Famous for moving through the economy like pigs in the python for more than 70 years, baby boomers have been shaping consumer goods and services since the days of mascots. Now, the most influential generation in history is driving the growth of the next logical sector: niche retirement communities.
A niche retirement community is exactly what it sounds like. They’re residential developments, urban, suburban, and even seafaring, designed to appeal to a narrow range of affinity groups, from Jimmy Buffett fans to yoga practitioners. And they find themselves in nearly every type of senior accommodation, from active to assisted independent living with ongoing care.
Niche projects represent a small fraction of the approximately 50,000 senior citizen communities and facilities nationwide. But they’re a “segment to watch,” says Andrew Carl, an adjunct lecturer on aging and health issues at Georgetown University and a consultant in the field. For retirees who want to return to student and academic life, there are five to six dozen college-based retirement communities. There are about 20 facilities focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors. There is a retirement community for retired postal workers, equestrians, environmentalists, RV enthusiasts, and singer Jimmy Buffett’s Parrot His Head his fans. Even Disney is in on the action. It’s about to launch Storyliving, a planned community in California “for the next chapter of your life,” including 55+ communities.
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Baby boomers, who are reaching 65 at a rate of 10,000 a day, are in favor.
- In November 2017, when Buffett unveiled the first Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach, Florida, to be an active residential facility for people “over 55,” more than 150 fans and fans Other lovers of the flip-flop life camped overnight at the sale. – 300 property first dib office. Today, Latitude Daytona Beach is his planned community of 7,000 people, with a waiting list for homes under construction. There is another He Latitude in the Florida panhandle, with one planned for North Carolina and two or three for Texas.
- In 2016, 1,194 people paid $1,000 for priority reservations when Delaware-based Kendal Corp. unveiled Enso Village, a life-planning community dedicated to Zen traditions in a Northern California wine region. I was. In 2020 he sold out in 4 months when 275 units were launched. Kendall is currently developing his second Enso Village in Southern California.
- Nalanda Estate, near Sarasota, Florida, bills itself as an active Indian retirement community with 83 homes, and its website says it’s sold out.
- Known as a hotbed of conservative politics and liberal social life, Florida’s The Villages has sold nearly 70,000 homes.
“The developers opened up the Grateful Dead community and were able to fill it quickly,” says Carle. “I can almost guarantee it.”
lots of niches
The sheer numbers show that there can be no one-size-fits-all answer to baby boomer retirement. Baby boomers make up her fifth of the country’s population. This equates to her 73 million people looking for places that reflect their personal tastes. For developers, this equates to many niches and many large and scalable, especially as his traditional 55+ active community of golf, tennis and clubhouse matures.
“The old model was very leisure-centric,” says Lindsey Beaglee, director of Lifelong College Engagement at Arizona State University. But she says, “One can’t keep playing golf for her 30 years.”
Of course, the niche retirement community isn’t for all baby boomers and Generation X, and most people still prefer to age at home. Niche properties can be expensive and geographically inconvenient. Because finding the perfect property for your interests means moving far away from your family. But perhaps the stronger obstacle is attitude.
“The idea of living in a retirement city doesn’t appeal to me.of MV Narrativeis a luxury residential yacht scheduled to launch in 2025 and then sail from port to port throughout the year. “I just want to mix things up and keep it interesting,” he says Farkas.
The senior living landscape has been fragmented ever since it existed. Beginning in the 1950s, homebuilders began developing active adult age-restricted communities where 55 or more homeowners could live in self-contained communities with resort-style amenities. Did. For example, Dell Web’s Sun City Arizona. By the 1990s, university-based retiree communities (UBRCs) began to emerge, allowing retirees to live on or near university campuses, interspersed with other communities of special interest. became.
talk about “pain”
When former pediatrician Arnold Victor moved to Sun City in Northern California ten years ago, it seemed like he had everything he needed. As a recent widower, he had a built-in social life, resort-style amenities, clubs, travel, and more at his fingertips.
After 10 years of having to drive everywhere, feeling disconnected from the outside world and worrying about his cognitive decline, Victor began to consider continuing care. rice field. In 2021, when he walked into his ASU’s The Mirabella and his UBRC, his 20-story luxury apartment complex on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, he decided to make his new home. I know you found it. “Oh yeah, here it is,” he remembers thinking.
In the two years since the move, Victor has taken classes in film, art and philosophy. He participates in mentoring programs for pre-medical students and attends concerts, lectures, and movie nights. One of his favorite times of the day is dinner time. Instead of discussing “previous ways, medications, aches and pains,” as he did in The Sun, “we’re talking about what we’re going to do next. Which concert to go to, which concert to go to.” To give a lecture or which class to take.
