MorningStar Senior Living and Confluent Development Break Ground on 103-Unit Community in Leawood, Kansas

MorningStar Senior Living and Confluent Development have broken ground on a senior living community in Leawood, Kansas, marking the Colorado-based operator's first foray into the state and adding a purpose-built assisted living and memory care facility to one of the Kansas City metro's most affluent southern suburbs.

The project, named MorningStar Senior Living of Leawood, is located at 13651 Nall Avenue, Leawood, KS 66224, within the Cornerstone of Leawood mixed-use development at 137th Street and Nall Avenue, adjacent to Church of the Resurrection. The groundbreaking was announced Sept. 3, 2026, with a target opening of 2028.

Project Details: Units, Size, and Care Mix

The two-story building will span 104,857 square feet on a 4.10-acre site and deliver 103 units of senior housing. The unit mix comprises 73 assisted living apartments — offered in studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom configurations — and 30 memory care apartments designed as single-occupancy units, reflecting a higher-acuity care model.

Planned amenities include indoor and outdoor dining venues, a salon, a fitness center with therapy space, a bistro and bar, a theatre and chapel, a library, and an art studio. MorningStar is actively soliciting early depositors through a wait-list and deposit program ahead of the 2028 opening.

Entitlement History and Local Context

The Leawood facility has been in the planning pipeline since at least mid-2023. The Leawood Planning Commission approved final plans for the project in July 2023, and the Leawood City Council granted final approval in August 2023. Local officials framed the development as addressing an unmet need for assisted living and memory care in south Leawood, citing Johnson County's aging population and limited existing stock of modern senior housing at that node.

Leawood sits roughly 10 miles southwest of downtown Kansas City in Johnson County, a submarket characterized by strong medical infrastructure and demographic demand drivers for senior housing. The Cornerstone of Leawood site places the community within an established mixed-use corridor with existing retail and institutional neighbors.

MorningStar and Confluent: A Programmatic Partnership

MorningStar Senior Living operates more than 30 communities across multiple states, offering independent living, assisted living, and memory care. The Leawood project represents the operator's first community in Johnson County and its first in Kansas, extending its geographic footprint into the Kansas City metro.

Confluent Development has previously partnered with MorningStar on senior housing projects in other markets, including an urban infill community in Denver's Observatory Park. The Leawood collaboration fits Confluent's pattern of co-developing institutional-grade, purpose-built senior housing in infill or affluent suburban submarkets with strong demographic fundamentals.

Market Outlook

Johnson County's senior housing market has drawn developer attention as occupancy in existing communities has tightened and the county's older adult population continues to grow. New-build, higher-acuity senior housing — particularly assisted living and memory care — has seen sustained demand in well-resourced suburban markets like south Leawood, where residents and families often seek modern amenity packages alongside clinical care services. MorningStar Senior Living of Leawood is positioned to compete in that segment when it opens in 2028.

Sources: MorningStar Senior Living