WholeLife Buys San Antonio Site for Seniors Housing

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

San Antonio—WholeLife Cos. has acquired a 32-acre site for $7.7 million on which it plans to develop a 154-unit seniors housing property. The development will be part of the Cibolo Canyons master planned community, which is located on 2,100 acres in Bexar County just northeast of San Antonio.

In mid-October, the Bexar County Commission unanimously approved a $55 million tax-exempt bond to finance the construction of the project, with units from 1,500 square feet to 2,000 square feet. Gables Residential, a division of ING Financial Services, will provide operations and leasing services for the new property.

Architect Ken Schaumburg of Ft. Worth will design the asset. It will include a WholeLife Club that contains space for gatherings and events, a fitness center, pool, game room, and a concierge. Landscaping, sidewalks, and streetlights will be included to evoke feelings of a ‘traditional American neighborhood,’ according to the developer.

Besides home sites, the master planned community includes the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa and two PGA Tour Tournament Players Club golf courses designed by architects Pete Dye and Greg Norman, which opened in 2010. The seniors housing property will be across the street from the entrance to the spa and the golf courses.

Austin-based Forestar Group Inc., the master plan developer of Cibolo Canyons, sold the site to WholeLife Cos., which was represented in the deal by Michael Griffin of Transwestern. John Pierret, Forestar’s vice president for real estate acquisitions, represented the seller. Oklahoma City-based WholeLife says it has identified other locations for similar developments, including Houston, Austin, and Dallas, as well as Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Oklahoma City, and Hilton Head, S.C.