RJanarthanan has been living at the Vrindavan Senior Citizen Township at Coimbatore for more than two years along with his wife. Having married both his daughters off, the husband-wife duo needed a place to spend the rest of their days in peace and in the company of their peer group. ?Though I had my own house in Bangalore, I wanted to stay at a place where my wife recover from her prolonged illness. Also, we could get help in the daily chores and not to worry about every small little thing,? he said. He applied for this township and got a place to stay. ?My wife?s health has improved ever since we have been staying here,? he adds. He shells out Rs1,500 for the common kitchen and Rs 2,000 for cleaning and maintenance but finds it a small price for all the comforts he is enjoying. The township has 75 cottages in all, with one or more than one room.
Retirement resorts or complexes are gradually emerging as the most viable option among senior citizens who are financially independent. Many real estate players are cashing in on the trend, building homes exclusively for senior citizens. Most of these housing complexes offer a lot of services as well, like paying electricity bills, offering cooked meals and providing prompt medical care.
Take the case of Dignity Lifestyle, a 25-acre project by Dignity Foundation, an NGO working for the cause of senior citizens in India, 90 km from Mumbai. It urges the elders ? a person above the age of 55 can get a home at its 58 cottages ? to help in running the township or manage one of the NGO?s village development projects. ?Retirement is not the onset of old age where you settle comfortably into a rocking chair. But rather, the beginning of an ?active? new lifestyle where you can deploy your skills to serve society and feel gainfully employed once again,? says Sheilu Sreenivasan, founder president, Dignity Foundation and Dignity Lifestyle Township, Mumbai.
The first phase is complete and fully occupied and construction will begin soon for the second phase. Full-time ayurvedic doctors, spa facilities and monthly food festivals are some of the many recreational facilities residents can enjoy here.
Down south, nestled in the greenery of Sholinganallur, just 20 minutes from Adyar, is Classic Kudumbam, home to citizens 55 years old and above. Spread out on an acre, Classic Kudumbam has 40-odd occupants. ?The 55+ age group typically looks for services rather than to buy or own assets, which led to the establishment of this resort,? says says Rajesh Shankar, co-founder and director, sales.
But some players have taken time to build dedicated projects. Ten years in the making, the Utsav Retirement Resort at Bhiwadi has sold all the 640 flats on offer. ?The entire project was built keeping elders in mind. For instance, the interiors of these flats have non-sticking tiles, emergency buttons, blunt edged walls, taps with levers as aged people find it difficult to turn the knobs. The elders can also move around in a wheelchair around the society,? says Vijay Mohan, manager, corporate communication, Ashiana Utsav.
This 15-acre project has a 4.5 acre park complete with a card room and meditation centre. ?We also have provisions for sculpture making, cooking classes and computer courses, where residents have the option of either taking these courses or teaching these skills,? adds Mohan.
The group has already opened bookings for its project in Jaipur spread over 10 acres, with a two-bedroom flat costing around Rs 14 lakh. At Bhiwadi, a two-bedroom flat was priced at Rs 6.5 lakh; a three-bedroom flat at Rs 10 lakh and a three-bedroom flat at Rs 14-15 lakh. ?With the growth in the real estate sector, the resale value of these flats has gone up to Rs 14-16 lakh, Rs 19-21 lakh and Rs 24-27 lakh respectively,? says Mohan. It plans to take the concept to Lucknow and Pune.
At Classic Kudumbam, every apartment is given out on a lifetime lease. ?This allows us to usually price the apartment lower than an outright sale. This in turn makes the product more affordable and attractive to a wider audience,? says Shankar.
The LICHFL Care Homes Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of LIC Housing Finance Ltd, inaugurated its first Assisted Living Community Centre in March 2006. In its first phase, the Bangalore project houses 98 independent cottages spread across 10 acres. Apart from the usual facilities, there is a community kitchen for residents. A 24-hour ambulance is on campus. ?We kept the prices of the flats extremely low. For instance, a flat with 800 sq ft of carpet area was priced at just Rs 9 lakh,? says AP Singh, CEO, LICHFL Care Homes Ltd. The company has already acquired land in Bhubaneshwar to construct a multi-storeyed complex with 275 flats.
This is an industry still in its infancy in India. ?This is also a service intensive business requiring the skill sets of diverse industries such as real estate, hospitality and health care. It requires sensitivity, patience and perseverance,? says Shankar. It?s not for people who want to get rich quick, he quips.