Active-adult living booming in region
But the couple, who have lived in Spotsylvania’s Virginia Heritage community ever since, were impressed with the amenities and the clubhouse.
She said there are always activities, such as her Thursday dominoes-and-lunch group.
“I’m never bored,” she said.
The Clemonses are both retired from the federal government and moved here from Maryland. She is from Orange County, but wanted to be in a more populated part of the Fredericksburg region.
They sold their first home in Virginia Heritage a few years ago and purchased a house with a smaller footprint in the same development.
“It became too much and they were building smaller in a new section,” Pat Clemons said.
They aren’t the only ones in the region looking for a more manageable way of life.
The Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, the country’s 65-and-older population will double. As baby boomers age, that group will number 83.7 million.
According to one local developer, those baby boomers are looking to downsize.
The demand for communities catering to the 55-and-older demographic exploded in the region about a decade ago, spawning places such as Legacy Woods and Virginia Heritage at Lee’s Parke in Spotsylvania, The Evergreens at Smith Run in Fredericksburg, and Falls Run in Stafford County.
Demand for those types of homes dropped along with the rest of the housing market after the Great Recession, but is now showing signs of revival.
Cornerstone Homes, the developer of Regency Park Villas in Spotsylvania, started building in the Fredericksburg area again as demand for its core business—active-adult communities—picked up.
The company sat on 32 acres near the intersection of State Route 3 and Gordon Road for eight years, waiting for the market to improve. Cornerstone recently started work on The Villas at Barley Woods. The first homes are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Cornerstone owner Roger Glover said demand never died off for senior-living communities, but a poor real estate market kept people from selling their homes.
“Now those homes are selling and they need somewhere to move,” he said. “We’re seeing pent-up demand that has surged in the last couple of years.”
Cornerstone already rezoned the property when the recession hit. Glover said the recession changed his approach to building, and he chose to focus solely on active-adult communities ever since.
Cornerstone is in the final stages of floor plan designs for the communities and will start constituting the model homes and clubhouse this June.
The Villas at Barley Woods will be a small, 55-plus community of about 120 homes.
It will also have features that Glover said seniors are increasingly seeking: walking trails, an executive suite for the semi-retired, a pool, a grandchild play area and a dog run.
It’s not the only outdoor-friendly community Cornerstone is working on.
Hanover County recently approved Cornerstone Homes’ proposal for Chickahominy Falls, a 400-home development anchored by a community farm.
Glover said Fredericksburg ticks all the boxes for a successful senior-focused development. It is on the East Coast, near cities like Richmond and Washington D.C., but far enough removed to offer a slower pace of life. With the region’s growing population, he said many older people are moving here to be close to children who live in the area.
Cathie and David Taylor moved into another Cornerstone development, the Villas at Magnolia Lakes in Richmond, last June.
“From a real estate perspective, I decided to focus when I saw the trend coming,” said Dort, who fits the demographic. “I’m one of them.”
At age 57, he said he’s among the younger residents of the development but needed to downsize from their longtime three-story home on more than an acre.David Taylor is the co-owner of Libbie Market, a full-service grocery story in the Westhampton area of Richmond, and due to the demands of his job needed less home maintenance.
He said with his own health concerns, aged parents and work, it made sense to downsize.
Taylor recommended other people making a similar move take their time and make sure the lifestyle fits their expectations.
Linda Dort, a senior real estate specialist with Century 21 New Millennium, works exclusively with homes in senior communities and communities that are appealing to retired people.
She releases an annual “Guide to Main Level Living” that lists 23 local communities that offer maintenance-free communities with social opportunities. Some of these communities are partially age restricted, and some now allow younger buyers.
Dort also lives in Virginia Heritage. She moved there in 2007.
Active-adult communities are creating new opportunities for local business people.
Thomas Pentland, owner of personal driving service At Your Service, said the aging population created a need for his business.
He focuses on elderly clients who don’t drive, but need to run errands. He moved here from Maine to be closer to family and was struck by the number of senior living developments.
“I went to a lot of those communities and talked about their residents’ transportation needs,” he said. “It’s just because of age. Baby boomers like me are the larger portion of the population, and they are going into retirement.”
Lindley Estes: 540.735-1976
lestes@freelancestar.com
