New York Luxury Retirement: Living the High Life
Category: Active adult communities
October 20, 2020 — Jaw-dropping amenities like indoor therapy pools, art galleries, and rooftop decks overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. Lifecare options along with concierges and celebrity chefs. For those who crave the bright lights and constant stimulation of an urban retirement, many new luxury options are coming. Expensive, yes, but what an interesting lifestyle for those with the means to pay for it! After all, if you have it, why not spend some of it to get the most out of your remaining years?
Retirement in a big city is not for everyone, but there is a small segment that really wants it. New York City, which has many older people but not that many senior retirement living choices, is adding a raft of them in the next year. One of the newest and fanciest is the Watermark at Brooklyn Heights. Converted from a luxury hotel built in 1928, it retains many grand features from that earlier era. For example, the former grand ballroom is now a dazzling restaurant. The Watermark community offers a full range of care from independent living to assisted living to nursing care. There are 275 units. Developers have included an amazing 50,000 sq. ft. of amenity spaces that incorporate three restaurants, a pool, and art gallery. A rooftop deck overlooks the Brooklyn Bridge. Watermark told the New York Times that it looked for 2 decades to find an urban spot like this. The reporting was in an article about “New Senior Housing Towers Coming to New York“.
Another luxury retirement option coming to the Big Apple is Inspir at Carnegie Hill, a $320 million development on the East Side’s 90s. Offering a continuum of care, it has 215 units on 24 floors. It also has 50,000 sq.ft. of amenities which include 3 restaurants, a wine cellar, observatory and terrace, and courtyard. With starting rents for a 400 sq. ft. unit at $13,500/month, it is not for the faint of heart or small budgets. About one third of the units are spoken for at this point.
Two other assisted living facilities coming soon to Manhattan are the Bristal at York Avenue on East 86th Street and Sunrise at East 56th. The Bristal has 14 stories, each with a living room and fireplace, and 132 units. Sunrise will be operated by Sunrise Senior Living, and has 151 units in 17 stories. Rents in this luxury facility will start at $13,750 a month. Both communities offer the full range of care, from independent living to memory care.
Elsewhere
While New York City’s senior housing lags, many other big cities in the U.S. already provide luxury housing for those looking to either remain in the city or finally get a chance to live downtown. In Chicago well-healed seniors can opt for the The Clare, a 54 story Life Care facility. The Ritz-Carlton Residences offers living options from 1 bedroom to penthouse residences, along with an entire floor of amenities. Plymouth Harbor in Sarasota, FL is an example of a CCRC in Florida. Just about every American city has some Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) and/or Lifecare option. You can use our Advanced Search to find them and many other choices.
Covid Impacting Decisions on Senior Living
The Times article highlighted the issues that many people are contending with when it comes to living in a community where many people live close to others. With memories of all of the nursing home residents who died alone of Covid, many individuals and their families are wary of moving into an assisted living or CCRC. Balanced against that, they also see the loneliness and isolation that Covid has created for many seniors living alone, or the hardships or even impossibility of caring for a relative who needs intensive care. Managers of the the facilities featured in the article have made big efforts to address those concerns after seeing many nervous buyers. Those include thermal cameras, ultraviolet lights, increased ventilation, and PPE for staff. All of the facilities are prominently marketing the various protections they have implemented to keep residents and staff safe.
Comments? Can you see yourself living in the city when you start to need more care? Have you toyed with the idea of moving out of the suburbs to a city, or has Covid make you hesitant? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
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