Kissing Tree, a new community catering to "active adults" age 55 and older, held a ribbon cutting Thursday in San Marcos.

During his remarks, San Marcos Mayor John Thomaides reminisced about the first time the city met with the developers of Kissing Tree in 2005. At that time, Thomaides said, there was a lot of talk about the shortage of single-family homes in San Marcos.

Thomaides credited Brookfield Residential, the developer of the project, and Shaun Cranston, senior vice president of Brookfield, with helping make Kissing Tree a reality.

"Shaun made us believe the city of San Marcos was good enough, and the city of San Marcos deserved great places to live," Thomaides said.

The homes in Kissing Tree will range in size from 1,400-3,400 square feet. Home prices will range from $276,000-$500,000. When it is fully built out, Kissing Tree will include 3,200 lots. Brookfield officials said they expect residents to begin moving in, in the coming months.

"This is a place where people want to, not to retire, but to live," Cranston said. "This is a place [where] people want to live."

Take a tour through five Kissing Tree homes, including the Bard, Wheaton, Vassar, Clarkson and Colby models:

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