Why Not Live in an Award Winning Community

If you haven’t noticed, not every active adult community is created equal. Depending on the skill and commitment of the developer, the community can be interesting and an easy joy to live in - or boring and inconvenient. Some of the most interesting examples of the best community designs are evident in the 2008 Best in American Living Awards (BALA), which were just announced. The awards are sponsored by a panel of judges put together by Professional Builder, a division of the National Association of Home Builders. There are a number of categories (and all of the winners are worth looking at), but this article concerns the 2008 winners for the Communities division. Common themes among the winners include plentiful public spaces, a sense of community, green (sustainable) principles, and interesting amenities.

The grand prize for a community was won by Domus in Philadelphia’s University Park (which also won for Best Urban SmartGrowth). This new infill project was built in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania, and obviously has a big attraction for baby boomers seeking retirement near a college campus. The project integrates residential space with commercial uses and an impressive amount of public recreational land. The buildings within Domus feature three distinct outdoor rooms that go from fully public to semi-private to private areas. Residences include amenities such as bamboo wood floors, white membrane roofing and private courtyards. Dennis Oppenheim’s “Wave Forms” outdoor sculpture is a popular feature. For Domus pictures.

Hampton Lake in beautiful Bluffton, SC was the BALA winner in Best Community:more than 151 units. Hampton Lake is a good example of what could have been a boring golf community turned into an exciting, mixed generation, lake side community with a resort-style amenity complex. Conservation is emphasized with the lake and a 340-acre nature preserve with 9 miles of trails. There are waterfront and wooded homesites, low-maintenance carriage and villa homes and vacation town homes. The heart of Hampton Lake is Lakeside Village with its family-friendly amenities: themed restaurant, general store, nature center, spa and fitness center, pools, boathouse, beach, overnight camping island and dog park. Pictures

Best Suburban Smart Growth Award went to The Residence at SouthPark. This project in Charlotte NC unites four stories of luxury residential units with 80,000 square feet of ground-level retail. Judges noted that the project successfully integrates several existing site features. The city of Charlotte was involved in the project to help carefully place the project so that it renovates an historic civic space and fountain on a prominent corner, preserving some well loved mature trees. The building’s U-shaped courtyard reinforces a sense of community and does not overwhelm the cityscape. SouthPark photos.

Washington Town Center, a mixed-use community, had the task of creating a distinctive identity for Robbinsville, N.J., a sprawling and affluent community with no downtown center. The overall plan includes parks, walking trails and other open public spaces. The design succeeds, judges noted, in inviting the community at large into its shops, restaurants and residential neighborhoods. Washington Town Center includes single-family homes, duplexes and townhomes. Historically accurate details include front yards with brick pier and iron fencing or hedgerows. The commercial part of the Center includes condominium units above ground-floor retail. Photos

What do you think? Please use the “Leave a Comment” box below to let us know!

Top 10 Trends for Active Adult Communities in 2009

With a fresh avalanche of baby boomers sliding into senior-hood every day, there is a lot of interest in 55+ housing trends. This article provides the Topretirements list of the top 10 active adult community trends for 2009. (We did the same exercise for 2008. There are many similarities on both lists, but also some new ideas).

The ultimate trend for 2009 – and the great unknown – is will the real estate market, after the bashing it took in 2008, come back to some type of equilibrium? We say it’s hard to imagine it getting worse (but we’ve said that before!). Our bet: a modest upturn will start to accelerate in late 2009.

1. Sustainability. Finally there is real momentum, not just talk, in the sustainability movement. A lot of new communities, both 55+ and CCRCs (Continuing Care Retirement Communities), are being built green, even to the point of getting LEEDS certification. Many boomers will pay a bit extra to know that they are in an energy-efficient, environmentally responsible facility. Shea Homes is one of the first builders to embrace this trend as a point of differentiation.

2. Accessibility. The concept of Peter Pan homes (I will never have to grow up, I will never get old) is still alive, but less pervasive. More and more builders are building homes with universal design principles that will allow baby boomers to live in them for decades, not just years. Single floor levels, 1st floor master suites, counters and appliances that anyone can use, and ramps vs. steps are in.

3. Serious energy savings are in. Obviously this is a big part of environmental sustainability, but we are very impressed with the more widespread use of solar panels and hot water heaters, inline hot water heaters, and even geothermal. Energy prices might be down now, but it will be a while before anyone forgets their 2008 utility bills.

4. Programs for baby boomers. There is continued interest in developments that have a wide range of activities and clubs. Shuffleboard is out; Wii, art classes, and baby boomer clubs are in.

5. College and cultural programs. The most attractive developments will have built in links with local colleges and universities – or online classes as well. Some classes will be “on-campus”; convenient transportation will take others to local institutions.

