Concrete builders who aim their residential developments at grey heads are convinced concrete is giving them an edge in providing a quiet, comfortable environment, as well as reduced utility costs and insurance rates for seniors. “I think structural concrete is the way to go, particularly with this segment of the population,” says Craig Clarambeau, general contractor/developer, Tri-Vest LLC, Woodburn, Oregon. “It’s the perfect application to use.”
Consider that in 2004 there were already some 36 million seniors in the United States. But hold on to your hat. As healthcare continues to improve and the baby boomer generation enters retirement, statisticians now estimate the number of North Americans over age 65 is expected to rocket to 55 million by 2020.
Clarambeau’s experience, and that of two other concrete builders, one in Kentucky and the other in Texas, shows what you can provide this growing—and lucrative—market segment. These forward-looking builders are creating affordable, comfortable and dignified housing options for the coming wave of active seniors. And they are increasingly finding that concrete homes fit the bill.
Securing Seniors
Skidding out of control, the car bounced over the curb, knocked out a fire hydrant and careened toward the wall of a Hazelwood Estates townhouse. A senior resident slept unwittingly in the bedroom on the other side of the wall.
A disaster scenario? Not really. The car merely ricocheted off the wall. “All it did was damage three pieces of siding,” says Clarambeau, who had finished work on the Woodburn, Oregon, residential community only a few months earlier. “Had it have been a stick frame-structure, the car would have been through the wall and into the bedroom.”
Clarambeau chalks it up as an unexpected early return on the community’s investment in insulating concrete form (ICF) framing. He and the Marion County Housing Authority, the general partner in this venture and another in nearby Mt. Angel, had been focusing on other ICF security features, like a three-hour fire rating, durability in an earthquake zone and protection against pest and dry rot in the walls. This was a bonus.
But the main security feature that drove the planners of the 32-unit single-story senior cottage community to concrete was financial, not physical. Geared toward the lower-income segment of the area’s independent seniors, the development offers rental rates for residents whose income is at 40% and 50% of the area median income. Developers used Low Income Housing Tax Credits to finance the project.
Clarambeau says the two main financial concerns of seniors in this segment are energy and prescription costs. “We thought ICFs would be a good way to keep the energy costs consistent so they’re not having to come up [with money to pay] increasing energy bills.”
And it’s not just low-income seniors who benefit from this feature, says Randy McGuffee of Future Stone, an ICF distributor and consultant in Fort Worth, Texas. “Even if they are in the upper end of the income scale and have done well, they are still likely to be retired, to have fixed incomes, so predictability in their operating costs and their monthly expenditures is important to them.”
The success of Hazelwood Estates in using concrete to help create a viable housing option for low-income seniors hasn’t gone unnoticed in Oregon. Clarambeau says there have been “discussions at the state level to make this a standard for affordable housing across the state.”
Senior Class
After spending much of his career in Kentucky, Sid Morris returned to his home state of Texas to look after his parents, who were approaching 90 years old. He observed how his mother remained remarkably healthy and alert during much of that time before dying at age 97.
The time spent with his parents got gears turning in Morris’ head. “The idea had been simmering in my mind for several years before their death that I might do something with seniors,” he says.
Ten years after his mother’s death, that idea is close to becoming reality. Morris plans to break ground in the early spring on L’Air du Temps, a structural concrete midrise community for active seniors aged 55 and older in Garland, Texas.
“We’re actually looking more toward resort-style living,” says Morris, stating that the upscale five-story, 100-unit community should have all of the benefits of home ownership with none of the inconveniences. Using concrete, he says, will create a quiet, comfortable environment, as well as reduce utility costs and insurance rates.
Morris wants to develop an environment in which seniors “can really get after their hobbies that they may have put on the back burner.” Along with typical amenities, like meeting places and well-crafted maintenance-free landscaping, seniors in L’Air du Temps will also enjoy an indoor pool, a greenhouse, extensive walking trails, and an affiliation with local golf courses.
Morris intends to take his vision of enabling an active lifestyle for senior residents one step further, creating a program in which residents can share their talents with each other as experts, such as artists in residence. “Folks want to seize the day and maybe develop artistic talents or musical talents or sculpting talents or woodcarving talents.”
Catch the Wave
Today, just three states have senior populations over 15 percent. But by 2020, statisticians predict 42 states will boast that number. As this tsunami of seniors approaches, there will be plenty of building opportunities to go around. There are steps you can take to catch the wave.
First of all, do your homework. You can pay to have market research done, but there is already an abundance of information available on the Internet about current active-living senior communities, demographics and consumer trends. Morris estimates he examined some 100 senior communities or their Web sites in developing his own business plan.
You can find national and regional demographic information about the current and coming senior populations at the AARP Web site (aarp.org). Another valuable resource is Pulte Homes’ expansive study of baby boomer attitudes and interests, including their preferences on amenities and lifestyle options (www.corporate- ir.net/media_files/irol/77/77968/BabyBoomerStudy.pdf) [1]. For information specific to the local community, such as aging statistics and residents’ financial ability, talk to your local Chamber of Commerce.
You can also make the case for using concrete in structural construction. Because many developers are more familiar with lower-cost stick framing, they may not have considered the cost, security, and maintenance benefits of going concrete.
Dan Wargnier, a subcontractor with ICF Unlimited, which did the concrete work on Hazelwood Estates, took it upon himself to convince Tri-Vest of the benefits of structural concrete construction. He began by showing them other concrete jobs in the area and introducing them to his engineer. “It was really a process,” Wargnier says, “but it was a fun process to see unfold.”