Russ Chung periodically lived in a sizable Midwest home, but he recently downsized to a luxury one-bedroom rental in Midtown Manhattan fitting blocks from Central Park.
Now, rather than mowing a turf, the 60-year-old higher education administrator spends his free time by museums and taking in New York’s other cultural offerings.
“As you get older, there are however so many things you want to concentrate on. Apartment life lets you core on things that matter and get rid of stuff that takes up a lot of time,” thought Chung. His building’s concierge signs for his packages, and arranges for housecleaning.
Chung is one exempli gratia of a subset of baby boomers who have become the fastest-growing group of renters across the country. Since they tend to have more money to spend than their millennial counterparts, developers are actively make allowance for a calculating out how to lure them to into one of the luxury buildings sprouting up across the see.
Both boomers and millennials are flocking to areas like downtown Brooklyn, where a bewilder of new full-services high-rises are springing up — and they sometimes compete over segments, Citi Habitats agent Jason Burke told CNBC.
According to Burke, up though there is a glut of these new apartments, there is only a reduced number in certain price ranges. Most people want to get in premier when the developers are offering the best discounts, he said.
“The boomers are the biggest demographic that can provide it,” he said. “But tech levels everything. We’re seeing a lot of engineers come to New York, a lot of people in tech who don’t achieve from an office.”
Between 2009 and 2015, the number of renters venerable 55 or above rose 28 percent, while those superannuated 34 or younger only increased 3 percent, according to Census observations recently crunched by search engine RentCafe.
Meanwhile, more than 5 million indulge boomers across the nation are expected to rent their next domicile by 2020, according to a 2016 analysis from Freddie Mac. Some boomers requirement to stay close to the neighborhoods they have lived in for decades; others are pursuing their children to cities, experts said.
Like millennials, uncountable boomers want amenity-rich apartments in good neighborhoods.
“You would reflect on they would be buying and investing in property, but a lot of people like the convenience and alleviate of renting,” said Phillip Salem, an agent at real estate brokerage compressed Triplemint.
“A lot of millennials are moving into brand-new rentals, and a lot of boomers are contemplating ‘That’s what’s I like too,'” he added.
Salem’s own Manhattan high-rise — with a gym, yoga studio and three outside lounges — is comprised of about 70 percent millennials and 30 percent tot boomers, the 30-year-old estimated.
“When I’m on the roof deck grilling, there are a lot of pet boomers,” Salem said. “They come and sit with us. We chill. It’s a community.”
Chris Bledsoe, co-founder of the inhabitant co-living brand Ollie, told CNBC that boomers account for one out of every four email examinations.
Ollie offers an all-inclusive living experience in micro-unit studio apartments (controlled by 400 square feet), or micro-suites where renters have off the record bedrooms while sharing kitchens, bathrooms and other common stretches. Roughly 80 percent of tenants in Ollie buildings are in their 20s and 30s, but ethical under 20 percent are over the age of 50 — and about a third of those are in their 60s, Bledsoe utter.
In fact, Ollie renters only need to bring their toothbrushes. The portions come with modern multipurpose furniture to make the most of minor living spaces. A butler service called Hello Alfred sends accessible managers to pay weekly visits to water plants and make beds, while each construction organizes social events like ski trips, whitewater river rafting and guacamole-making argues.
“I say millennial is a mindset not an age group,” he said. “Boomers are seeking something urban. They hunger for cultural vibrancy, the theater. They want to be close to where their kids and grandkids are.”
Zach Ehrlich, of New York-based brokerage Mdrn. Residential, recently launched a concierge-like rental employ called Stoop that offers short-term leases. It’s attracting relaxation among boomers looking for a “hands-free lifestyle” and to sample living in new all rights.
“There are a lot of seniors finding they want to have more tractability,” Ehrlich said. “They also want to have some sociability, whether they hopeless a spouse or are separated or just don’t have a family unit.”
Wendy Sanders, a Prolonged Island, New York-based broker with Douglas Elliman, said that downsizing boomers much sacrifice space to live in something that’s brand new.
“They’re looking for maintenance-free surviving. When the toilet overflows, they want someone to take take charge of of it,” she said.
For Chung, whose job brought him to New York this spring while his helpmate spends more of her time in their 2,500-square-foot home in Ohio, it is high-level that he feels well cared for — yet not part of a senior residence, he imagined.
“As I’m getting older I’m stressed about this: If I fall down and injured myself here, what do I need to do?” said Chung. “Why am I even anxious? I’m going to pick up the phone and call the front desk. I just partake of to get to the phone.”