Earlier this month several of us from The Douglas Company attended the annual NIC Fall Conference, held this year in Houston, Texas. It was encouraging to see more than 2,500 senior living professionals in attendance (in person) and optimistic about the future of the Senior Living Industry post-COVID.
NIC has also released the 3rd Quarter 2021 NIC MAP Data, which shows that demand in the 3rd quarter rebounded with the strongest quarterly increase since NIC began reporting the data in 2005. Overall seniors housing occupancy increased to 80.1%. Still 7.3% below pre-pandemic occupancy, but finally trending in the right direction. Additionally, one statistic we heard is that the age cohort for senior living will double every 5 years between 2020 and 2040. That is a lot of new seniors who will need some type of senior housing!
One topic that seems to be on everyone’s mind is “Active Adult”. This segment continues to attract capital from many sources along with a high level of interest from both senior living developers and operators as well as multi-family developers and operators. While there continues to be many opinions on just what Active Adult is, the target is people who are age 55 plus, who are looking for relatively maintenance-free, independent living with various levels of amenities.
Our estimating and pre-construction teams are currently working with a number of developers who are planning Active Adult projects and it’s exciting to see both the similarities and the differences between their products. Additionally, it’s great to see clients optimistic and planning for future growth in the industry once again. Finally, some encouraging trends.
Bob Ritter
Director of Business Development
The Douglas Company
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