Mary Van Dyke, by contrast, wanted a community of like-minded spiritual souls, but didn’t know exactly what that would look like.A native of San Mateo, California, 75 What the 12-year-old widow knew was that between the isolation of the pandemic and wildfires filling the California sky with smoke, she no longer wanted to live alone. She began touring developing an active life “in search of chemistry”. Instead, she mostly found a “country-club vibe” and a “lack of intentions”. When Van Dyke asked her administrator about one of her priorities, a meditation group, “they said start it,” she recalls.
A friend then mentioned Enso Village, a planned Zen-focused continuous care facility in Sonoma County. The community included a zendo meditation hall. Twenty retired monks reside to teach and lead the workshops. There are two miles of hiking trails, acupuncture services, yoga classes, and a meditative care curriculum to help train residents to help each other age.
Van Dyke was one of about 1,200 people who paid $1,000 to book a room, and when a room became available, he secured a two-bedroom apartment. Van Dyke will have to wait a few months for her to move in, as Enso won’t open her doors until Fall/Winter 2023, but she’s certainly found her own community. During the pandemic, Van Herdyke reached out to all prospective residents from San Francisco to Santa Her Cruise (about 40 in all) and organized monthly get-togethers at her Menlo Park. There the group meditated, shared poetry, and discussed downsizing challenges. “We’ve been seeing each other for two years and ten months,” she says. “I know her neighbor.”
COVID has taken its toll
For senior accommodation developers, retirees like Victor and Van Dyke offer hope for an industry plagued by staffing shortages and rising prices, not to mention the lingering impact of COVID.
“COVID has been devastating for the industry,” says Adam Clark, president of Aegis Development, an affiliate of Aegis Living, which owns and operates high-end assisted living and memory care facilities on the West Coast.
Aegis’ business has recovered and its assets (some for the general public, others for Chinese, Asians, or those interested in the environment) have been pulled from other developers by a great many. Upon inquiry, Aegis is a consulting affiliate to provide senior real estate site selection, design and financing advice in the second half of 2022. “I think there’s demand all over the world,” says Clark.
Little need to convince Terri Whitsel of that. The 57-year-old has staked her career on Florida pie. In 2020, Whitsel was living at her college in State, Pennsylvania, where she had just been laid off from her job in the auto industry. That’s when her husband dragged her to Florida to check out her Buffett’s Latitude Daytona.
Whissel knew nothing about Jimmy Buffett or his real estate empire, other than hearing “Margaritaville” on the radio, and wasn’t keen on age-restricted communities. “I wasn’t ready for her over 55,” she says. She “thinks a wheelchair and a walker.” But when a couple drove her Latitude during a visit, they were so impressed with how friendly everyone was that they bought a water cottage. Wissel, who moved in a few weeks later, couldn’t be happier with her new life. “You stand in the pool and hang out with other residents with floaties,” she says. “Like kindergarten”
She has since obtained her real estate license, sold her home in development, and in 2021 moved with her husband to Buffett’s new Florida estate, Latitude Water Sound, near Pensacola. The community is in its early stages — having just sold her 1,000th home and zoned for 150,000 people — Whitsel is ready to go. Now she knows all of Buffett’s songs by heart, she loves the sandy beaches nearby and is excited to bring her new member into singer’s paradise. As she puts it, “I’ve found my niche.”
Do a self-inventory. Start by understanding what you want and need after retirement. What kind of medical support do you need? Are you an outdoors person or a book lover? The answers to these questions will shape your search.
Consider the price. Niche communities are expensive. Residents often pay an initiation fee model that pays fees ranging from $100,000 to $1 million or more, depending on the location and size of the house or apartment, plus maintenance, taxes, meals, and other fees. Pay a monthly fee for the service. The average for 2021 is $3,555, according to National Investment Center for Elderly Housing and Care (opens in new tab)(By comparison, the median monthly cost for a nursing home is $4,500 per month, compared to $9,034 for a private room in a nursing home, according to long-term care insurer Genworth.)
Create a budget Would you like to rent or buy? what can you afford? Will the sale of your home cover the entrance fees required by some properties? Plan monthly fees to cover medical and other amenities.
go on tour. When visiting a property, we encourage multiple visits at different times of the day and days of the week, rather than just one visit. Please consult with staff or administrators. Try all the dishes, not just the specials of the day. Attend some meetings of groups that interest you. Is he three in the bridge or is he ten?
How is it managed? Make sure the property is economically viable. Ask what kind of financial reserves the community has. Do you have a board of directors? Who is responsible for community finances? Is it a non-profit organization? If not, who is the owner?
Note: The item first appeared in Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, a popular monthly periodical covering the major concerns of wealthy older Americans who have retired or are preparing to retire. apply for retirement counseling (opens in new tab)That’s right.
