But Dickhut wanted to know more than just demographics and opportunities. He wanted to know as much about what to expect as he could learn. So he joined the NAHB Seniors Housing Council in 2002 and quickly signed up for that year’s seniors housing symposium in Orlando. A year later, he went to Indian Wells, CA, for his second symposium.
“Attending the seniors housing symposiums was one of the smartest moves I’ve made,” Dickhut said. “The education sessions were first-rate. In addition to hearing the latest research and trends, I received practical information from industry experts about how to design and develop an active adult community and how to market and sell to seniors.”
Not only was the information useful, Dickhut was impressed by the speakers. “They didn’t just tell me what I wanted to hear,” Dickhut said. “They were honest and precise about their experiences. As a newcomer to the active adult market, I wanted to hear about all the potential obstacles as well as their secrets to success.” Which is exactly what they talked about.
Dickhut also found the symposiums’ tours — each seniors symposium includes a tour of nearby active adult communities — just as valuable as the speakers’ experiences. Past tours have included stops at award-winning communities from respected builder/developers such as Avatar Communities, Lennar Family of Builders, LINC Housing Corp., Pulte Homes/Del Webb and Shea Homes for Active Adults. And Dickhut got to examine the communities close-up and from a builder’s perspective.
“It’s interesting to see what other builders around the country are doing,” Dickhut said. “I picked up some good ideas that I plan to incorporate into my community.”
With all that information and insight under his belt, Dickhut and American Midwest, a real estate firm specializing in multifamily residential investments, decided to take the plunge. “When we started thinking about an active adult community, our objective was to develop senior rental apartments,” Dickhut said.
They had a parcel of land in the Kansas City area, but apartments didn’t really work on the property, Dickhut explained. So the company changed direction. It recently submitted plans to the area planning and zoning boards and is currently awaiting approval to build an active adult community in the Kansas City area featuring nearly 200 for-sale “cottages” ranging from 1,100 to 1,300 square feet.
Dickhut credits the NAHB Seniors Housing Council and national seniors housing conferences with helping his company make the right decisions when entering the boomer market. “Since we’re doing this for the first time, we needed as much information as possible,” Dickhut said. “The seniors housing symposium was, and continues to be, a tremendous resource for our company ”
2004 Seniors Housing Symposium
To learn more about the seniors housing market, plan to attend the 2004 Seniors Housing Symposium, Building for Boomers & Beyond in Chicago from April 14-16. The symposium will focus on the lifestyle component of 50+ seniors housing.
Learn More About Seniors Housing Through the Seniors Housing Council
To learn more about seniors housing, join the NAHB Seniors Housing Council. The council provides information, education, networking and recognition opportunities for its members and represents NAHB on seniors housing issues. For more details, e-mail Jeff Jenkins or call him at 800-368-5242 x8292.
BuilderBooks.com Has Publications About Seniors Housing
BuilderBooks.com offers a variety of publications about the seniors housing market. To view or purchase these publications, click here and type “seniors” in the search engine.
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