Survey Says … Senior Facilities Will Grow

Despite the nation's economic slowdown and a fair amount of market saturation, health-care, residential and commercial facilities designed for seniors are still projected to grow this year, according to a recent Consulting-Specifying Engineer-conducted survey...

By Staff June 12, 2001

Despite the nation’s economic slowdown and a fair amount of market saturation, health-care, residential and commercial facilities designed for seniors are still projected to grow this year, according to a recent Consulting-Specifying Engineer-conducted survey of firms active in the senior market.

In 2001, architecture, engineering and construction firms participating in the survey expect to work on senior facility projects worth an average of $4.9 million, with nearly a fifth of the survey’s respondents planning to be involved in projects valued more than $10 million.

Projections for the future are even more optimistic with 71.7 percent of firms predicting growth in 2002, and 80.7 percent anticipating that the senior market will move into an even stronger growth mode five years down the road.

In 1999, much of the activity centered around assisted-living facilities with 39.9 percent of responding firms involved in their design and construction. Commercial and retail centers fared even better with 45.6 percent of firms involved, followed by senior apartment buildings (31.3 percent) and skilled-nursing facilities (26.9 percent).

Survey respondents also prioritized engineering issues associated with these projects with 89 percent ranking fire protection, life safety and security as “very important,” 87 percent prioritizing codes and standards and 84.9 percent prioritizing energy efficiency.

For more detailed information on C-SE’s senior housing survey results, look for a news report in the upcoming July 2001 issue of the magazine.