A single-family residential neighborhood is set for development in Richardson after City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request May 11.
The planned Greenwood Park neighborhood, located on West Shore Drive, will feature 40 compact single-family homes centered around a neighborhood park.
Although the rezoning passed unanimously, several council members voiced concerns that the development does not address the city’s needs for affordable middle housing or senior living spaces.
The big picture
The neighborhood will replace the closed Cottonwood Creek Healthcare Community, a nursing home that was decommissioned in December. Developer Ben Caldwell with Caldwell Residential said the investment group that owns the Cottonwood Creek Healthcare Community approached him last year to develop the property because the nursing home had “failed to perform” for about a decade.
“I felt that the highest and best use of this tract is a boutique infill residential community,” Caldwell said. “There aren’t a lot of new construction opportunities for single-family residential in Richardson.”
Based on current plans, Caldwell estimated that the Greenwood Park homes could be priced between $800,000 and $1.1 million. Caldwell said the site is particularly sought-after because the homes will feed into Mohawk Elementary School.
Council member Dan Barrios said that although the market demand for these houses exists, he was concerned about the single-family development replacing an opportunity for another senior living home.
“Our elderly and our seniors are in a pinch for places to be, and this is a place that’s zoned for another nursing home or senior home to come in,” Barrios said. “We’re eliminating that opportunity to build these million-dollar homes.”
The details
Senior planner Derica Peters said the compact neighborhood is “more akin to a townhome-style of development,” although all of the units are detached. The neighborhood is planned to include roughly 13,000 square feet of open space, including the central park and additional green spaces.
Many of the homes will not have full-length driveways order to maximize the livable area on the ground floor, Caldwell said. This largely restricts parking to the two-car garages.
To address additional parking needs, the development will also include 52 parking spaces located throughout the neighborhood, including parallel on-street parking and parking spaces around the perimeter of the central park.
The rezoning includes modified development standards that reflect the constraints of the compact property, including reduced lot areas and building setbacks as well as increased lot coverage.
Richardson’s City Plan Commission recommended approval of the rezoning with the modified development standards in a 6-1 vote.
Looking ahead
Council member Jennifer Justice said that while the proposed single-family development makes sense for this particular site, the city needs to determine how to best incentivize further affordable housing and senior housing development in Richardson.
“About a third of our city qualifies for the senior tax exemption,” Justice said. “Those folks aren’t necessarily ready to go to nursing homes per se, but we need to have that product for people as they make their way through their retirement and need those services.”
Council member Curtis Dorian also said that Greenwood Park is the right project for its area, but reaffirmed that council’s objective based on the Envision Richardson comprehensive plan should be supporting opportunities for more affordable housing.
“We’re always taking into consideration that we do need some middle ground housing,” Dorian said. “I don’t want anyone thinking that we’re walking away from this as an opportunity because this is the right product for this particular area.”
Caldwell said the existing building will likely be demolished this fall while civil engineering plans are finalized. Development of the homes will be driven by the market, he said, but could begin next year.
