At Monday's meeting, Flower Mound Town Council tabled the agenda items pertaining to NEM Senior Living, a 182-unit senior living development, to the Oct. 15 council meeting due to the development agreement not being ready.

The project, which would be the town’s first apartment complex for seniors under the new senior overlay district, would be incentivized by the Town Council granting certain park and SMARTGrowth requirement waivers through an agreement.

When the project comes back before the council, it will be considering approving a zoning request to change the proposed development's approximately 9.149 acres to a planned development district with age-restricted, high-density residential uses from retail uses.

Attracting senior housing

The Town Council approved a master plan amendment to create an overlay district to address demand for affordable, high-quality, senior housing options for persons 55 years of age or older on March 6, 2017. The Senior Housing Overlay District was created as a result of an immediate need to address the demand for affordable and diverse housing options with quality amenities and services, according to town officials.

The adopted senior housing ordinance identifies the overlay district to include sites located 2,500 feet on either side of Long Prairie Road (FM 2499) from Justin Road (FM 407) down to the northern boundary of the Lakeside Business District but not including the Lakeside Business District.

NEM Senior Living, which would be located along FM 2499 and south of Timber Creek, is located within the overlay boundary.

Amenities of the development

The gated development would include a four-story building and four buildings that are two stories with garages below and one living unit above.

The four-story building will have an internal, fully enclosed courtyard that will feature the community swimming pool, outdoor grill and seating areas. The four other buildings will have a three-bedroom unit above the garages.

There will be 182 units within the development, with several of them overlooking the courtyard area or the existing creek and open space areas to the east and northwest. Approximately 66 percent of the units will be one-bedroom and the remaining 34 percent will be two- or three-bedroom floor plans. That breaks down to be 118 one-bedroom units, 60 two-bedroom units, and four three-bedroom units. Units will be accessed via an internal corridor system that connects to the clubhouse and ingress/egress points of the building.

Other on-site amenities include a coffee bar, dining area, theater/ lounge, salon, dog spa, scheduled activities and events, covered parking areas, shade structures, open space and access to the town's trail system.

The developer— NE Development LLC—also plans to put in a pedestrian connection to the north to Gaston Park. This link provides the missing piece for pedestrians to access River Walk and Timber Trails Park from College Parkway.