Private Cottages Zero in on Independent Boomers

PEARLAND, TX—With an onslaught of aging Baby Boomers contemplating next steps for retirement and housing, developers are stepping up to meet the call with developments that don’t resemble your grandmother’s senior housing. Drever Capital Management, a firm specializing in institutional-class senior and multifamily communities, continues to expand its 55-plus active adult brand with its newest offering, Larkspur at Shadow Creek.

The 257-unit class-A active adult campus will offer a resort lifestyle for this incoming wave of Baby Boomers. The final product will consist of more than 18,000 square feet of dedicated resident amenity space and include traditional apartments along with The Villas at Larkspur.

This is comprised of 42 private cottages tailored to more independent residents who are seeking less homeownership burdens. The first cottage units are slated for completion in the second half of 2020.

“Our new Larkspur brand is a total departure from the traditional senior living sector as we know it today,” says Noah Drever, managing partner for the Tiburon, CA-based real estate investment firm. “Designed for people 55 years old and up who want a carefree lifestyle in a location that’s ‘close-to-everything-important,’ it is a highly flexible, amenity-rich community that could easily be mistaken for a five-star hotel that also has innovative resident engagement programs that focus exclusively on research-based wellness, health and enriching social experiences.”

With a 50-year track record as a “contrarian impact” investor and more than 47,000 multifamily and senior apartment units either developed or acquired, the Larkspur brand is an evolution of founder-chairman Maxwell Drever’s apartment communities throughout the US Sunbelt.

“While underserved, this is a difficult asset class to both develop and manage because it’s a true hybrid between multifamily and senior independent/assisted living,” Noah Drever explains. “With a decade of higher acuity senior housing experience under our belts and our deep multifamily roots, Larkspur Communities, in our opinion, qualifies as a premier boutique 55-plus active adult brand.”

It’s not surprising that greater Houston is the location of Drever Capital’s second Larkspur active adult community. In the early ‘90s, Maxwell Drever was the largest owner of rental apartments here with 10,492 residential units owned and managed in Houston.

“Actually, the greater Houston market, in our opinion, is the epicenter for innovation in the US active adult senior sector,” Noah Drever tells Globe St.com. “There is simply a spirit here, an energy, an openness to new ideas in senior housing that’s hard to find in other markets. And it is becoming a magnet destination for Americans who want to be close to their families and who also want value, access to excellent healthcare and, yes, excitement in their lives.”

The community is located 13 miles from the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world with 5,000 doctors and 15,000 nurses, and minutes from the Pearland Town Center offering shopping, dining and entertainment venues.

Pearland has the third-fastest growing economy in America, ranked by WalletHub’s 2018 study of 515 US cities. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, insists Carol Artz-Bucek, president of the Pearland Chamber of Commerce.

“We have three five-A rated school districts, successful and high attendance sports teams, and a strong, business-friendly economy that draws families with younger kids and, in turn, Baby Boomers who are now active adults who want to live near their grandchildren,” she says. “Drever Capital Management understands this, and they are moving into Pearland with the Larkspur brand at the perfect time.”

Larkspur at Shadow Creek follows Larkspur at Twin Creeks, a 243-unit active adult community completed July 2018 in another high-growth market, Allen, TX. By year-end, Drever Capital expects to begin construction on its third Larkspur community in New Braunfels, TX, the second-fastest growing US city, according to the Census Bureau. While locations are undisclosed, a fourth and fifth Larkspur development are in the planning stages.

“By having a vertically integrated seasoned team at the helm, Larkspur at Shadow Creek is the 180-degree opposite of the corporate-owned, rigidly managed, one-size-fits-all senior community mindset,” Noah Drever adds. “We are always searching for the next progressive resident activity to add to our tried, true and tested program. Our goal is simply to provide the most exciting and enriching lifestyle at a financially comfortable price point.”