Urban Alternatives

Here are some things to consider if you are contemplating an expansion:

The Leading-Edge Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and 1962), often referred to as “golden boomers,” have reached an average retirement age of 68 years. An ever-increasing number of them prefer to live close to the cultural and entertainment opportunities available in an urban environment. The urbanization of the senior living market is redefining both cities and the people who live in them. Considered by many to represent the future of retirement living, this trend is prompting new urban community projects – the Urban Alternative – many of which are in the planning stages or being built right now.

The term widely used when a successful community develops an additional campus is satellite community. The word satellite might seem to indicate a community separate from its origins, so we have added the phrase extended campus, to our lexicon to describe the concept of a shared vision, mission and culture, creating perception of a social and economic bridge between the two.

The Many Advantages and Benefits of an Extended Campus Include:

• Strengthening of your brand
• Expansion of reach; you may claim a new region of the larger market or a lower age cohort
• Simple game plan
• Low risk to the Community/Sponsor/Owner
• Small investment to confirm market demand
• Several ‘go, no-go’ decision points
• Pragmatic approach in bite-sized chunks
• Limited financial exposure to your community; less risk than traditional second campus
• Less investment in non-revenue construction resulting from easy access to amenities offered within a bustling downtown area
• Recognition of your community as being on the forefront of retirement living trends

STEP 1 Marketing Assessment:

• Analyze occupancy
• Compare resident origin to lead list origin
• Map resident and prospect origin relative to satellite location
• Demographically estimate the number of age and income qualified households in the market area
• Map qualified households at the Census Tract level
• Interview key informants and community leaders through phone, mailed surveys and personal interviews.

STEP 2 Consumer Research:

• Mailed surveys
• Focus groups
• Expressions of interest, willingness to join project mailing list and eagerness to join a “Resident of the Future Club”.

The professionals at Bobby Sumner Consulting have over 39 years of experience providing market research, development feasibility, financial feasibility and sales and marketing consulting services to clients in the retirement living industry. Project experience includes expansion and green-field projects throughout the U.S. With the Urban Alternative concept we conduct initial market research, initial financial forecasting and marketing assessments. Together with your community organization, we assemble a strategic team of top industry affiliates to achieve a collaborative approach to financing, zoning, project management, marketing and fulfillment.

As an organization, Bobby Sumner Consulting has always been true to its tag line, defining the future of retirement living. The Urban Alternative exemplifies our commitment to exploring forward-thinking alternatives in our industry. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes common to find an attractive, market-rate senior community in many vibrant, downtown areas.

If you are interested in learning more about the URBAN ALTERNATIVES contact us for a personal presentation.