Dianne Buckner – CBC News
Canadian developers are building a retirement resort community for active baby boomers, betting that they’ll want a vacation-style approach to the golden years.
Tony DiFruscio is a confessed Disney-holic.
“I’m a huge Disney fan,” says the president of Zest Communities, a Hamilton property developer. “We go there every year with the family, my oldest son went there for his honeymoon. We’re Disney fanatics.”
That’s one reason DiFruscio turned to a theme park designer to help create a Hamilton retirement village, The Village at St. Elizabeth Mills.
“Rather than going and finding a traditional planner, I said we have to find someone who’s done resorts,” he explains.
Since when did a residence for retirees become a resort? The answer: when the baby boomers started leaving the workforce. They’re more active and affluent than previous generations, says DiFruscio, and they will expect a lot more than a daily card game or television show to keep them happy.
Golf, yoga, and pickleball will be among the activities at the village, along with wining, dining, shopping and socializing, in a themed environment with a historic mill at the centre. A poster for the retirement community pictures a silver-haired woman on a motorcycle with the slogan, “Once you’re over the hill, you start to pick up speed.”
Tony DiFruscio believes the baby boomer generation has the money and the ambition to live a resort lifestyle. His company, Zest Communities, has turned to a theme park designer to help create its retirement village. (CBC)
Zest Communities isn’t building its village from scratch, though. It bought an existing retirement community of 900 residents, St. Elizabeth Village, three years ago. Renovation of existing bungalows is underway, and additional residences, including an apartment building, will be constructed. Eventually 3,000 units are planned.
Can’t wait to visit Grandma
Johnston says many of the new developments are so creative, they’ll attract more than just residents.
“In the old days you’d ask, ‘Do you want to go visit Grandma in the old folks’ home?’ and it might not generate much enthusiasm. Now what we’re talking about is, ‘Do you want to see Grandma today?’ and the reaction is, ‘Oh, I can’t wait, because there’s so much to do there and it’s so much fun.’ That is a shift.”