Retirement community in Upland could be the start of a trend

As the Baby Boomer generation continues to age, more facilities like Oakmont of San Antonio Heights will be developed throughout the United States. For now, demand for such facilities is outpacing supply.

Development of senior-living facilities is expected to balloon during the next decade, as the Baby Boomer generation continues to age and the economic recovery makes financing for those projects more available.

There was a surplus of senior facilities during the housing boom of the mid-2000’s, but when the housing market collapsed, much of that surplus went away. New construction starts in senior housing have fallen 53 percent since the 2008 housing crash, according to the National Investment Center.

Sooner or later, those numbers will have to change.

Because 26 percent of the U.S. population are Baby Boomers – meaning people born between January 1946 and December 1964 – the country’s demographic is slowly but steadily getting older.

About 10,000 people in the United States every day turn 65 years old, a trend that started in January 2011, when the oldest of the Baby Boomers started to hit that age, according to the Pew Research Center.

By 2030, when the last of the Baby Boomers will have reached 65, 18 percent of the U.S. population will be at least that age. That’s approximately 70 million people, about 10 percent of which are expected to have Alzheimer’s disease, according to a New York Times report.

“The Baby Boomers are only going to keep getting older, and a lot of them are going to need a place to live,” said Erika Lemon, executive director of Oakmont of San Antonio Heights, a luxury retirement and assisted living facility that opened in Upland last week.

“They won’t be able to live alone, and they’re going to want to give up yard work and shopping for groceries and come live at a place like ours.”

Exactly where the much-needed senior living facilities will be built is difficult to predict, because demand varies based on population, said David Schless, president of the American Seniors Housing Association, a trade group in Washington, D.C.

“It all depends on where they’re needed,” Schless said. “It’s not even a state-by-state decision, it’s a market-by-market decision. But based on the demographics, you have to believe there’s going to be a huge demand.”

The real demand is likely to kick in 2020 to 2025, Schless said.

That’s when the oldest of the Baby Boomers – the same folks who started to hit 65 four years ago – start to reach their mid-70s, about the age when most people start to get serious about moving into a retirement home.

“It’s not like people turn 65 and immediately sell the house and move into a retirement facility,” Schless said. “That’s usually something that happens maybe 10 years later, between 75 and 80 years old. At 65 they aren’t quite ready for that yet.”

Oakmont of San Antonio Heights, which held an open house/VIP reception July 24 and opened officially four days later, is licensed to accept 59-year-old residents, but most of its residents are older than that, Lemon said.

The 79-unit complex sits on 3.2 acres at the top of Euclid Avenue. Monthly rent starts at $3,500 and goes to $9,000, and amenities include a sit-down restaurant, movie theater, fitness center, a full-time concierge and chauffeur service.

When it opened, Oakmont of San Antonio Heights was 80 percent full. Within a week it added several more residents and it’s likely to fill up within the next several months, Lemon said.

“We’re a high-end facility, so 80 percent at opening is a pretty awesome number,” Lemon said. “There’s a niche in the market that needs to be filled, and we’re filling it.”

Not many retirement communities in the Inland Empire match up with Oakmont of San Antonio Heights, said Jane Hammond who sold her home in Claremont so she could become one of the Upland facility’s inaugural residents.

“They told me it was like a luxury ocean liner, and I think that’s a good description of it,” said Hammond, who leased a one-bedroom apartment with a living room and kitchenette. “It feels like a five-star hotel, which is what I’m used to when I travel. Whatever you need, they have it.”

“The Fact that the facility was 80 percent occupied when it opened its doors says much about the demand for such an operation in the Inland Empire,” said Dr. Michael Chai, an Upland physician.

“I think 80 percent is a revealing number, especially when you consider what it costs to live there,” said Chai, who will be on call for visits to Oakmont of San Antonio. “That shows a high level of demand.”