Active Adult Communities

7/16/2019 | By Terri L. Jones

Chances are that you’ve traveled more extensively, dined out more often, and kept yourself in better shape than your parents’ generation. So, when you decide to move to a retirement community, you probably won’t be satisfied with a few stationary bicycles in the gym and spaghetti and pork chops on the menu.

Senior living developers are acutely aware of this shift in retirees’ expectations and are doing something (actually a whole lot!) about it. Modern day senior living is very different!

Offering a Hospitable Experience

Wolff, a senior living real estate development company, recently brought on Niki Leondakis, the former COO of boutique hotel pioneer Kimpton Hotels and CEO of Equinox Fitness Clubs and Two Roads Hospitality, to put her hospitality expertise to good use at their Revel independent living communities.

Leondakis says understanding how residents see themselves, or what she refers to as a “consumer-driven approach,” is the key to creating a lifestyle that better suits those residents. One of her ideas focuses on the dining at Revel’s communities and moving away from trying to be all things to all people.

“There’s an opportunity to create more personality, identity, and just more exciting dining experiences,” says Leondakis in a Senior Housing News article.

Maintaining Health

The modern day senior living industry is also finding that increasing numbers of retirees are transitioning to their communities while they’re still in good health and looking to those communities to help them stay that way.

As the name implies, Wellpoint makes wellness a top priority at their new retirement communities, which will begin opening in 2020. With programs customized to residents’ specific needs, Wellpoint will take a preventative approach to healthcare, giving residents access to primary care physicians rooted in functional medicine as well as specialists including nutritionists, chiropractors, and wellness coaches. They’ll also weave in alternative wellness treatments such as acupuncture, sound therapy, reiki, hydrotherapy, and cryosauna therapies.

Incorporating Fun and Adventure

Nowadays, moving to a retirement community can be more like going on a permanent vacation. With spas and pools, field trips and events, activity and social engagement is in abundant supply at these communities.

Take Latitude Margaritaville, for example. These 55+ communities, planned for Daytona Beach and Watersound in Florida and Hilton Head in South Carolina, will incorporate that same spirit of fun and adventure that Jimmy Buffett sings about in their residents’ day-to-day lives. Communities will feature a beach club, Fins Up! fitness center, live entertainment, and, rumor has it, even a built-in margarita machine! The Town Center in each community provides plenty of opportunities to dine out and socialize with new friends.

With options, amenities, and offerings like these in modern day senior living, who could resist?!

Terri L. Jones

Terri L. Jones has been writing educational and informative topics for the senior industry for over ten years, and is a frequent and longtime contributor to Seniors Guide.

Terri Jones