Health
Retirees' Desires Driving Senior Housing Boom
If you're thinking of retirement communities as "old-age" or "rest" homes, think again. Senior housing is growing by leaps and bounds and is one of the most innovative slices of the real-estate pie, a published report says.
The Wall Street Journal retirement quarterly Encore says so-called senior housing -- everything from sprawling retirement Meccas with thousands of homes to assisted-living centers with 30 or 40 residents -- is redefining itself almost as rapidly as the country is graying.
And fueling the change in perception -- and construction -- of such housing are retirees themselves. Here are some examples:
--Snow Belt vs. Sun Belt. Companies such as Del Webb, the builder of Sun Cities, are now moving into markets such as Chicago, offering retirees the best of both worlds: country-club living -- replete with fitness centers, swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses and gated entryways -- in close proximity to friends and family.
--Back to School. Academy Village, a new retirement community in Tucson, Ariz., has ties directly to the University of Arizona allowing residents to continue their research, teach or mentor individuals within the larger Tucson area.
--Steering Clear of Nursing Homes. Assisted-living centers, the hottest segment of senior housing, give people who need help with daily living activities the opportunity to live in a home-like setting without entering a nursing home.
The Wall Street Journal retirement quarterly Encore says so-called senior housing -- everything from sprawling retirement Meccas with thousands of homes to assisted-living centers with 30 or 40 residents -- is redefining itself almost as rapidly as the country is graying.
And fueling the change in perception -- and construction -- of such housing are retirees themselves. Here are some examples:
--Snow Belt vs. Sun Belt. Companies such as Del Webb, the builder of Sun Cities, are now moving into markets such as Chicago, offering retirees the best of both worlds: country-club living -- replete with fitness centers, swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses and gated entryways -- in close proximity to friends and family.
--Back to School. Academy Village, a new retirement community in Tucson, Ariz., has ties directly to the University of Arizona allowing residents to continue their research, teach or mentor individuals within the larger Tucson area.
--Steering Clear of Nursing Homes. Assisted-living centers, the hottest segment of senior housing, give people who need help with daily living activities the opportunity to live in a home-like setting without entering a nursing home.
