In pursuit of Smart homes for the elderly

Well-travelled, educated and socially active senior citizens are now opting for living life on their own terms at fully-equipped projects designed to give them a life of dignity and comfort, writes Rajesh Kulkarni.

Time flies. And before you know it, your kids have all grown up and leading their own lives, your professional career is now just a memory and for you – well, retirement beckons. A fact of life, that applies equally to each one of us. But it doesn’t have to be the end of life as we know it, rather the beginning.
 
Think of it as the opportune time to indulge in all those things that you wanted to do but never did, due to the hectic pace of life and its many responsibilities. It could be that quiet evening stroll, a rousing game of bridge, enjoying a good comedy film, catching up with your friends or even spending a quiet, relaxing afternoon with your partner.

All of the above has now been made possible by retirement homes or residential projects exclusively for senior citizens, a new concept that has been quietly making its presence felt in the domestic realty landscape over the last decade and looks set to explode in the future.

It’s a trend driven mainly by the rising number of senior citizens looking for a suitable alternative wherein they could spend their remaining years well looked after, rediscovering themselves in the company of their loved ones.

Like it happened in the case of Pune-based Sanjay Waghmare, a 72-year-old retired bureaucrat, who now lives with his wife at a private gated community for senior citizens on the outskirts of the city. Says he, “After working tirelessly for close to 40 years and ensuring that my two sons were well-settled in life, me and my wife decided it was time to move to a more personal space.

“Living at this project with its caring staff, excellent senior-citizen features and the company of fellow seniors has provided us with a new lease of life. The best part is our kids and grand children who live in Pune drop in every weekend to meet us.”

 Not surprising then that over the last decade or so major developers including: Paranjape Schemes, Vastushodh Projects, Tata Housing, Brigade Group and New Delhi-based Ashiana Housing among others have got into the act with several projects catering to this growing segment.


An idea called Athashri:
A word that translates into ‘new beginning’; Athashri began as an idea with Paranjape Schemes in 2000. Very soon this idea had translated into reality with an innovative housing project of the same name, created for senior citizens, where every single aspect was conceived and designed keeping in mind their smallest needs.

Today this vision has spread to 1195 Athashri 1 &2BHK terrace apartments housing over 1500 residents at its 5 completed projects in Pune and 1 in Bangalore while 2 new projects are under-construction at Baner and Hinjewadi, Pune. 

Away from the chaos of busy city life, Athashri looks after every need of its senior residents with respect and tender loving care with services like Doctor on call, swimming pool, yoga-cum-meditation-room, card room, landscaped garden, a canteen for food, pool table, special shuttle bus service taking the senior citizens to various parts of the city, and a lot more, managed and maintained by its in-house maintenance team with clockwork precision.

Encouraged by the response, the company now proposes to build similar projects in Pune, Bengaluru, Vadodara and Coimbatore in the near future while its future plans include taking the concept to newer locations like Hyderabad, Cochin, Ahmedabad and Goa.


Celebrate Life at Utsav:
Delhi-based Ashiana Housing Limited has four projects dedicated to senior living at Lavasa (Pune), Bhiwandi (NCR), Jaipur and Chennai (upcoming). Ashiana Utsav at Lavasa, India’s first planned hill city near Pune features 1/2/3 BHK apartments, 2 BHK executive floors and 3 BHK villas priced from approx ₹ 44 lakhs onwards.

The project is equipped with senior friendly interiors like anti-skid tiles, arthritis friendly doors and bath fittings, emergency response system, intercom facility and a common dining hall. The exteriors include landscaped parks, a clubhouse, security systems, reliable maintenance staff, dining facility and a nurse on site to complete the picture of an ideal post-retirement.

