Is a niche retirement community for you?

At Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach, Florida, like-minded older adults live in a retirement community inspired by Jimmy Buffett’s laid-back style. Niche retirement communities are becoming more popular throughout the country. Photo courtesy of Minto Communities

By Eileen Daspin
Posted on December 16, 2024

Baby Boomers have been shaping consumer goods and services since they were in onesies. Now, history’s most influential generation is fueling the growth of the next logical sector: the niche retirement community.

Niche retirement communities are exactly what they sound like. They’re residential developments — urban, suburban and even seafaring — designed to appeal to narrowly cast affinity groups, from Jimmy Buffett fans to yoga practitioners.

And they come in almost every type of senior accommodation — from active to independent, assisted living through continuing care.

Niche projects account for a small percentage of the nation’s 50,000 or so senior communities and facilities. But they are “the segment to watch,” said Andrew Carle, an adjunct lecturer on aging and health issues at Georgetown University and a consultant to the field.

For example, there are five to six dozen university-based retirement communities (UBRCs) for retirees who want to return to the student and academic life.

There are some two dozen properties focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors.

There are retirement communities for retired postal workers, equestrians, environmentalists, RV enthusiasts and fans of singer Jimmy Buffett.

Even Disney is getting in on the action. It’s about to launch Storyliving, a planned community in California “for the next chapter of your life” that includes a 55+ neighborhood.

Boomers, who are hitting 65 at the rate of 10,000 people a day, are buying in. “A developer could open a Grateful Dead community and fill it quickly,” Carle said. “I can virtually guarantee it.”

‘Keep it interesting’

Sheer numbers dictate there simply could never be a one-size-fits-all answer to Boomers’ retirement years.

Boomers account for one-fifth of the country’s population. That’s 73 million people looking for places that reflect their personal preferences. For developers, that equals a lot of niches that are both sizable and scalable.

“The old model was very leisure-centered,” said Lindsey Beagley, director of Lifelong University Engagement at Arizona State University, which has a retirement complex on campus. But, she said, “People can’t golf for 30 years.”

Niche retirement communities, of course, are not for every Boomer or Gen Xer, and most people still prefer to age at home.

“The idea of living in a retirement city doesn’t appeal to me,” said Nancy Farkas, a 60-something derivatives lawyer in New York City who is weighing her retirement options. “I don’t want to be in a place that’s only old people.”

Instead, she’s choosing to live aboard the MV Narrative, a luxury residential yacht scheduled to launch this year, then sail from port to port on a year-round basis. “I just want to mix things up and keep it interesting,” Farkas said.

Classes to stay sharp

When Arnold Victor, a retired pediatrician, began looking into continuing care in 2021, he saw The Mirabella at ASU, a 20-story luxury apartment complex and UBRC on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe.

Instantly Victor knew he’d found his new home. “It was, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the place,’” he remembers thinking.

In the two years since moving in, Victor has taken classes in film, art and philosophy. He participates in a mentoring program for pre-med students, attends concerts, lectures and movie nights.

One favorite part of his day is dinner time, when instead of discussing “the way things used to be, medications and aches and pains,” as he did in Sun City, “we’re talking about what we’re doing next — what concert we’re going to, what lecture, and what classes we’re going to take.”

In contrast, California retiree Mary Van Dyke wanted a community of like-minded spiritual souls, though she wasn’t exactly sure what that looked like.

A friend mentioned Enso Village, a Zen-focused continuing-care facility being developed in Sonoma County. The community was to include a meditation hall; there would be 20 retired monks in residence to teach and lead workshops.

There would also be two miles of hiking paths, acupuncture services, yoga classes and a contemplative care curriculum to help train residents in helping each other age.

Van Dyke was one of almost 1,200 people who put down $1,000 to reserve a spot, and when the units became available, she secured a two-bedroom flat.

Jimmy Buffett Town

In November 2017, when Jimmy Buffett announced his first Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach, Florida — an active-living property for people “55 and better” — more than 150 fans and other lovers of the flip-flop life camped out overnight at the sales-office for first dibs on 300 properties.

Today, Latitude Daytona Beach is a planned community of 7,000 people, and there is a waiting list for homes under construction. There is another Latitude in the Florida panhandle, one in North Carolina, and two or three planned for Texas.

Beyond having heard “Margaritaville” on the radio, Pennsylvanian Terry Whitsel knew nothing of Jimmy Buffett or his real estate empire and was unenthusiastic about an age-restricted community. “I was not ready for 55-plus,” she said. “I’m thinking, wheelchairs and walkers.”

But when her husband dragged her to Florida to check out Buffett’s Latitude Daytona, they were so impressed with how friendly everyone was, they bought a cottage on the water.

Whitsel could not be happier with her new life. “You stand in the pool and congregate with the other residents with floaties,” she said. “It’s like kindergarten.”

Then she went all in, getting her real estate license, selling homes in the development, and in 2021 she moved with her husband to Buffett’s newer Florida property, Latitude Watersound, near Pensacola.

That community is in its early stages — it’s just sold its 1,000th home and is zoned for 150,000 — and Whitsel is at the ready. She now knows all of Buffett’s songs by heart, loves the nearby sandy beaches, and is excited to bring new members into the singer’s version of paradise. As she puts it, “I found my niche.”

How to select a community

Do a self-inventory. Start with understanding what you want and need in retirement. What medical support will you need? Are you outdoorsy or bookish? The answers to these questions will shape your search.

Consider prices. Niche communities are on the expensive side. Many go by the entry-fee model, where residents pay somewhere between $100,000 to $1 million or more up front, depending on the location and size of the home or apartment they choose.

Then there’s a monthly fee for maintenance, taxes, meals and other services, which in 2021 averaged $3,555, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.

By comparison, the national median monthly cost of an assisted living facility is $4,500 a month, while the median monthly cost for a private room in a nursing facility is $9,034, according to Genworth, a long-term care insurance company. (Local costs are often even higher.)

Create a budget. Do you want to rent or buy? What can you afford? Will the sale of your home cover the entrance fees required by some properties? Plan for monthly fees to cover medical care and other amenities.

Go on tours. When you visit a property, don’t just go once. Visit multiple times, at different times of the day and different days of the week.

Talk to the staff and the administrators. Try the food, and not just the special of the day; everything. Attend a few meetings of groups that interest you. Are there three people at bridge, or 10?

How Is It managed? Make sure the property is economically viable. Ask what kind of financial reserves the community has.

Is there a board of directors? Who is responsible for the community’s finances? Is it a nonprofit? If not, who are the owners?

Note: This article first appeared in Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, a monthly periodical that covers key concerns of affluent older Americans who are retired or preparing for retirement.