"They all think we were crazy for coming back up here," Davis
said, of the friends he and his wife, Jo Anne, left behind in their
first retirement destination, a gated subdivision built around a
golf course in North Carolina. "But it was the best decision we ever
made."
The couple's move to State College, Pa., two years ago makes them
part of a small but fast-growing group of seniors enticed back to
alma mater by a new generation of retirement communities opening on
or near college campuses.
While private developers have been building such projects for
several years, universities and colleges themselves are playing an
increasing role, seeking new sources of revenue and a way to cement
ties with alumni.
Retirees — most of them graduates of the schools, former faculty
or people who already lived nearby — are drawn by the flurry of
activities in college towns, the chance to continue learning and
life alongside like-minded adults.
"There are a number of people who look for something other than a
condo on the fifth green and a warm climate," said Leon Pastalan,
director of the National Center on Housing and Living Arrangements
for Older Adults at the University of Michigan. "They're looking for
something more stimulating and that's what a college campus can
provide."
The first college retirement communities opened about 20 years
ago, but the idea has really spread in the last three or four years,
Pastalan said. There are at least 50 such developments near campuses
around the country, from those near large schools like Duke
University and the University of Michigan, to smaller schools like
Lasell College in Newton, Mass.
Some of the newest are those under way near Stanford University
and the University of Alabama. About 10 to 15 others are in the
planning stages, Pastalan said.
While four-year schools have led the way, community colleges also
are beginning to explore such developments, seeing them as an
extension of their existing work with older adults and continuing
education, said Gerard Badler, managing director of Campus Continuum
LLC, a Newton, Mass. developer and consultant.
The projects vary widely. Some are condominium developments,
frequently built with community centers onsite. Others are so-called
continuing care retirement communities — combining apartments with
assisted living and nursing home facilities, designed to accommodate
people from early retirement through their later years.
That combined offering was one of the selling points for Jim and
Jo Anne Davis — he's 74, she's 73 — who were concerned about finding
a way to retire without burdening their adult children with future
elder are responsibilities.
The couple, Pennsylvania natives, first looked for something near
their first retirement home in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. But an
article in an alumni magazine about The Village at Penn State, then
in construction, drew them back to campus for a visit. They quickly
signed up, moving in to a two-bedroom apartment with a view of the
school's mammoth football stadium and nearby Mount Nittany.
They've quickly settled into a lifestyle more active than before
they retired, Jo Anne Davis said. The couple regularly attend
football games and campus performances. She is active in onsite
activities like a women's crafts group, and twice weekly water
aerobics classes at the university's swimming pool.
"When you get out of the bus and there are all these kids walking
around, it just makes you feel so alive," she said.
The appeal was slightly different for Bill Kinley and his wife,
Mary, when they bought a unit at University Commons, a senior
development near the University of Michigan's campus. The couple
already lived in the university town of Ann Arbor, but were enticed
by the idea of living in a setting that provide intellectual
stimulation in a place they knew they enjoyed.
"I spent an hour and a half with a Shakespeare (discussion) group
last night," Kinley said. "We have kids here, we love the community
and I think that's what a lot of people here share is a love of Ann
Arbor."
The Michigan development has close ties with the university's
music school and often hosts two student or faculty recitals a week.
Residents also gather for regular lectures onsite. On Friday nights,
a potluck cocktail party in a common area known as the Brass Rail
Cafe draws 50 to 60 residents.
Financial arrangements vary, but generally, living in the
developments does not come cheap.
At Michigan, the condominium units sell for $250,000 to $750,000,
and residents pay a monthly maintenance fee to the homeowners'
association.
At Penn State, the Davises paid about $200,000 for the right to
live in the Penn State development for as long as they choose, as
well as a monthly fee of about $2,600. That entitles them to nursing
and assisting living care when and if they need it. If they move out
within the first four years, they get a limited portion of their
investment back. Another option, requiring a larger initial payment
of about $285,000, returns 90 percent of that amount to residents or
their estate on move out.
"You're not buying any real estate. You're buying lifetime use of
a particular unit," said Jill Lillie, the development's director of
community relations. Other units at Penn State are priced from
$166,000 to $360,000.
The Penn State project is not run by the university but has
strong ties. The development was the idea of university President
Graham Spanier, and was built on 80 acres leased by the university
to a private development team that includes football coach Joe
Paterno and Carol Herrmann, a former university administrator.
Residents are allowed to take one class on campus free of charge
each semester, and get reduced rates for the university's golf
course and other facilities.
Some friends still have trouble believing they left the Sun Belt
and moved into a place with a nursing home onsite, Jim Davis says.
What they don't appreciate is just how much energy flourishes in a
campus environment.
"Everybody thinks when you move into a place like this that they
have a walker for you waiting at the door," he said. "And there are
some pretty active people around here."
___
On the Net:
www.villageatpennstate.com
www.bluehilldevelopment.com University Commons, Michigan
www.campuscontinuum.com
