Building for Boomers

Like the ad says, “That was your father’s retirement community.” And that’s because, developers are beginning to build for us: active baby boomers with active lifestyles. Which means, according to John Brady of TopRetirements.com, hello sky-diving, goodbye shuffleboard.

Every day almost 8,000 of the 76 million baby boomers hit the big Six-Oh. This demographic tsunami has not gone unnoticed by real estate developers, because with that milestone often come thoughts of where to live next. Which might mean, 8,000 thoughts of where to live next. Especially in the Sunbelt but also in virtually every state of the union, vast swaths of land are being bulldozed into new retirement communities.

Yet some professional developers have been slow to understand important ways in which this generation’s members differ from their parents. The successful developers increasingly deliver the product that baby boomers want in their next homes – main floor master bedrooms, home offices, easy-to-manage properties, and an active lifestyle close at hand with everything from golf to sky-diving.

The industry has to tune in to this generation’s unique psychographics. Baby boomers, the largest demographic bulge ever, overwhelmed the schools by the sheer size of their numbers, revolutionized music and popular culture, and even overturned an unpopular war. Youth is at the core of their identity, so it is easy to see why the terms “senior” or “retirement communities” grate on their ears. These hot buttons connote shuffleboard courts and canasta tournaments, activities that might have been fine for their parents, but which will repel any self-respecting boomer.

Many top developers are getting the message. Drive south on I-95 through the Carolinas, for instance, and you’ll see countless billboards for “active adult communities,” where one can relentlessly pursue that “active adult lifestyle.” Other popular terms are 55+, 50 plus, age-restricted … or simply active communities.

You can download a free eBook from Topretirements.com, called the “Baby Boomers Guide to Choosing the Perfect Community – 16 Factors You Need to Consider.”