Related Betting $3B On The Continued Wave Of Seniors Who Need Housing

Related Cos. is planning to spend $3B over the next five years building luxury apartments aimed at the country’s aging population.

“This is a natural extension and evolution of servicing our core customer,” Related Executive Vice President Bryan Cho told Bloomberg. “The average customer in our luxury residential portfolio is entering that phase of life where they’re increasingly looking for a solution for their parents.”

The developer of the Hudson Yards megaproject has joined with management company Atria Senior Living to see the investment through, Bloomberg reports. The joint venture’s first two projects will be in Manhattan and San Francisco, where construction will start in 2019. It plans to build around two new developments every year.

They will be in cities like Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington. The buildings will feature between 150 and 250 units, and will have space set aside for people with illnesses like Alzheimer’s. The buildings will also be decked out with amenities like spas and restaurants.

Average rents have not yet been made public. Related has made its name building high-end buildings in New York City. At 15 Hudson Yards, which the firm is developing with Oxford Properties, a penthouse is on the market for $32M. But it won’t be the first firm to move in luxury housing for the older generation.

Maplewood Senior Living and Omega Healthcare Investors are developing an apartment building on 93rd Street and Second Avenue. Welltower and Hines are building a senior housing building at 139 East 56th St.

Atria Senior Living CEO John Moore said there is a coming wave of baby boomers needing appropriate housing, and that means the buildings will be perfectly placed to capitalize on demand. 

“If you take 1946 and add 75, you get 2021,” he said, adding the buildings will be delivering in the early 2020s. “There continues to be a severe shortage of high-quality urban senior-housing options throughout the country.”