Ashiana Nirmay
Bhiwandi (NCR), the company’s first senior project already has over 700 senior residents. Spread over 8.5 acres of landscaped greens, this project offers a choice of 1/2/3BHk apartments, priced from ₹ 34.91 lakhs onwards, in a stilt plus 10/12 floors with two lifts in each block. Apartments here are equipped with wooden wardrobe, kitchen cabinet, geyser (in all toilets & kitchen), cabin fan (kitchen), an exhaust (toilets) and an emergency response system fitted in the master bedroom, toilet, drawing & bedrooms. Exterior amenities include entrance lobby with concierge, walking track, water body, designated play are for children and an option of open/covered car parking.

Ashiana Utsav, the company’s second project here is located 2.5kms from NH8 and is home to 600 residents. This project offers a choice between 1, 2 or 3 BHK, apartments in G+4 floors buildings with 2 lifts per block, priced from ₹ 33.65 lakhs onwards. Homes here come equipped with age-friendly designs and fittings for added comfort, while its activity centre hosts varied tournaments, movies and other forms of popular entertainment like an activity hall, TV lounge and a carom room.

The project also hosts regular medical camps and spiritual discourses for its residents. Get inspired by all the yoga enthusiasts who gather each morning in the park, or take a walk along the walking track, surrounded by trees. Or simply take a break from cooking and have a meal at its spacious Dining Hall that features affordable and tasty food options.

On similar lines is the company’s Jaipur project, Ashiana Utsav on Kalwar road, which presently has only 2 BHK units available measuring 1165-1220sqft and priced from ₹ 35.63 lakhs onwards. In addition to its several senior-friendly features like anti-skid tiles, arthritis friendly door and bath fittings, the project also includes a large park with sports facilities. Other popular amenities here include: an activity centre, hobby club, TV and reading lounge, carom & TT room, a temple and emergency care facilities with OPD.

Vastushodh & Tata Housing follow suit: 
Pune-based Vastushodh Projects, a player in the affordable homes category also announced its intention to get into this space last year with the launch of SukhGram, its affordable housing scheme for senior citizens.

Featuring homes priced in the ₹ 10-35 lakhs range, the first project will be located at Pirangut (near Pune) and will include over 200 homes featuring studio apartments (400sqft), 1BHK (650 sqft) and 2BHK (850sqft) apartments. According to company sources, the project will also feature a special guest house facility with eight rooms for the convenience of guests visiting residents of SukhGram.

Support services made available at the project will include healthcare services with a daycare centre, preventive maintenance of homes and other infrastructure, housekeeping, entertainment, security, food, emergency and concierge services. 

Also in the running is Tata Housing which has unveiled major plans last year to cater to this fast developing segment. The housing major has voiced its plans to invest ₹ 1,200 cr towards developing 13 housing projects catering exclusively to senior citizens over the next five years.

It may be recalled that the company had earlier announced its first project in this category – Riva Residences – which offers 1 and 2BHK residences for the elderly, designed by international architects off Bengaluru’s Tumkur road. The project is expected to be a landmark residential development comprising of premium residences, 10,000sqft of exclusive clubhouse, 24-hour wellness centre, dining halls with running kitchens, indoor pools, massage centres, multi-purpose lounges and a an on-site recreational therapist. Going forward, the company has lined up similar projects for other cities like Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Pune.

The company which has tied up with Apollo for health services at these projects, hopes to capture a market share of approx 25 percent by 2018, when the market for retirement homes is expected to touch ₹ 4,000 cr. 

In Conclusion: 
With today’s well-travelled Indian demanding an active lifestyle, even post his retirement, seniors are now carving a new niche as potential customers for developers and other service providers for creating a well-designed, fully-assisted living eco-system for them.

According to industry estimates, there are about 40-odd gated projects for senior citizens in varying stages of development in cities like Chennai, Coimbatore,  Kochi, Bengaluru, Pune, Goa, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bhopal, Jaipur, Delhi, Nagpur and Punjab. With the country’s senior citizen population expected to touch 173mn by 2025, the demand for such projects in only likely to witness a huge increase going forward.
(all prices mentioned herein are purely indicative)