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www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 30, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 9 CT's aging population creates higher demand for assisted-living facilities Building for 'Boomers' A wave of independent, assisted- living, and memory-care facili- ties development and expan- sion is sweeping Connecticut just as the oldest of this state's Baby Boomers near the age where helping hands are a lifestyle necessity. In Greater Hartford alone, operators of a half dozen such facilities are building, or have completed in recent years, more than $120 million in ground-up construction and expansions of individual living units, com- mon areas and amenities to cater to adults in their golden years. Among them are Bloomfield's Seabury Home, which is into the latest phase of its approximately $100 million expansion for the 25-year-old community at 200 Seabury Drive that has a resident waiting list. Seabury officials say they are responding to its consultants' projections that the need for more assisted-living space is becoming acute as the U.S. population age 65 and older -- its target market -- is estimated to climb 70 percent by 2030, and by 94 percent by 2050. There are approximately 7,000 assisted- living/memory care apartments statewide, with another 700 units -- including Seabury's -- in development, according to the Con- necticut Assisted Living Association. In West Hartford, Brookdale Chatfield last year completed its more than $20 million, 75,000-square-foot expansion that added 84 more assisted-living units, and their subset, memory-care rooms for residents with Al- zheimer's or dementia. Chatfield also added 40 permanent jobs. In 2014, two Avon and South Windsor apartment complexes added 154 more units of independent, assisted-living and memory- care spaces and specialized services for aging Connecticut residents. One was the 80-unit The Residence at South Windsor Farms, 200 Deming St., whose occupancy stands at 98 percent; the other the 74-unit The Residence at Brookside, 117 Simsbury Road, in Avon is 75 percent full. Each cost about $13 million to develop, according to Massachusetts operator LCB Senior Living. But all those may be just the tip of the development trend for assisted-living/mem- ory-care facilities here and across the nation, experts say. The reason is simple: The graying of America continues to accelerate. The U.S. el- derly population continues to swell, with the oldest of the Baby Boomers – citizens born from 1946 to 1964 – now entering the early By Greg Seay gseay@hartfordbusiness.com 70s – the typical age for most independent/ assisted-living residents. According to CNN, the latest Alzheimer's Association annual report estimates that every 66 seconds this year, an American will develop Alzheimer's disease. By the year 2050, that number is expected to double to one every 33 seconds. Assisted-living residents distinguish themselves in key ways from occupants of skilled-nursing facilities, or nursing homes, according to Ann Melite, a Canton geron- tologist and design consultant to assisted- living/memory care developers-operators. "Assisted Living residents can be relatively independent, but may have one or two 'activi- ties of daily living' they need assistance with," Melite said. "This includes things we normally do in daily living for self-care such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming, work, homemaking, and leisure." Nursing home residents, on the other hand, require more full-time monitoring and medical care. However, with the average age of nursing- home residents who require hands-on, round-the-clock care at 87, there will be a growing demand, experts say, for assisted- living housing to fill that gap between fully independent living and some degree of resident care. Investors, too, have whet appetites for senior housing. In 2016, for example, the acquisition price per assisted-living bed hit a record $193,650 in 2016, 2 percent higher than the previous record set in 2015, accord- ing to data from Norwalk-based Irving Levin Associates. "The surge has not yet hit,'' Melite said. "We've got another 15 to 16 years." Growth impediments The good news about the wave of assisted- living facilities' development comes against some sobering realities, says Ben Swett, associate editor of The SeniorCare Investor, which tracks the assisted-living/skilled- nursing care sector. Connecticut's stiffer land-use rules and healthcare regulations compared to other states, not to mention the higher cost of land and labor, act as a brake on development of independent/assisted-living and memory- care facilities, Swett said. The counter to that, Swett said, is Con- necticut's rank as one of the nation's wealthi- est per capita, meaning more residents can afford those levels of care. Meantime, a shortage of healthcare work- ers is making it harder for operators to hire and retain talent. Also, some communities are reluctant to host assisted-living facilities, citing their oversized footprints and design styles some neighbors complain are out of character for a residential neighborhood. Hartford lawyer Timothy S. Hollister has encountered both open arms and resistance working with numerous assisted-living de- velopers who have petitioned New England communities for authorization to open a facility. "This is a developing market,'' Hollister told a recent CREW CT/The Real Estate Exchange forum, where Melite, too, was a panelist, on the outlook for assisted-living/ memory care facilities' development. "As- sisted living, as we know it today, didn't exist 30 years ago." In Wilton, a former lumberyard site amid single-family homes in an industrial zone was approved for a 93-unit assisted-living facility after neighbors embraced it as "more desirable than other development options,'' Hollister said. However, in Massachusetts, a proposal for a 64-unit memory-care facility in a com- mercial zone drew massive neighborhood opposition, he said. "There's opposition,'' the Shipman & Good- win LLP attorney said, "to the idea of tearing It et optatur empedici assusti onsequodita sitis quuntumquod eatissi dias volenitae sitia voles est ut plignient, sus, eum reperfera iduntem esequis dem si tesciur aut occae. Anisimi llatio dolor sum estorrum explis alibus dem a aute expliquate debit vid qui Senior care M&A activity In 2016, there were 337 publicly announced acquisitions totaling $14.4 billion in the seniors hous- ing and care acquisition market. Below is a breakdown of the average price investors paid per unit or bed. 2016 sales price Year-over-year per unit or bed % change Skilled-nursing homes $99,200 15% Assited-living facilities $193,650 2% Independent-living community $228,150 18% Source: Irving Levin Associates, The Senior Care Acquisition Report It et optatur empedici assusti onsequodita sitis quuntumquod eatissi dias volenitae sitia voles est ut plignient, sus, eum reperferaquir aut occae.