Richardson approves 40-home Greenwood Park, reignites housing debate

Richardson's approval of 40 homes on the former Cottonwood Creek Healthcare Community site put a sharper question in view: is the city still serious about preserving single-family character, or is that promise weakening project by project?

City Council unanimously approved the Greenwood Park rezoning on May 11, clearing the way for Caldwell Residential to replace the decommissioned nursing home on West Shore Drive with 40 compact single-family homes centered around a neighborhood park. The project had already won a 6-1 recommendation from the City Plan Commission on April 21, after commissioners added modified development standards.

Developer Ben Caldwell said the owners of the former nursing home approached him after the facility had “failed to perform” for roughly a decade. He described the property as a strong fit for a boutique infill neighborhood and said Richardson has very few new-construction opportunities left for single-family homes. Caldwell estimated the houses would run from about $800,000 to $1.1 million, with homes likely around 3,000 square feet and no smaller than 1,100 square feet, placing Greenwood Park squarely at the upper end of the market.

That price range is why the vote reopened a larger housing debate. Richardson City Council members generally backed the rezoning, but Jennifer Justice and Dan Barrios both pointed to the limits of what the project does not solve. Justice said about a third of Richardson qualifies for the senior tax exemption and raised the question of how the city can create more affordable and senior housing options. Barrios said he was concerned the development replaces an opportunity for another senior living home. The council’s approval fit the site, but it also underscored how narrow the city’s housing choices have become.

That tension is not new in Richardson. Don Magner said in August 2025 that the city was 98% built out, leaving infill and redevelopment as some of the only remaining ways to add housing. Council also unanimously approved an updated comprehensive plan in November 2024 that called for more middle housing, including townhomes and duplexes. In January 2026, city staff said they would focus on increasing affordable housing supply through new initiatives.

For nearby residents, Greenwood Park will mean a new row of high-end homes where a nursing home once stood, along with added activity feeding into Mohawk Elementary. Richardson ISD says the campus serves nearly 500 students in Kinder through sixth grade, and the school has already gone through a $15.5 million renovation that expanded its cafeteria, converted an old gym into a library and added a new gym. As construction planning moves ahead, the project will be watched not just as a land-use decision, but as another test of whether Richardson can add housing without losing the mix of options its leaders say they want.