There is a senior living community under development in the north side of Tucson. What sets Hacienda at the River apart from other senior living communities located throughout Arizona? This one, located on River Road near Hacienda del Sol Road will be home to equine therapy when it is completed. The living community is being built on 7.5 acres of what was formerly horse property, which makes the location the perfect match for the equine therapy. The site will also be home to assisted living, memory care, rehabilitation, as well as skilled nursing and hospice care. 

The Hacienda at the River senior community is being developed by Watermark Retirement Communities, which has over 38 senior living centers under its watch, spread out across the entire country, and is even evaluating a few jobs located outside of the United States, says the companies President and CEO David Barnes.

Barnes says all of Watermark’s communities are individuals because the they “never got into the cookie-cutter mentality.” This means that the equine therapy that will call Hacienda at the River home may not be a new development popping up in other community living centers, but an individual quality that makes this new Tucson center stand out in the crowd.

This center will be the companies second one in Tucson, and David Freshwater, chairman and developer of Watermark Retirement Communities, says that the time and the land available made it perfect for this project.

“We’d read a lot about equestrian assistance and I loved this land’s long history with horses,”

Freshwater says.

Instead of traditional caretakers, Hacienda at the River will feature staff that will engage with with the communities residents as they move through activities throughout the day. Watermark Retirement Communities says that the Hacienda is expecting to hire 120 people once the facility opens its doors early next year.