Pictured from left to right are David Kliewer from Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, Michael Hartman from Capitol Seniors Housing, Scott Gensler from Erickson Senior Living, Alan Moise from Thrive and Janet Meyer from BCT Design Group. The speakers formed the development committee at InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast.
ATLANTA – Driven by the desire for a healthy lifestyle, according to Scott Gensler, Vice President of Business Development at Erickson Senior Living, two areas that senior living developers are currently focusing on are the fitness center and the outdoor areas. “Every time I look at a plan, the fitness center just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” says Gensler. “Then we open it, and it’s still not big enough.”
Not only is the fitness center getting bigger, it’s also becoming increasingly important for ongoing maintenance in Erickson’s senior citizen communities.
In addition, the outdoor spaces have moved from being a secondary focus to a primary focus. As Gensler put it, having healthy residents is a win-win situation.
Gensler’s comments came during the The Development Outlook panel at the eighth annual InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast Conference held at the Westin Buckhead, Atlanta on Wednesday August 18, which attracted 250 attendees.
In addition to Gensler, the panel included Michael Hartman, Head of Active Adult Platform at Capitol Seniors Housing; Alan Moise, Thrive’s chief investment officer; and Janet Meyer, director of the BCT Design Group. David Kliewer, Director at Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, moderated the discussion.
Another development trend today is multifunctional rooms that increase efficiency. For example, a catering room can be converted into a pickleball court.
The panelists devoted much of their discussion to device sizes and configurations. Hartman said his company develops many small units and many large units, but not many sizes in between, for his active adult communities. The resident profile supports this model.
“There are local residents willing to sacrifice the size of the unit for a lower price. But there are other people in the market who have sold their house so they want the largest unit and they don’t care about the cost, ”Hartman said.
“The smallest residential unit is getting bigger and bigger,” says Gensler, referring to the area of independent living. “We can say we’re building bigger units, but we’re actually just eliminating the smaller ones. The average is larger by default. “
According to Gensler, residents who live independently are generally unwilling to buy a unit of less than 800 square meters.
While the trend towards larger units has gained momentum over the past six or seven years, the unit is now even more emphasized due to COVID-19 and the resulting isolation of residents, Moise claimed.
“There is now an awareness of the possibility of a pandemic and the need to isolate yourself. It changed the psychology around the unit. “
Meyer emphasized the importance of conceiving a unit as more than just a box. Functions such as entrance areas, foyers and desks are increasingly desired. “If you add different functions and try to separate the rooms within one unit, it will end up using more square feet,” she said.
Do your research
The panelists also shared some of their location selection and market research best practices. They emphasized the importance of building relationships, understanding the market and being transparent.
“As always, it’s more of an art than a science,” added Moise. “You really have to roll up your sleeves and understand the market personally. You have to build relationships with people who have been in the market for the past two to three years to really understand the dynamics. “
Moise said his company does its own market research, but that is only the first step. “The data can tell you that you normally shouldn’t get into a market, but it can’t tell you to get into a market,” he said. “After this first round, we adapt our analysis to this submarket. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. “
Browsing market studies, demographic analysis, inventory counts, occupancy trends, and the NIC-MAP data are all standard protocols, but the main thing is to check the boxes, Gensler said.
“It’s more about understanding your particular site and how your site compares to the other qualified home options in this market,” he said. “To really understand that, you need on-site information, people who know the market and talk to consumers, which is a little more difficult in this COVID environment.”
Gensler cited consumer perception studies and on-site seminars as some examples of assessing the opinions of locals in the area. At the end of the day, the decision to develop a particular site is based more on the “on-site face-to-face experience than paper analysis”.
Panelists also discussed the importance of transparency when visiting existing communities for research purposes. “We dropped the deed when we walked into buildings,” said Moise. “I hate shadow shopping; I have always.”
“Full transparency is definitely the way to go,” says Gensler. “You will get more information when people understand what you are looking for and understand that you are coming into the market. They want to know about your product too, so it’s a one-way street. People in our industry are generally open-minded and when they are not it often says something about the market. “
– Kristin Hiller
