Virginia Beach developer is building a 4th age-restricted community in Hampton. Housing experts say it’s needed.

More senior housing is coming to Hampton. Housing experts say it’s a good thing for now, as the number of seniors living in the city increases over the next decade.

In August, the Hampton City Council agreed to rezone a vacant parcel at 1963 W. Pembroke Ave., near War Memorial Stadium, to allow construction for an age-restricted multi-family complex.

Marlyn Development Corporation proposes 150 one- and two-bedroom units in a four-story building. The complex would have as amenities: a grilling area, community garden, dog park, billiards room, fitness center, multipurpose and media rooms. Some units will be for those 55 and older, others specifically for 62 and older.

The Virginia Beach-based firm already manages three senior housing enclaves - The Woodlands in Phoebus, Sinclair Commons, on Gilbert Drive and Somerset at Town Center in the city’s Coliseum Central district.

“They’re all over 99% occupied, which demonstrates the critical need to create more of this type of housing,” says Brian Staub, Marlyn’s chief financial officer who addressed the council on Aug. 11.

Staub added with the region’s aging population, the housing provides an opportunity for those seniors who “do not want to leave the area where they grew up, raised families and actively participated in their communities.”

There’s not much data on the number of senior housing units in a given region, some local realtors said.

“We don’t track that,” said Jim Wetzel, the CEO of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors.

The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) in 2019 does and keeps tabs on senior housing trends, Wetzel said.

The nonprofit presented findings from a 2019 study from a webinar it hosted on housing trends for middle income seniors. The report said the market will be ripe opportunity for that cohort over the next decade. It’s because middle income seniors aged 75 and over — those who earn too much to qualify for government assisted programs, but not enough to afford most housing coming on the market — will increase by 14 million by 2029. The study suggests more affordable housing for seniors will be needed or other models to provide housing options.

While the 2020 Census data has not given a breakdown of the number of adults by age groups, the overall number around Hampton Roads communities has risen from 2% to 11% since 2010. Across the Peninsula, there are at least 65,000 who are 65 and over, according to numbers from the Peninsula Health District.

The pandemic has intensified the need for more housing and demand is far beyond the available inventory, says Lisa Sturtevant, the chief economist with the Virginia Realtors Association.

Older adults, seniors, don’t have “any place to downside to when they get ready to sell their homes,” she said. Most of what is available is on the higher end and come with condo fees. The average age of people moving into age restricted housing is about early 70s.

Other experts say the senior citizen population in Hampton is projected to peak over the next decade, comprising nearly 20% of the city’s some 137,148 - but the trend will reverse, according to a housing market assessment compiled by Tom Hall, an economic and finance professor with Christopher Newport University. The 2018 report says many seniors will “age in place,” likely stay in their homes.

The other issue is the type of houses being built and if they can be refitted to accommodate senior living, said Sandra Hood, president of the VPAR, who added, realtors say there’s a lack good senior housing options. Some prospective home buyers, 50 and over, looking to retire want the homes built a certain way. For example, some look at the staircases and debate whether a chairlift can be added to it.

“We get a lot of military that retire here,” Hood said. “They want bedrooms on the first floor ... wider hallways. That was a need even before the pandemic. There’s a lot of people who are aging in place. They cannot afford to go anywhere.”

Margo Young-Wiggins, 68 and husband Bill Wiggins, 73, have lived in their split-level home for 30 years and are weighing their options. Both retired, the couple has had various thoughts about whether to sell their home and move to a single floor unit, Wiggins said.

“It’s a lot cheaper to add a chairlift and a sun porch,” said Young-Wiggins, the past president and treasurer of the Delta Foundation at 1919 W. Pembroke Ave, adjacent to the coming age-restricted facility. The nonprofit is a community-based organization, hosts a debutant program, fundraises to supports academic scholarships, mentors youth and creates programs to assist seniors and elderly.

She agreed there is a need for more senior housing that is affordable, but more types of single level housing for people with health issues too, who don’t want to climb stairs.

Hampton housing officials are planning a study to review the regional market trends for senior housing at both ends of the income spectrum, Jonathan McBride, Hampton’s housing & neighborhood services manager said in an email.

“From what I am aware of there are no other senior-focused housing opportunities in this southwest area of the city,” he wrote.

Lisa Vernon Sparks, 757-247-4832, lvernonsparks@dailypress.com