As senior living operators prepare for solo-agers, they also are adapting to the rise of multiple generations of older adults living in the same community.
Columbus, Ohio-based Treplus Communities already has a 96-year-old resident living in the same community as her 63-year-old daughter, a story recently highlighted in the Wall Street Journal. The story’s author detailed how and why Joanne Kepes’ daughter, Nora, came to live at the community in Dublin, Ohio. In a nutshell, daughter was spending so much time at the community helping her mom that it made more financial sense for her to live there.
Treplus CEO Jane Arthur Roslovic believes more older adults and their children will live together in the future, either separately or in the same units, even if it’s only just beginning to happen and is different compared to the mentality other countries have about families living together.
“People haven’t thought about it. That’s not our culture,” Roslovic told Senior Housing News.
The oldest baby boomer is 80 in 2026 and the oldest Gen X-er is 61. The realities of aging and budgeting will push more family members, mostly mothers and daughters, to consider living together, and that trend could accelerate after 2030, according to Caroline Clapp, senior principal at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
The number of women age 85 and older is projected to rise more than 50% between 2026 and 2035, while the number of women age 55 to 79 will remain flat, according to NIC analysis of U.S. Census Bureau projections, Clapp said.
Two generations in one community an ‘added benefit’
Park Pointe Village, an Acts Retirement Life Communities continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has a mother and daughter residing within the community, each with their own residence.
Having a mother and daughter on campus adds an extra layer of support for both residents. The company handles all the day-to-day care, lawn maintenance and coordinating trips while giving them more time to bond as a family.
“It creates more time for them to do more mother-daughter bonding and engagement with the community,” Grayson Wooten, executive director of Park Pointe Village, said. “We think it’s a great added benefit that they’re here together.”
The Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based operator doesn’t market specifically to multiple generations of the same family, but the organization’s leaders are preparing to accommodate multiple members of the same family, including siblings, by expanding the organization’s Park Pointe community to add more units.
When a mother and daughter live in two different places, it contributes to paying for transportation and paying multiple rents or mortgages. In one Viva Bene community, a mother and daughter living together in one apartment and both contribute to the $2,300 per month rent.
Viva Bene’s model layers preventative healthcare with active adult and residents living in the community can take advantage of a number of healthcare services, including help with scheduling with specialists, concierge services, virtual and onsite wellness consultation and a number of health and wellness seminars.
“The prospect of managing two homes, such as helping their parent who is solo aging and themselves, is daunting,” Schultz said.
Pricing, marketing evolving for accommodate multiple generations
While senior living residents do accommodate married couples living in the same unit or community, it’s not as common to extend that flexibility in rates to siblings or parents and children. But that may change as financial and demographic trends converge.
Senior living operators, especially those with different unit types in the same community, could expand pricing and programming to better cater to people of multiple generations living together. Just as married couples assist each other on an unpaid basis in a way that benefits operators, so too could mothers and daughters or sisters.
“Operators need to meet both sets of expectations, while recognizing that the family may share care decisions and costs,” Clapp said.
Acts offers a $1,500 entrance fee legacy discount for children of current residents. The benefit applies even if someone is moving in alongside their parent. Already the organization’s leaders have promoted multi-generation residents’ stories in marketing.
“As more and more people are moving in multi-generationally, I can see those stories populating more into the marketing,” Kim Burke, Acts corporate director of sales, said.
Leaders at Viva Bene’s St. Peters community near St. Louis marketed the benefits and peace of mind of multiple generations living together, a strategy they have wielded to push occupancy up to 96%. Schultz believes that other operators in walkable and mixed-use areas stand to benefit from the strategy.
As Roslovic noted earlier this year, she believes that active adult offers a value proposition that appeals to boomers and Gen X-ers alike, and the company is emphasizing authenticity through direct resident testimonials, which go across varying platforms in varying formats.
“I think we’re at the very beginning,” Roslovic said.
Companies featured in this article:
Acts Life-Retirement Communities, National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, Treplus Communities, Viva Bene
