How Mather, Rose Villa Are Bringing Ccrc Marketing Into The Future

Operators of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) are pushing the boundaries of what the model can offer and it can appeal to a younger generation of seniors.

Two that are focused on this approach are Rose Villa and Mather Senior Living, both of which are highlighting sustainability practices and redefining the living experience for baby boomers and even a few members of Gen X.

Gale Morgan, senior vice president of sales for Evanston, Illinois-based Mather, said these new generations of seniors are redefining the expectations of a life plan community, particularly surrounding wellness and longevity.

“They are the force spending the money on it. They’re the force researching it,” Morgan said at the recent Senior Housing News Sales and Marketing Conference. “I think if you incorporate those wellness features and flexibility in spaces and programs, that’s a great start for the future communities.”

Molly Watts, marketing and communications manager for Portland, Oregon-based Rose Villa, said the CCRC is finding ways to promote autonomy as well by providing flexibility in home styles and offerings in and around the community.

Alongside these methods include promoting sustainability practices, which act as selling points for the CCRCs. For Rose Villa, one example is its zero energy neighborhoods, which currently have a waitlist several years long. Highlighting those kinds of efforts can fit into residents’ desires for social activism or environmental sustainability, Watts said.

“It’s not even really selling that to people. It’s attracting people who are interested in and who highly value sustainability,” Watts said. “They told us, in fact, when we completed our first phase of redevelopment with that neighborhood, that they might not be able to afford a whole home built sustainably, but being able to incorporate that and move into a community like ours, they could do it finally.”

What Mather has found, according to Morgan, is both the boomer and Gen X are willing to pay for sustainability and will seek out communities that do so. As such, Mather’s latest community was built with “sustainability as the foundation” and includes biophilic designs with plenty of outdoor space that is walkable, alongside being paperless and focuses on reducing its carbon footprint.

While plenty of prospects ask, Morgan said Mather has to tell the story to those that don’t because they are charging for it.

“We are always the top priced in our market, it is more expensive to [offer these services],” Morgan said. “But we do believe that the market is anxious to have this. If you just look at the boomers, it’s easy to see what’s coming.”

The company is also taking advantage of the research handled through the Mather Institute to get a greater sense of what the next generation wants from senior living and adjusting its communities to fit the wellness needs, such as incorporating day spas into every community and increasing the quality of wellness centers.

Both Mather and Rose Villa see ways the CCRC model can continue to grow and develop. One way of doing so includes better serving the community at large, according to Morgan.

“It’s not just focusing on senior living in a silo, but we really see ourselves as an opportunity to be an example of what’s possible for community based living,” she said.

According to Watts, Mather is making the shift to brand itself as a “residential wellness destination,” and she can see the industry at large begin to make that shift for younger boomers and the incoming Gen Xers. In order to meet that want, the company only looks at sites that are walkable for development, finding ways to keep seniors connected with their communities and looking at ways to provide services for individuals before they become an in-house resident.

Looking ahead to the next generation, marketing autonomy is going to be critical to sway Gen X to come to a CCRC, and Rose Villa is already seeing the effects from doing so.

“It’s well proven that the more we can support people to stay autonomous and independent for just as long as they possibly can, that’s where they thrive,” Watts said. “That’s where we want to be.”

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