6. Financial Creativity. The 55+ and active adult communities market has been put in a bind with the current housing slowdown. New residents would like to buy, but many won’t have the money until they sell their primary residence. We predict that many facilities will get creative about how to fill this gap with rent-to-own, price guarantees, time shares, and other incentives to increase revenues.

7. Baby boomers refuse to be labeled. 76 million prospects would get any marketer salivating. A lot of boomers will skip the active adult community thing as too contrived, too stereotypical, or too old; they’ll end up staying in their homes, moving to college towns, urban settings, or opting for small towns in nice areas.

8. More concepts from the hospitality industry. The folks who operate hotels and resorts know a lot about how to fill a place with customers and keep them entertained. The smart operators in the active adult industry will emulate these techniques and incorporate talent from this sector into their operations. This will mean an upgrade in amenities and recreational options – look out for even more concierges!

9. Urban and downtown environments will thrive. Developers who are enchanted with the low cost of land in the boondocks may find tough competition from other firms who invest in downtown facilities where residents can walk or take public transportation to shopping, cultural, and community events. Smart developers will take advantage of redevelopment real estate opportunities in small towns and cities of all sizes.

10. Cookie cutter developments will yield to those offering more diversity. Baby boomers hate nothing more than being labeled conventional. So if a development’s homes and residents all look like they belong on the same cookie sheet, the potential audience will be limited. We have a new President who’s popular because he’s “cool” - developments could learn from that - variety and being interesting could get your development elected.

What’s Your Opinion?
Do you agree with this list? Or what did we miss, overlook, or just get plain wrong. Everyone would like to know, so use the “Comments” button below to post your own prognostications. Thanks!

References:
Building Design & Construction by Bradford Perkins
Top 10 Trends in Senior Housing for 2009 (Topeldercares)
Baby Boomers Plan Now to Avoid Outgrowing Their Homes
Top 10 Baby Boomer Retirement Trends for 2008

Baby Boomers Lowering Average Age in Retirement Communities

The average age of active adult and retirement communities was reasonably stable - until now. While the original active adult communities like Century Village and Sun City have been getting older as their early residents aged in place, this was countered in the overall population by residents in newer communities, who tend to be on the younger side. Enter those darn baby boomers, the oldest of whom are now turning 63.

One of the more interesting examples of this demographic tilt is occuring in Laguna Woods Village, a huge (18,000 residents) and long-established active adult community in California. Baby boomers are tilting Laguna Woods’ average age scale youngward - to about 67 from 70 a few years ago. Boomers have formed their own club for “young’uns”, as some call them. The Boomers Club is one of 250 clubs at Laguna Woods Village, and one of its fastest growing. The Boomers Club offers a chance for its members to pursue their type of music, dance, and parties - as well as the chance to hang with fellow members of “My Generation”. Boomers have at least one big event a month while also getting together to visit Laguna Woods TGIFs venue on a weekly basis. They also plan hikes and trips together. Membership costs $45/year. About half the club’s members are married, and many of are still working.

For more check out the OCregister article

Bad Economy Means Active “Younger” Adult Communities

The press has been filled with reports of financial troubles in the retirement housing and real estate markets.

Faced with unsold units, vacant lots and empty condos, the reaction of some active adult communities has been to try to expand their base. The obvious way to do that is to let in younger buyers. Many active adult communities are age-restricted to at least one resident who is at least 55 years of age. Typically, unless the community has at least 80% of its population 55+, they do not meet federal regulations that allow developments to exclude children. At the many other active adult communities that have no official age restrictions, the fact is that most of their residents are 55 or better.

On the one hand letting in younger buyers might be able to fill more units, but it could have ramifications on the other side. Existing residents, for example, often chose to live with people their own age; away from noisy children and rushing commuters. Neighboring towns that lobbied to attract these active adult communities feel betrayed, since the communities were let in with the expectation that their older residents would pay taxes, but not demand expensive services like schools.

One of the communities profiled in a recent Wall Street Journal article was Sun City Grand in Surprise, AZ. This Sun City lowered its minimum age to 45 from 55, although children under 19 are still not permitted as permanent residents. The plan seems to work, as some younger people are attracted to these communities for their recreational opportunities. Many residents are pleased as well with the additional financial support younger people bring to the community, citing excess capacity when aging residents gradually stop using communal facilities. Leisure World in Mesa, AZ is another community that has lowered its age requirements; many others are considering the change. Century Village in Deerfield Beach, FL, one of the nation’s oldest and biggest active adult communities (it has 254 condominium buildings), has people talking about making the change. Two of the biggest reasons to change are falling prices and unsold units - proponents of the change think that sales to younger buyers could prop up a devastated market, while detractors say the change would be unfair to existing residents who bought with the understanding they would be living with people their own age.

