New Active Adult Communities Cater to the Baby Boomer Crowd

Active adult centers are rapidly growing in popularity. Baby boomers are maintaining an active healthy lifestyle much longer than prior generations, and active adult communities are becoming an intermediary before they step into senior housing. Tri Pointe Group’s newest project Altis by Pardee Homes is catering to this demographic—one of the most active groups of homebuyers. Located 30 minutes from Palm Springs, Altis is a collection of 704 homes with 12 floorplan options ranging from $300,000 to the mid $400,000 range.

“This generation of homebuyers is more active than previous generations,” Matt Sauls, VP of marketing and product development at Pardee Homes Inland Empire, tells GlobeSt.com. “They want to hike, walk, and bike, go to concerts and have fun, and not stay home and play bridge like their parents did when they retired. This lifestyle is driven by good design and amenities. These homebuyers seek open, single-story floor plans with lots of windows, large backyard patios, substantial storage and opportunities to personalize. Architecture that’s modern and upscale, kitchens with open plans for entertaining, and master baths for relaxing after a long day of fun are some of the design elements developers should consider when building for this demographic.”

These active adult communities are built under TRI Pointe Group’s ‘Life360’ platform, which has a particular focus on lifestyle amenities. They are also influenced by the surrounding community, and tailored to meet the needs of the target buyers in the market. “As one of the first age-restricted communities developed by a TRI Pointe Group builder brand, the execution of Altis was based on a tailored approach to create a neighborhood with more meaningful and individualistic community placemaking that provides robust social calendars for diverse boomer interests on and close to the property,” says Sauls. “We believe communities are local, and therefore should be curated based on what’s special about the site, the surrounding area, and the buyer profile in that area because not everybody in this category is exactly the same.”

While demand from the 55-plus-buyer segment is an opportunity for homebuilders, this can also be a challenging segment. Baby boomers are experienced homeowners and buyers, and they have a specific checklist of wants and needs. “Developers need to connect and engage with these buyers and offer customizable home features, community amenities, and essential services such as groceries, healthcare and banks,” Sauls adds. “Offering close proximity to authentic and diverse urban settings and convenient access to dining, entertainment, transportation and other options that make a community seem central to one’s life is a key connector for them.

To overcome these challenges, Saul says that it is integral to engage with buyers and the community. “Like any project or community being built, developers need to start with research,” he explains. “What we found, based on national data, was that existing 55+ communities across the country offered the same floor plans, with essentially the same buildings and amenities. Our goal for Altis was to use local data and offer a more boutique and curated approach to differentiate and offer what our local buyers want, such as fresh, modern designs, energy-efficient features and open, personalized floor plans.”

Pardee’s Altis is set to embody the needs of this demographic to uniquely cater to this demographic. “Pardee has taken the ‘Life360’ brand pillars of vitality, adventure, connectivity, and style—which are unifying forces—and added that special local sauce,” says Sauls. “We aim to be more boutique and curated in our home designs and amenities, which is different from what we saw in our research of other age-restricted communities and with other builders.”