Far from retiring

LOUD MUSIC GUY lived on one side of Barbara Hill’s condo and Casanova on the other. Their shared walls, and her patience, grew thin.

So two years ago, seeking to save her sanity -- and without blowing her budget -- the aerospace worker started looking for a better-constructed living space larger than the 900-square-foot Harbor City condominium she’d occupied for five years, one that would provide a view and cool breezes, close to her Northrop Grumman job in El Segundo.

Late last year she finally found what she was looking for in what was marketed as a 55-plus “active adults” development in Torrance. Parkview Court, developed by West Los Angeles-based builder West Millennium Homes, is a Cape Cod-style complex located across from 44-acre Charles H. Wilson Park. It’s not your grandparents’ senior housing.

“You would never know it’s for people 55 and older,” said Hill, 56, of the building that houses her new 1,260-square-foot, two-bedroom upstairs corner unit. It features granite kitchen countertops, a large walk-in closet and category-five wiring for computers, cable, phones and home electronics. There is retail nearby and a view of the park, all of which she got in January for $464,000.

Hill is part of the growing population of midlife homeowners who have settled in or will move to age-restricted communities.

The National Assn. of Home Builders’ 50+ Housing Council estimated that in 2007 about 40% of new units occupied by those 55 years and older would be in age-restricted communities or ones designed to appeal to seniors. One-third of existing single-family home sales would be in 55-plus developments. Many buyers in this age group say they prefer developments close to their social and family ties.

Boomers, who don’t see themselves aging in the same way their parents are, view the old retirement lifestyle of far-flung golf communities as “living in the middle of the desert, literally and figuratively, in terms of their cultural, social and political needs,” said UCLA instructor Karen Lee, who specializes in gerontological social work.

So surrounding themselves, in their 50s, with those who share similar challenges and interests, Lee said, helps them build a stronger sense of longtime emotional security than they believe they would achieve in their 70s.

“Many boomers tease about wanting to move in together with their friends at some point,” recapturing the commune era of the ‘60s, Lee said. “The 55-plus communities are the closest most of us come to that communal experience.”

Urban amenities

Hill, the single aerospace worker, said she didn’t feel “remotely ready” for the prototypical senior housing arrangement of longtime developments such as Laguna Woods Village in Orange County (formerly Leisure World). The average age of residents at that 2,100-acre complex is 78 and for those moving in today, 70.

Hill was attracted to Torrance’s Parkview Court neighborhood and its proximity to urban amenities. Her complex is made up of 59 units, priced from $275,000 to the high $400,000s, and has a fitness room, common courtyard for entertaining and a communal kitchen for events.

“The condo layout was exactly what I wanted, in terms of the views, and the units have noise dampeners between the walls,” Hill said. “Wilson Park has a farmers’ market, crafts fairs, buses to the Hollywood Bowl, and the post office is at the corner. The neighborhood is alive.”

And Hill, who in her spare time volunteers at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, likes that other owners in her building share her values and interests. “All except one I’ve met works full time. We’re all on the go.”

Some of the new active-adult housing is located near universities so residents can take courses, and other complexes are close to public transportation, according to the California Assn. of Realtors’ Education and Program Development Department.

In the last decade, 113 55-plus housing developments opened in Southern California, accounting for about 33,500 units purchased, according to Russ Valone, an analyst at San Diego-based MarketPointe Realty Advisors, which tracks new housing. Most of the complexes -- 87 -- were in Riverside County; among those, 61 were in the western region and 26 were in the Coachella Valley to the east.

Among the new projects are builder K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons active-adult developments in Beaumont, Hemet, Moreno Valley and Palm Springs. The Hemet complex features the Lodge, where homeowners may swim laps, play chess and dance. Prices for single-family Four Seasons homes in Southern California start in the low $200,000s.

A home near family

Retirees Irene Samson, 63, and Al Gastelum, 76, decided four years ago to start looking for a place together in western Riverside County where they could have access to activities and other retired couples and still be near their children. Samson was living in West Hollywood and Gastelum in La Puente.

A desire to be close to family and friends is a top reason for mid- and late-life moves, according to AARP and U.S. Census Bureau findings.

The couple, now engaged, bought a 1,508-square-foot house in 2004 with two bedrooms and a den for $367,000 at Trilogy at Glen Ivy, an active-adults complex of single-family homes and condos tucked next to the Cleveland National Forest in Riverside County. The pair installed a $30,000 pool and $13,000 patio, and pay $205 a month in association dues.

Trilogy has a lodge at the foot of Mt. Saddleback where language, finance and computer classes are held and a sports club with a state-of-the-art fitness and recreational center. There is an indoor walking path above a pool, and the club offers yoga and Pilates classes.

Residents walk in the hilly neighborhoods, and to and from the lodge and sports club. At midday recently, the lap pool had half a dozen swimmers and the fitness room was buzzing.

Samson and Gastelum spend about two-thirds of their time at home and the rest visiting their children nearby or traveling.

Within the complex, they belong to the Latin Club, some of whose members hail from Argentina, Mexico and other Central American countries.

Good neighbors

“We fell in love with this community immediately,” Samson said. “The mountains are in our backyard, and we like that our neighbors watch our house when we travel.”

Like other housing of its type, it was relatively affordable too.

The weighted average price -- which takes into account the number of sales at each price point rather than treating each new home plan equally -- of an active-adult housing unit in western Riverside County in 2007 was $364,060, according to MarketPointe.

Although values in age-restricted communities are subject to the same market vagaries as those in unrestricted developments, experts say that the homes typically retain their value better, in part because of the stability of the buyers.

“They’ve put down more money, have a secure cash flow and are willing to wait out down markets,” said John Schleimer, a certified active-adult-housing specialist at Roseville, Calif.-based Market Perspectives.

Another thing going for the active-adult-housing market is that there are plenty of people heading down that highway. By some estimates, more than 40% of households will be 55-plus by 2012, and that number will only grow.

“There will always be more seniors, and they’ll be looking for housing,” said Dowell Myers, USC professor of urban planning and demography. “Older folks with money will dominate the market.”

diane.wedner@latimes.com

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Where we’re headed

About 67 million Americans are 55 or older, a number that will grow by more than 2% a year for the next decade to become 40% of all households by 2012. This group is particular about its housing needs and desires. A few facts:

More than two-thirds of 55-plus households own single-family detached homes.

About half of 55-plus owners who move stay in the same county.

Their top reason for moving is personal, such as the desire to live close to another family member, followed by the desire for higher-quality housing.

About 70% of age-restricted, active-adult developments provide recreational facilities.

Age-restricted housing is permitted under an exemption to the Fair Housing Act, which requires that the developments have at least one person who is 55 or older in at least 80% of the occupied units, among other qualifications.

-- Diane Wedner

Sources: National Assn. of Home Builders; U.S. Census Bureau; www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/seniors/index.cfm