Baby
Boomers Retire In Style
Author: By Alana Rosenbaum
Date: August 2, 2005
The
days of hostel living are numbered as seniors from a new generation
demand luxury in their twilight years. Alana Rosenbaum reports.
Suburban
apartment blocks are replacing broadacre retirement villages and are
being pitched at those trading in the family home for high-rise luxury.
The
days of hostel living are numbered. The new face of aged housing is
chrome and glass with panoramic views.
Developers
have long sought to cash in on the state's ageing population. But
for many, the focus is shifting from the outer to the inner suburbs
to lure well-heeled people who are determined to stay independent
for as long as possible and remain in familiar surroundings.
In
1998, high-rise residential giant Becton decided to focus on the building
and management of retirement housing. The aged sector is now forecast
to account for 13 per cent of Becton's profits.
"We
hope over the next 10 years to have another 1500 residents in various
facilities throughout the suburbs of Melbourne and right up the eastern
seaboard," Becton executive director Barry Shepherd says.
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Becton's
prototype is the Menzies Malvern, a six-storey block modelled on a
luxury hotel. A plush entrance foyer has a bar and a restaurant. The
ground floor also has a hairdressing salon, library, business centre,
medical suite, swimming pool and gymnasium.
But
the main drawcard remains hidden: there is a panic button in every
apartment that gives access to 24-hour medical help.
The
units, from $420,000 to $1 million, are open-plan and light-filled,
with all the mod cons of a swanky new Becton apartment. But minor
design changes have been made. The apartments have been built for
a generation unaccustomed to cramped unit living. Each has an entrance
foyer, separate laundry and small storage room.
Becton
bought Menzies when it was several years old, but it is building its
second retirement "resort", Classic Residence, in Brighton
East, from scratch. The development will be four times the size of
the Menzies and slightly less pricey, with apartments ranging from
$350,000 to $800,000.
Classic
Residence will also have "serviced apartments" for residents
who need round-the-clock nursing.
Demographic
changes are underpinning the heightened demand for aged housing. The
number of Australians 70 and over is expected to grow from 1.8 million
to 3.1 million by 2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The
challenge will be to provide housing for seniors bent on remaining
independent for as long as possible.
And
as the tendency to delay marriage and children has prompted observers
to declare 40 the new 30, a similar view is spreading to other age
groups.
"An
80-year-old person will see themselves as 70 and a 70-year-old person
will see themselves as 60. It's a great thing," Peter Counihan,
chief operating officer of Retirement Services Australia, says.
More
heartening news for the housing sector is that baby boomers are richer
than their predecessors and appear less frugal.
KPMG
demographer Bernard Salt says people aged 45 to 59 account for 22
per cent of Australia's population but control an estimated 44 per
cent of the nation's wealth.
"Baby
boomers are straddling the peak income time in their lives. They're
a wealthy generation and have accumulated wealth principally via their
properties," Mr Salt says. "The current lot of retirees
are easily contented people; they don't expect a lot in material terms
and they believe in old Australian values of building up assets and
passing them on to children.
"Anyone
who experienced the Depression or rationing associated with the war
came out the other side as very frugal people. The baby boomers are
a different life form. They are less frugal and more inclined to spend
all their money on themselves." It's early days yet, but a growing
number of developers are investing in high-rise retirement.
The
Gandel Group is completing Applewood, a sprawling retirement "resort"
in Doncaster, built around a five-storey apartment block. Prices range
from $225,000 for a one-bedroom ground-floor unit to $535,000 for
a three-bedroom apartment with views of the estate.
National
retirement giant Primelife has also made inroads into the apartment
sector with the Brighton on Bay (apartments are $450,000 to $700,000).
Like
the two Becton properties, Applewood and the Brighton on Bay bill
themselves as "resorts". They have private restaurants,
bars, gymnasiums and indoor heated pools.
But
Toorak Place, a joint Smorgon and Liberman development, deviates from
the formula. The development has more in common with a luxury city
building than a hotel. Prices range from $458,000 to $1.75 million.
The floor-to-ceiling windows offer panoramic city views, but there
is no private gymnasium, pool or salon. All amenities are in the adjoining
Toorak Place arcade, which will be open to the public. Toorak Place
also offers 24-hour medical assistance, and a manager willing to co-ordinate
everything from medical visits and hairdressing appointments to dry-cleaning
and house cleaning.
While
most developments report strong sales, there are early indications
that high-rises may encounter resistance from a generation of retirees
unaccustomed to apartment living.
Don
Edgar, a former director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies,
canvassed the issue in a recent talk titled Where's the bloody shed?
Dr
Edgar argues that elderly men feel claustrophobic in apartments because
they lack space to pursue hobbies and interests. In a small two-bedroom
flat, where can a book collector store his books and where can an
amateur carpenter create a workspace, he asks.
And
for a generation raised on suburban prosperity, apartments recall
inner-city slums.
"In
Australia, we don't have the American tradition of skyscraper living.
To some people, high-rises are where you put poor people to keep them
out of the suburbs. This image will take a long time to disappear."
Primelife
general manager of operations Jennifer Clancy agrees that apartment
living can be off-putting to people in their 70s and 80s. She says
that while the Brighton on Bay sold well, Primelife has no plans to
build more flats.
"Our
commitment at the moment is to broadacre developments with independent
villas," she says.
"High-rises
are a difficult concept to sell to people who are used to having a
Hills hoist in the backyard. Our average age of entry is 72 years
old and we find that people prefer to be in a broadacre development."
But
Primelife expects to shift its focus in about a decade.
"Once
you get to the baby boomers, there won't be a problem," Ms Clancy
says.
"They
have experienced a more cosmopolitan lifestyle compared to the veterans
we see coming into our retirement villages now." Another obstacle
is the mode of sale. Both Primelife and Retirement Services Australia
report poor off-the-plan sales.
"People
want a tactile experience," Peter Counihan, of Retirement Services
Australia, the company managing Toorak Place, says. "We opened
up a display unit then closed the thing down. It was just too hard
to get people on site."
Mr
Counihan says Retirement Services Australia research shows that retirees
prefer to remain in their old stomping ground. "People are usually
looking for an accommodation type no more than two to three kilometres
away," he says.
"What
people want is to be close to family and friends and familiar shopping
centres. They want to do what they have always done on a daily basis."
Melbourne's
high-rise retirement villages say most residents hail from a 10-kilometre
radius. Typically, newcomers are either empty-nesters, or newly widowed.
Striking
a balance between communal living and independence, retirement villages
have long been popular.
But
with a dearth of inner-suburban land, arranging them vertically may
be the best compromise. Ultimately, it's up to the market to decide.
For more information, search our comprehensive range of
retirement homes now available Australia-wide.
