DEVELOPING ATTAINABLE SENIORS HOUSING NECESSITATES CREATIVE, EFFICIENT DESIGN By Pante’a Khoshnevis lthough COVID-19 has been a central focus of our reality for over a year now, our response to the pandemic should not displace the housing attainability discussion. In fact, creative, efficient design solu -tions can shift resources toward strat-egies for infection control to protect against the threat of pandemics. Each location type — urban or suburban — has its own pros and cons that influ -ence the cost to develop and, ultimate-ly, the cost to residents. Urban sites are smaller with higher land costs, but often offer proximity to public transit, community services, retail, and recre-ation and entertainment. Guided by the site and its context, design solu -tions that reduce development costs contribute to more attainable price-points to residents. Common elements that contribute to quality housing at attainable price points include: • High building efficiency. This is defined as the ratio of rentable square footage to gross square footage. Build-ing layouts must be as efficient as possible, with efficiency ratios of 65 percent and higher for independent living and 55 percent and higher for assisted-living and memory care se-nior communities. • Optimal unit sizes. Related to high building efficiency, optimizing unit square footage based on the market is essential for lower turnover rates, thanks to units that are small enough to remain affordable, yet feel large enough to call home. Achieving a high level of livability for residents in an op-timized unit necessitates a high focus on design for living efficiency as a key to success. While slightly larger units By maximizing your creativity, you can take your design dollars even further when it comes to seniors housing. A for seniors housing when the facility is in proximity to a bus stop and high-fre-quency transit areas. • Modest ameni-ties. Urban models can eliminate the need to provide Khoshnevis onsite amenities by leveraging the availability of shared amenities due to proximity to services, retail and mass transportation. Alternatively, mixing uses onsite that also provide supporting services to the larger com-munity, in addition to the residents — such as daycare centers, wellness centers, adult daycares or medical clinics — can also defray costs. For onsite amenities, design with flexibil -ity in mind to allow designated spaces to be adaptable for multiple uses and change as the needs change. This can be achieved through a modular ap-proach. To address health and safety considerations, identifying decentral-ized pockets of amenity spaces keeps social engagements small, thereby limiting exposure. • Central laundry. Central laundry facilities, rather than in-unit laundry, is becoming an increasing trend in some middle-market independent liv-ing communities. Sanitization stations can mitigate safety concerns with this approach. • Basic finishes. Using basic finishes, such as carpet and builder-grade fix -tures, keeps overall costs down. En-suring these finishes are also easy to clean or anti-microbial supports resi-dent health. Strategic design decisions can sup -port a community’s viability for devel-opers, operators and residents when bringing middle-income housing models to the market. There may also be significant opportunities for mergers and acquisitions due to COVID. The pandemic will provide an exit strategy for those already struggling, while players with capital may view these assets as good oppor-tunities for middle-income communi-ties. Pante’a Khoshnevis, senior project manager, Dahlin Group Architecture Planning in Pleasanton, Calif. Image credit: DAHLIN Deer Creek Senior Apartment in San Ramon, Calif., is a great example of a suburban middle-market senior apartment. It sits adjacent to a library, community center and a community college. These amenities — as well as parking spaces — are shared by the residents and community members. averaging 1,000 square feet are afford -able in many regions, the California and Northwest regions must come in lower. For example, sizes between 700 and 850 square feet for a one bedroom are typical for an independent living unit, and between 900 and 1100 square feet for a two-bedroom unit. • Simple and flat. Avoid complex building footprints. Instead, propose simple and efficient massing solu -tions. Construction costs are kept in check by abstaining from topography and hilly sites in favor of flat lots. Eco -nomic impacts resulting from COVID may also provide an opportunity to select developed sites with assets that are ripe for re-positioning and could be converted to senior living in a cost-effective manner. Such assets include hotels, business offices, parking ga -rages, and a variety retail and shop-ping malls. Alternatively, you can consider smaller house environments rather than 120-plus independent liv-ing units. For example, we have cli -ents who own eight, 12 or 24 units in one building, which serves as its own small house, independent living building. This can be a very attractive middle-income product. • Wood construction. Designing low-rise wood construction up to three stories for assisted-living and memo-ry care communities is allowed in Cal-ifornia, per the code. This provides a lower cost of construction — although it does demand a larger site, which makes it more common in suburban markets. • Parking. Avoiding underground parking is another opportunity to control construction costs and hit the middle-income price point, but it may not be entirely feasible on an urban site. However, creativity can go a long way in minimizing parking. For exam -ple, parking for nearby or, in the case of mixed-use developments, onsite commercial uses, can be shared with residents. Using new technologies to address parking demands, such as car stackers and lifts, can also be a solu-tion. When possible, select an urban site in a jurisdiction with reduced parking requirements. For instance, Seattle has no parking requirements Image credit: DAHLIN Monte Verde Senior is situated in downtown Orinda, Calif., close to public transit, public library, retail and parks. 18 • March 2021 • Western Real Estate Business www.REBusinessOnline.com
Western Real Estate Business March 2021: Page 18
