the other hand<\/p>\n

At the Jan. 20 meeting, commissioners advised the developer to reconsider the need for a fifth story, which would leave the facility with roughly 240 units. The applicant has said the project won\u2019t be economically viable without it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project around 240 units is not feasible nor financeable,\u201d Watermere representative Trevor Armstrong said at the March 24 meeting.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 840<\/a>, a 2025 state law that allows developers to build multifamily housing by right on property zoned for commercial use, only applies to buildings with a maximum height of 45 feet, Kim said. The developers could still choose to build multifamily housing on the property under SB 840, but in order to build to their desired height, the applicants must seek city approval through the rezoning process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity to at least take back some control of what is built in that environment even if it doesn\u2019t cleanly meet all of our comprehensive plan guidelines,\u201d Commissioner Tosan Olley said.<\/p>\n

Brounoff voted to reject the proposal regardless of potential uses under SB 840.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to impose impacts on the neighboring properties, let the state do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want the city doing it to its residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next steps<\/p>\n

Following the commission\u2019s recommendation of approval, Plano City Council is set to consider the project for final approval at their April 13 meeting.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans to build an independent senior living facility on the site of a vacant gym on the corner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[86303,160,13344,18650,162,161,86302,54241,13345],"class_list":{"0":"post-221782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-active-adults","9":"tag-plano","10":"tag-plano-athletic-club","11":"tag-plano-city-council","12":"tag-plano-headlines","13":"tag-plano-news","14":"tag-plano-planning-and-zoning-commission","15":"tag-senior-living-facility","16":"tag-watermere"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}