By Adrienne St. Clair for Arizona Builder’s Exchange
The City of Chandler Planning Commission approved a development plan this week from Global Senior Housing, with Cadence Senior Living, to build a new senior living center at the NWC of Arizona Avenue and Queen Creek Road.
The 7.49-acre property currently sits vacant. It’s surrounded by single-family residential homes to the north, residential condos to the west and two streets to the east and south. According to city documents, the surrounding area was zoned for Community Commercial uses back in 1997 and then expanded to include more property, like the site in question, in 2004. There is no need for a change in zoning because “assist [sic] living facilities although residential in nature are considered a commercial use,” states the city approval.
The city approved the developer’s request to amend an earlier development plan to build a large shopping center to allow for the senior living center. There are plans to build a CVS on the corner of the previous shopping center lot and inline shops to the west of it.
The assisted living facility will total more than 206KSF and consist of 191 units, with 26 of those units being dedicated to memory care. The building will feature a southwestern mission-style design, similar to the style of the nearby residential neighborhood Carino Estates. The building, which will vary between one, two and three-stories, will incorporate light-colored stucco, dark accents and adobe tile roofing.
In the approval, city staff note that the development plan for Cadence Chandler complies with the city’s General Plan and will benefit the area because “assisted living facilities are appropriate transitional land uses when between residential and commercial development.”
The facility in Chandler is one of four the company plans to open in Arizona over the next two years. According to the Cadence Living website, Inspira Arrowhead in Glendale and Acoya Mesa in Mesa are slated to open next year, while Cadence Chandler and another in Scottsdale are set for 2020 openings. The company also has developments in California, Colorado, Tennessee and Georgia.