Meanwhile in housing for older seniors
Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), asssisted living, and retirement homes have been hit hard because older seniors haven’t been able to sell their homes. That sale is usually necessary to allow seniors to come up with the equity necessary to buy into these facilities or make the hefty monthly fee payments. Entry fees to CCRCs can easily go over $300,000, depending on the unit and luxury of the community. Monthly fees can go over $10,000, although typically they are about $3000-5000. Two of the biggest operators were profiled in the New York Times last week (“Debt Struggles and Elderly Living”)

Two of the biggest names in senior housing appear to be having some serious financial difficulties. The Times reported that Sunrise Senior Living is “trying to stave off bankruptcy”. Brookdale Senior Living “is considered likely to resolve its short-term difficulties, but it faces a mountain of debt…”. Brookdale manages 51,847 assisted living and retirement units, while Sunrise has 50,235. The stocks of both firms have been pummelled, dropping from the $32 share price area to in Sunrise’s case, less than a $1 per share. The odd thing about the company’s troubles is that occupancy rates aren’t that bad - about 90%. While Sunrise apparently had some other poor investment decisions affecting its financial state, Brookdale’s troubles indicate the tight margin that these companies operate on. Fortunately, there have been no reports of the companies cutting services to try to “save” their way out of trouble, and seem to be enjoying the continuing support of many of their customers.

But for all of the negative reports on senior housing, others are more bullish. Saying that moves to nursing homes and assisted living facilities are usually not optional, the demand will be there. There has also been very little building in the past 5 years. Investors Business Daily has an interesting article on the business prospects of senior housing.

Stylin’ Martha Stewart Goes Active Adult Community

Bulletin: 25 Best Places to Retire (follow this story to find link). If you are one of those folks who loves Martha Stewart, your new retirement community dream just got a lot more interesting That’s right, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and KB Home have teamed up to create an active community for adults 55 and over in La Quinta, California. LaQuinta is one of the fanciest neighborhoods in Palm Springs.

“I’m very excited about our newest Martha Stewart community with KB Home created especially for mature adults who lead active lives,” said Martha Stewart. “As in all of our communities, these homes will be affordable and beautifully designed with an eye to practical details.”

Designer Cupcakes
To celebrate the occasion approximately 100 guests and local officials gathered in full Martha-mode. Topretirements was sorry to not only have missed a fancy luncheon, but we’re we especially mourn the opportunity to participate in a cupcake-decorating contest judged by Martha Stewart. Stewart chose winners who received gift baskets including an autographed copy of her latest book, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School.

The community will feature one -story ranch style homes ranging in size from 1,300 to 1,800 square feet, offering two to three bedrooms, two to three baths, and two-car garages. The community will be gated and include an expansive clubhouse. The homes will feature new exterior elevations inspired by Martha Stewart’s many trips to Mexico, and the local landscape. Classic California Spanish style facades will be enhanced with ceramic tile work, awnings, eight foot shutters and expansive covered patios with great outdoor living spaces. The interiors will be open, cool and bright, with thoughtful design options like wainscoting, picture-frame molding, open shelving, and bead board. The community is projected to open in fall 2009, and KB Home is taking names now.

The homes in La Quinta will also be environmentally friendly. All homes will be ENERGY STAR® qualified and engineered to heat and cool efficiently and use less energy resources. Additionally, all homes will include low-E windows and ENERGY STAR® qualified appliances.

Are Boondocks Active Adult Communities the Wrong Move

August 6 — We are constantly on the lookout for the best places to retire. And it’s fun to write about a place so nice that it gives you the itch to move there.

A more difficult problem emerges when we try to seek out the best active adult communities. Many people want to live in these self-contained worlds (and yes, many won’t go near them too!). But when we get excited about an active adult community that sounds just great - the other shoe drops when we find out where it is. Yep, 9 times out of 10 it is in some little town that no one has ever heard of, way out in the boondocks. This certainly makes some sense for the developers, because a far out location is where the cheap and available land for development is located. It’s not easy to find enough land for a reasonably-sized development and its amenities close to town - or is it?

The idea of living in a development out in the sticks turns a lot of people off. Surrounded by people just like yourself in a adult version of summer camp, the real world can be a significant drive away.

Elsewhere we read about aging in place. This is by far what most older people want to do - stay in their own cherished homes in their familiar old neighborhoods. A boondocks-type problem occurs for these people too, especially the ones who already live in suburbia. These aging seniors are trapped in the ‘burbs, where there are usually no sidewalks, close-by stores, or doctors - and key resources are a harrowing drive away. The result: loneliness and isolation will be a big and growing problem for many who decide to age in place.

