The New Home Amenities
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2004-08-13 13:22:00-04:00
A quick survey of new senior housing developments, from resort communities to age-targeted condos and rentals, suggests what developers think boomers will be looking for:
If it’s down in size, it’s still up in quality and detail.
"Because they’ve been planning this for a long time," says Dick Willhoit, developer of the River Oaks community in California, "these consumers want their homes appointed very well." That translates to high-end countertops, kitchen appliances, finished floors and built-ins.
Exercise options go beyond a couple of resistance machines and a treadmill.
Boomers believe they invented fitness, and they expect facilities and programs that match their favorite workout routines. "When somebody asks me what the defining characteristic of the future active adult community will be," Tracy Lux of Trace Marketing in Sarasota, Fla., says, "I say maybe it’s a rock-climbing wall."
Rooms designed as home offices, with high-speed Internet access, are standard, and there may be a business center in the clubhouse.
The next generation of retirees won’t retire, at least not fully. "They’ll start second and third careers, never imagining work not being part of their lives," says Myril Axelrod, president of Marketing Directions Associates in New York City.
And it doesn’t hurt if urban getaways are within a short drive.
While they love nature, many future retirees will expect access to the city life that energized their careers. A major urban center within a two-hour drive is considered a plus.
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