Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: How Are Senior Living Complexes Changing? This One Serves Pints With Its Pickleball.

Elgin IL

21 January, 2022

2:30 AM

Description

Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce: January 20, 2022 Multifamily developer Revel Communities opened its first senior housing complex in Southern California, an independent living facility in Palm Desert that mixes beer and pizza at happy hour with the traditional basket-weaving and pool aerobics classes. The 163-unit Revel Palm Desert at 74300 Country Club Drive is the 13th independent senior living complex developed by Revel, a division of multifamily investment and development firm The Wolff Co. It comes as the industry adapts its property design to reflect that Americans are in better health and more active longer as lifespans have been lengthening. Independent living complexes are apartments, condominiums and single-family homes for people age 55 and over that don't need full-time skilled nursing care or help with daily activities. Revel, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has developed and operated independent living complexes in central California's Lodi and in Folsom near Sacramento, as well as properties in Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Revel Palm Desert has such standard senior housing amenities as a fitness center, pet play area and pool with a spa. Unlike many senior complexes, it has its own upscale restaurant, pub and ice cream parlor. The restaurant, called Ovation, offers fare such as truffle fries and seared salmon, while the Social Club has beer and cocktails, pizza, rib sliders and other standard pub fare. The hospitality offerings, along with activities such as yoga and arts and crafts classes, are part of a move by the senior housing industry in recent years to develop facilities with activities that allow seniors to "age in place" in the setting of their choice. "We are bringing a fresh perspective to the market at Revel Palm Desert by curating a living experience that champions choice, personal freedom, curiosity and fun," Danette Opaczewski, chief operating officer for Revel Communities, said in a statement. Revel Palm Desert, built in a midcentury modern architectural style, has two three-story residential buildings with 143 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and 20 one-story cottage-style units with private garages. Asking rents at Revel Palm Desert range from $3,995 per month for a studio to about $6,500 a month for a two-bedroom cottage, according to CoStar data. Monthly leases include housekeeping and options such as laundry service, shuttle and dining, as well as common areas that include a pickleball court, dog park, spa and salon. Although more families and younger residents have moved to the Coachella Valley in recent years, it remains a haven for retirees and "snowbirds" that own or lease second homes in warmer parts of the United States during the winter months. Most of the multifamily housing built over the past decade in Palm Springs, Palm Desert and other desert cities in Riverside County's Coachella Valley has been age-restricted skilled nursing or independent living complexes targeting seniors, according to CoStar Market Analytics. The valley's apartment vacancy rate is a tight 2%. About 17% of the valley's 75,000 residents are younger renters age 20 to 34, which is generally the prime renting demographic in most areas, according to CoStar. Source: www.CoStar.com This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author's own.