According to a 2011 report by the Brookings Institute, 80 million baby boomers will enter into retirement over the next 20 years. Baby boomers make up over one-quarter of the U.S. population. As a generation, boomers orchestrated dramatic social, political and economic change to the fabric of this country, so it’s no surprise that they are revolutionizing the way they are spending the latter part of their lives. This extraordinary shift in both population and opinion is spurring unprecedented new thinking in what is considered “senior housing.” Once relegated to nursing homes and assisted living centers, members of this new generation of retirees are choosing to age in place, surround themselves with community and activity and redefine their quality of life.
How is this phenomenon affecting design and development in the 21st century? In a word: dramatically. That was the take away from this year’s Senior Housing Design & Development Symposium at the University of Maryland this past month. Sponsored by the Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development and the Neighborhood Development Collaborative, the symposium assembled some of the most formidable experts in real estate, housing, design, development and economics to discuss the state of senior living and what changes the future holds. Senior Housing authority Daniel Cinelli, FAIA, kicked off the event, delivering the Neomie Colvin Keynote lecture, “What Do Retiring Boomers Want?” In it, he described some of the senior-driven, innovative trends in design, housing options and neighborhood planning. Saturday’s event offered a number of plenaries dedicated to topics such as national trends and case studies, technology and resident services dedicated to seniors and development for seniors in counties like Scandinavia and China.
“Senior housing is the number-one most attractive investment area in the United States,” explained Robert Cramer, Chief Executive Officer of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care. “In the next five years, the industry will face a new and demanding customer, the challenge of affordability, the reality of a changing health care system, opportunities for technology and the increasing role of palliative care. These areas will drive the future of the marketplace.”
The Senior Housing Design and Development Symposium is presented every five years at UMD in an effort to share new trends and innovations with a larger student audience, and is where a host of industry experts can weigh in on how real estate markets need to respond and plan. A number of changes seen since the last housing seminar in 2010 are especially applicable to students, not just in guiding their profession, but in reflecting their demographic clout; Millennials are the largest demographic in the U.S. today—edging out even the boomer generation—and will greatly influence the future of the marketplace.
“Compared to five years ago, one of the biggest changes in the housing market is that it is not being driven by boomers, but by their children,” explained Margaret McFarland, Director of the Colvin Institute for Real Estate Development and Master of Real Estate Development Program. “Seniors are not going to live in these institutionalized settings. Every other generation will benefit from what the seniors are pushing for on their side and what Millennials are demanding.”
“I’m very inspired,” said Molline Jackson, a graduate student in the Master of Real Estate Program and Senior Planning, Public Art Coordinator for Montgomery County. “I feel like the boomer generation has historically set the tone in this country, but it will be up to our generation to deliver. There have been so many great ideas presented here, but how we deliver the innovation with affordability will be key to successful development.”