A 357-unit senior living community proposed for a stretch of former Carroll ISD land at the southeast corner of North Carroll Avenue and East Highland Street is now headed to the Southlake City Council for a vote next month, after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a site plan for the project. The development, pitched by Oregon-based operator Touchmark, would rise on 17.6 acres currently owned by Carroll ISD and Gateway Church, and it has already stirred pushback from nearby residents worried about density and traffic.
District Calls Touchmark the Best Bid for Surplus Land
Carroll ISD says it ran a competitive process to find the best use for the property and landed on Touchmark's continuum-of-care concept. According to the Carroll Independent School District, “Touchmark's proposal for a continuum-of-care senior living community represented the best bid and overall opportunity for the District.” The district says the proposal is now moving through the city's own formal planning process, and Texas law limits how much it can say about competing bids while that process continues.
Carroll ISD Board President Cameron Bryan said he addressed what he described as fabricated misinformation suggesting the City Council might deny the project, and Southlake Mayor Shawn McCaskill posted a Facebook statement earlier this month dispelling rumors of an automatic sale to a religious institution, saying the district has no backup contract with one. Roxann Taylor was the agent hired by the district to market the property. As reported by Community Impact Newspaper, if the Touchmark deal falls through, Carroll ISD would retain the property and decide whether and to whom to sell it, and any future buyer's development applications would go through the same city review process and council vote.
What's Inside the 357-Unit Proposal
The project calls for 357 units spanning independent living, assisted living and memory care, per the city. Plans include roughly 8 acres of open space, an underground parking garage and 419 total parking spaces. Zoning for the site would set a minimum resident age of 62, and assisted living and memory care suites would count as non-dwelling units that cannot legally function as apartments — a restriction the zoning ordinance locks in, since converting the community into standard apartments would be prohibited and any change to that ordinance would require City Council action.
Touchmark, which operates 18 communities across the United States and Canada, would develop, own and operate the Southlake facility if it's approved. Kendra Lackey, the company's president of development and construction, said older adults in these communities tend not to drive very often, an observation she offered in connection with the project's traffic footprint. Touchmark's own data puts the average resident age across its communities at about 85, even though the proposed Southlake project would allow residents as young as 62.
Residents Push Back on Density
Not everyone in the neighborhood is on board. Southlake resident Laurie Schneider told the newspaper the proposed development would be too dense, adding, “I have never seen our town be okay with such density.” Her concerns echo pushback that surfaced in a separate 2024 Southlake proposal, when the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a 210-unit senior housing development at 300-684 Davis Boulevard and residents raised similar worries about location and traffic, according to Candy'sDirt.com. That earlier case involved a different site and developer, but it illustrates the kind of friction density proposals have generated in the city before.
Roxann Taylor, the agent hired by Carroll ISD to market the property, sees it differently. She said the development would benefit the city through property taxes and give older residents another option to stay nearby, noting that few places exist for seniors who want to keep a Southlake mailing address. Taylor added a personal note to the debate, saying, “I don't know how much longer I'll be able to live in my own home.”
Zoning Vote Set for November
The zoning change, site plan and future land use plan amendments tied to the project are scheduled to go before the Southlake City Council for a vote next month. Carroll ISD has said the board will let that city process run its course before deciding on any next steps, and the district has been clear that it does not control Southlake's zoning or development decisions. If the council denies the sale, the board says it would determine the district's course of action from there — either holding the land without immediate action or remarketing it to solicit new buyer proposals.
A Broader Pattern of District Asset Sales
The Highland Street property is one of several surplus parcels Carroll ISD has been offloading. The district sold the old Dragon Stadium site to the City of Southlake, which plans to convert it into a park that preserves the field, and has invested the resulting $8 million in proceeds in the Texas CLASS government investment pool, where it continues to generate interest for the district. A former CISD administration building is under contract and likely to close before the end of the year, a tract adjacent to Old Union Elementary is under contract and expected to close within four to six months, and the Durham Intermediate School property is likely to be under contract by the end of this month, according to Bryan.
Superintendent Jeremy Glenn oversees a district that Bryan says is “strategically managing assets rather than selling property without purpose,” and Bryan has said responsibly disposing of surplus property can generate financial resources for the district without raising the tax rate. The board is also weighing sales of other unused district properties beyond the ones already in contract.
Senior Housing Demand Is Climbing Statewide
The Southlake proposal lands amid a broader surge in Texas seniors housing demand. Stabilized occupancy across the state's major markets climbed year-over-year to 88.7% for seniors housing and 75.8% for nursing-care facilities in the first half of 2026, according to a Colliers report covering the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio metro areas. Average rents for both seniors housing and nursing care reached all-time highs over that period, even as new construction starts remained suppressed — though Colliers expects that to rise. The same report found Texas recorded its second-strongest first-half transaction volume on record for the sector.
Touchmark's push into Texas isn't new. The company's first Texas property, a 270-unit community in McKinney called Touchmark at Emerald Lake, was announced in 2023 with plans for independent living, assisted living, memory care and specialty neighborhoods, including 50 assisted-living units and 32 memory-care units. Touchmark has described its model as continuing care that keeps residents with the provider through the end of life.