Everyone has to find the kind of retirement lifestyle that’s right for them. For some folks, an active adult community like a Sun City is perfect. Everything they want to do is right there, and there is no need to venture outside. But for many others, that seems like an empty life. If you are one of the latter, we recommend looking at a college town retirement, a city, or a small retirement town with plenty of infrastructure. Our opinion is that smart developers will look to buy or build active adult properties in or immediately adjacent to these types of communities. That way baby boomers can have it both ways, living in an interesting, stimulating community with plenty to do. Walking or biking to activities and to see interesting people instead of driving. For developers, the community scale might have to be smaller, or they might have to build in more transportation resources. But our bet is that these type of accessible communities will have more market appeal as baby boomers start to make their retirement location decisions.
Link: Directory of Active Adult Communities

Trouble in Paradise - Active Adult Communities Home Owners Associations

July 3 — Buying into a retirement or active adult community is a complex decision involving where you want to live, what lifestyle and activities you want, costs, and what kind of neighbors you want. Your new Home Owners Association (HOA), which typically runs most active adult communities and condo associations, is another issue requiring careful thought. Now HOA’s are in the news for another problem - caused by owner delinquencies and foreclosures.

Home Owners Associations typically set the rules for a community as well as pay the bills and hire the people that run the place. When the Association is well run and the community is strong, all is well. But when a community starts to see too many delinquencies on the fees it charges residents, and when too many owners are foreclosed upon, trouble hits. A new article in seeking alpha chronicles some of the problems Homeowners Associations are having across the country, as the remaining owners are hit with extra fees to make up for the people not paying their bills.

In Florida Gov. Crist just vetoed a bill offering new protections and rights to HOAs - the bill would have allowed them to lien and foreclose on properties in arrears. Apparently the law is needed (about 1.4 million Floridians live under HOA’s) but the governor was not happy with some terms in the bill.

Active Adult Communities Roll Out Incentives

Developers of active adult and over 50 communities are fighting back against the real estate slowdown. Their imaginations have been working overtime to come with new and exciting incentives to bring prospective buyers back into their communities. Obviously, lowering prices is a tactic used by most. Indeed the average price of new units sold at Toll Brothers and other builders is down significantly. But many developers are also focusing on the key problem facing buyers of active adult communities – they can’t buy a new home because they can’t sell their old one. Check out some of the ideas we have heard about in the last few weeks:

Buy 1, Get 1 Free
We’re not kidding, a California builder, Michael Crewes Development, is actually offering this deal. Buy one house, get a 2,000 sq.ft. cityscape row home worth $400,000 for free. So what about the house you have to buy? Oh, Royal View Estate homes in San Pasqual Valley start at $1.4 million. One blogger likened this deal to something like; buy a candy bar, get a free raisin. Still….

Pay Us When You Get the Money
Yep, at The Enclave at the Fairways in Lakewood New Jersey, buyers can delay paying the substantial entry fees in this community. The Peace of Mind program locks in prices and refunds buyers’ deposits if they can’t sell their home in 6 months (it must be listed with a licensed broker).

Discounted Financing
Similar to the perennial tactic used by car dealers across the country, some developers of active adult communities will give you subsidized interest rate on your mortgage.

Relocation Assistance
There are several permutations of assistance to help buyers move into their new homes. At Toll Brothers, real estate professionals can receive a $3000 credit for the relocation expenses of their clients.

Options
A variety of builders are offering $20,000 or more worth of upgrades or options at no cost, rather than a discount. Ryan Homes offers that deal, if you use their mortgage subsidiary.

Home Owners Association Foreclosures and Foreclosure Tourism

About 60 million Americans live in buildings controlled by home owners associations (HOAs), according to the Community Association Institute. Now, as the real estate crunch moves into a new phase with more strapped owners who can’t make their mortgage or maintenance payments, HOAs are being forced to foreclose to protect their interests.

The problem is worse in older condominium associations, especially those that have been poorly run. Suddenly facing large maintenance bills some HOAs have to send out hefty assessment notices, but unfortunately many owners are not in a position to pay. While a foreclosure action is not pleasant or inexpensive, sometimes it is the only resort for HOAs, who typically stand at the back of the credit line behind banks and other creditors.

Want to Ride The Foreclosure Bus?
In another interesting and sad wrinkle to the real estate bust, more and more U.S. cities now have a new kind of tourism in their communities - the foreclosure tour. Although it is questionable how many sales have resulted from the tours, they are apparently very popular. We have heard of foreclosure bus tours in Boston, Long Island, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Missouri. Thanks to seekingalpha.com for this research.

Active Adult Communities’ Sales Increase in Arizona as Prices Drop 30% or More

May 13 — A report from Arizona State University’s Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness brought some welcome good news to the Arizona market for active adult communities recently. The school found that price drops in the area of over 30% helped spur increased sales in retirement communities among snowbirds during March.

The areas experiencing the largest sales activity are in the West Valley - where the newer towns of Surprise, El Mirage and Goodyear are located. Apparently sellers’s willingness to drop prices has at last been met with some interest by buyers. The older, more established communities of Glendale, Peoria and Avondale have seen more price stability and lower sales volume.