Day 2: Bisnow Senior Living & Assisted Living Summit
Seniors housing will be entirely different in 10 years, as seniors transition from the war generation to the boomer generation. Silverado Senior Living’s Paul Mullin, speaking at the fourth annual Bisnow DFW Senior Housing & Assisted Living Summit last Wednesday at the Westin Galleria Dallas, also cautions that Boomers want to be more active and have more amenities than the more pragmatic generation before them.
Capitol Seniors Housing’s Scott Stewart believes smaller regional operators are the best choice for the firm’s 20 communities. Using eight different operators, he says they know their employees and know their competitors, and have their ear closer to the ground. You can have the best property at Main and Main, but if you have a subpar operator, it won’t do well. (But you'd probably be the only person in town getting your mail, since everyone else would have it go to the wrong Main.)
Prevarian Seniors Housing’s Allan Brown says about 79% of assisted living communities were built in 2000 or before. He’s trying to beat them on amenities and quality with a target audience of a senior’s oldest daughter or daughter-in-law, because they’re the ones typically making the choices. His development cycle is beyond the next 12 months; he looks more to what’s happening in the next three years.
Senior living is not really a real estate business, says Senior Quality Lifestyles Corp’s Charlie Brewer, it’s only a small part of it. As a life care community, the idea is once someone moves in, they’re going to stay there for the remainder of their lives, he says. People are living much longer and more prosperous lives. To paraphrase another in the industry, he says, people are living longer and dying shorter. (Who knew Yogi Berra was in real estate?)
Panel moderator Callaway Architecture’s Tony Callaway (second from left) says it’s important to know the state life safety codes and have a relationship with the folks in the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. An interesting fact about Tony: he was a demolition specialist in the combat engineers in Vietnam. One Independence Day, he used 350 pounds of explosives on the side of a mountain to make the world’s biggest firecracker.
Event sponsor Bury’s Jay Marsh shows off his hardhat with Altus Group’s Arnold Adams and Bury’s Elisa Fox. Bury has grown to become a full-service consulting firm offering its clients a full suite of services including engineering, landscape architecture, planning, construction administration, surveying and sustainable solutions. Jay says the services touch a broad range of market sectors and boast a unique project portfolio.
Here’s DB Capital’s Monty Busch with event sponsor Cadence McShane Construction’s Colby Rose and David Tague. David tells us Cadence McShane’s latest senior living projects include the recently completed Legacy at Bear Creek (78 units) in Keller, Legacy at Crystal Fallas (140 units) in Leander, and Legacy at Falcon Point (82 units) in Katy. Those last two projects are under construction now, he says.
Refuse Specialists’ Ray Bell, Prototype IT’s Dianna Biscan, with event sponsor CFA Alliance Group’s Bobby Durham. Bobby tells us CFA stands for construction, finance, and architectural services. CFA Alliance Group helps connect people and match projects and developers with the best firms for their projects.
