Hawthorn Retirement Group buys land for independent-living project

BUYER: Lakewood Ranch Retirement Residence LLC (Hawthorn Management Services Corp.), Vancouver, Wash.
SELLER: Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc.
PROPERTY: a portion of land north of Town Center Parkway west of Natures Way, Lakewood Ranch
PRICE: $1.3 million
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: University Title Services, Lakewood Ranch

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Hawthorn Retirement Group purchased 4.43 acres of vacant land north of University Parkway in Lakewood Ranch Town Center for $1.3 million.

The price equated to $293,255 per acre.

The Vancouver, Wash., company plans to develop an independent-living facility adjacent to The Windsor of Lakewood Ranch and Windsor Reflections Memory Care.

Speaking through its architecture firm, Lenity Architecture Inc. of Salem, Ore., the developer expects to create a community with 134 suites on the property.

“We're looking to break ground in the next 45 days,” says Mark Lowen, a land use manager for Lenity Architecture. “They typically take 12 to 14 months for completion so you're probably looking at about June of 2015 [for completion].”

Hawthorn Retirement Group projects' common features include a movie theater, library, activity rooms, billiard rooms, walking paths and a common garden.

The developers and operators of the nearby Windsor properties had the parcel under contract for several years, but ultimately decided not to close, according to Pete Russell, one of the four partners of Windsor Senior Living. Russell says the independent-living component was outside of the owners' experience, which is almost exclusively memory care and assisted living.

“But we certainly don't mind having them as a neighbor,” Russell says. “It will act as a feeder for us eventually.”