The first of a three part article on why small towns could be the net not senior living development opportunity.
18 months ago I received a “hot lead” from the Vigil Health Solutions corporate office for an emergency call system opportunity in the town Hughson, California. My California geography is really really good and includes a pretty comprehensive list of one horse or even half horse towns.
This was one I had never heard of so I went to Google Maps to figure out how I had missed it. I discovered it was a town with a population of just over 6,500 located in the heart of the central valley. In other words just a little farm town.
The senior community, Samaritan Village had a capacity of more than 200 independent and assisted living residents. I made an appointment to go do a site visit, and even though their website showed a pretty nice place, I was expecting to in reality find either a dump or a senior community that served some very specific religious affinity group.
It was a great place open to the community, and while not at 100% occupancy the numbers were not bad at all. Since that time I have spent a lot of time wondering if small town America is a major untapped development opportunity and keeping my eyes and ears open for other successful small town successful senior communities.
I have come across a few since then though none quite as compelling at Samaritan Village.
Then by coincidence, while I was at the LTC & Senior Housing LINK conference in Chicago and then at the CXO summit in West Palm Beach each event had a compelling presentation that directly addressed the very question I had been thinking about.
Are there unmet needs and by extension unmet opportunities in small town America?
The short answer is a resounding yes and not just for not-for-profits. Over the next couple of weeks I will post two additional articles that outline the specific reasons of why these communities are great opportunities. In the meantime here are the highlights:
- Development times are much shorter
- Development costs are much lower
- Capital costs can be substantially lower, and not just because development costs are lower
- There are amazing opportunities for ancillary income
- When you get there first, the small size creates an almost impenetrable barrier to entry for competitors.
- There could easily be thousands of potential sites.
If you are already operating a small town community and would be willing to talk to me about it, I would appreciate hearing your story.
Steve Moran
Small Town Development is a wonderful idea for senior living. I hope you will publish a list. And in fact, some small towns have so many building sitting empty because people have no jobs. How wonderful to fill them with shared housing and assisted living villages.
How does a concerned citizen like myself persuade the city fathers of a de-industrializing town to consider developing a local economy anchored by senior housing and services. There are two medical centers in our town within 5 miles of each other with one (Sparks) adjacent to the old downtown area which is along the Arkansas River which is ripe for development.
There is also a university here which doesn’t offer curricula for senior services careers.
Fort Smith, Arkansas is the town I refer to. Population, 80,000, area about 50 square miles. Metro population about 120,000.
Winters are short, cost of living is affordable. Business, Industry and Government are stagnant. This town needs ideas because young people are leaving and the elderly wish the kids could stay….and their are many active seniors here……many from farmer and rancher ancestry blessed with strong genes.
Thank You
It has been my long-time belief that small, rural or less affluent areas have a great need for senior living options. However, it seemed that many providers did not want to locate in these areas either because of a perceived lower affluence /return on investment and/or a limited constituency. I am glad to see you address this need.
In many smaller towns in Canada, we rely on partnerships with government and NGOs to achieve innovative senior housing. Private developers are not interested. The need and opportunities are there.