By Katy Stech
The Post and Courier
Monday, May 7, 2007
The local real estate market is shifting its focus toward "active adult" retirement communities, a sector that is still seeing a healthy amount of interest despite the regional slowdown in home sales.
Last week, a planned neighborhood called The Pines at Gahagan began preconstruction sales.
The 109-home community, located a few miles from downtown Summerville, is targeting a baby boomer crowd with a larger-than-standard amenities center and properties that require little upkeep, said Cheryl Smithem, spokeswoman for project developer Summerville Homes.
The amenities center will feature a pool, recreation room and hair salon.
Prices start at the high $200,000 level.
The community is a small-scale version of the 1,100-home Del Webb development that is being built in Berkeley County's Cane Bay subdivision.
That neighborhood, which is being developed by Michigan-based builder Pulte Homes, is expected to open in the fall of 2008 and could expand to more than 10,000 homes in the future.
More than 1,500 people attended informational sessions on the community in late April.
Both neighborhoods are marketing a retiree lifestyle that centers around social events and travel.
They also have restrictions that limit who can buy and live in the homes, essentially limiting residents to a "55 or better" age group.
In marketing the communities, the emphasis is more on the community's quality of life and less on the physical attributes of the house, Smithem explained.
"We see that empty nesters and people who retire early have tremendous assets, but what they'd like to do is downsize their level of (home maintenance) responsibility," she said.
"It really is a lock-and-leave lifestyle."