Ken Linehan Joins Industry Leaders to Discuss Funding Needs & Senior Housing Trends That Meet Retirees’ Needs
FK Architecture Managing Principal & Owner Ken Linehan participated in a panel discussion on December 11, 2024, titled the “National Senior Housing Digital Summit,” hosted by BisNow. The summit explored an in-depth look at integrated care models, technology, and wellness trends in the senior housing industry. It also focused on funding needs and economic impact.
The discussion, moderated by Evolution Sustainability Group Founder and CEO Chuck Hurchalla, touched on a range of topics of importance to owners and operators of senior living facilities such as occupancy levels, care models, wellness amenities, the use of AI and new technologies, public funding and public grants—as well as the challenges posed to architects and builders. Ken’s co-panelists included Bud Grove, Senior Vice President of Building for Wohlsen Construction Company, Mather Senior Living Senior Vice President Gale Morgan, 2Life Communities President Lizbeth Heyer, and Benchmark Senior Living Founder and CEO Tom Grape.
While FK Architecture has been in business for 60 years, Ken told the audience that our firm is “just young enough” to reimagine the senior housing model, especially as the boomer generation enters its golden years. This is especially important as the pre-Covid model of financing is simply not viable a half-decade later as capital sources have dried up, interest rates remain unfriendly, and smaller funders have had to step in as bigger banks take fewer risks. Local, state, and federal loans are also bridging that funding gap.
The panel shared that the average construction worker is in their early 50s, and the trades aren’t being replenished with younger people at the rate needed. Instead of new construction, owners are looking to architects to renovate existing spaces allowing residents to enjoy their residences for years to come instead of relocating. Meanwhile, developers are trying to achieve the same results as before, only with fewer resources.
“At some point, the developers are wondering what they can build and charge…without squeezing their capital partners to excess to where it becomes pennies on the dollar,” Ken said during the panel. “I think the hesitancy…even though there’s a slight reduction in interest rates, is still not enough to create a return on investment across the board for what we’re seeing.”
FK Architecture delivers value across the US, working on 1,500 to 2,000 units across the country per year. Ken noted that while the Sun Belt was indeed “hot” for development before Covid, the market is refocusing senior living construction to previously underserved urban markets such as areas around Atlanta. Affordable housing, he said, may be the industry’s new best hope as America’s population ages. Ken said FK Architecture renovated close to 600 units in the past year through the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program, and those apartments are filling up fast.
The panel agreed that boomers are interested in customized living quarters versus cookie-cutter, with a greater appetite for the “active” model. Ken shared those outside activities, such as pickleball, as well as indoor fitness activities, such as yoga, are increasingly important to residents and overall health. Amid ongoing staff shortages, some residents are discovering a new purpose by volunteering in their communities to teach classes or help at the front desk.
“We have to think about how the resident is going to feel when they actually live there,” he said, adding, “This extends to a welcoming lobby that is warm as residents wait to be picked up by family and/or an Uber for an outing.”
FK Architecture’s two active senior living projects near our Winter Park headquarters include a 12-story downtown Orlando facility with 10,000 square feet of additional retail space and Westminster Baldwin Park, Independent Living facility offering a fitness center and skilled nursing facility.
“They’re all kind of equal, [no one facility] above another,” Ken said of FK’s work. However, “they all provide a roof over someone’s head to sleep.”