Environments for Aging’s 2025 Senior Living Design Industry Predictions series wraps up with Lisa Warnock, principal and founder, Glow Interior Designs, LLC (Portland, Ore.).
Check out Warnock’s thoughts on what opportunities and challenges are ahead for the industry over the next 12 months, including opportunities in active adult and the “forgotten middle.”
Environments for Aging: In what area of the industry did you see the most progress in 2024?
Lisa Warnock: I was delighted to see a lot of progress in intergenerational programing and discussion happening. As a member of SAGE, CHD, and AIA Design for Aging’s Intergenerational Task Force (IGTF), I predict that this trend will continue to gain a lot of momentum over the next 10 years.
The dream for us at IGTF is that, eventually, this will become the new normal, and that isolated “senior islands” will be a thing of the past.
EFA: Good or bad, what surprised you the most about the senior living design sector in 2024?
Warnock: I was surprised to see so many pencils down. The demand for supply is so pent up, that I thought I would see more developers figuring out how to pay for projects to at least get designed, ensuring that they could be teed up and ready to be first in line to get projects started.
The more this demand continues to build, the nuttier it’s going to be when the floodgates finally break open.
EFA: Do you think the new administration’s policies will affect construction prices and labor—how? If so, what impact will that have on the senior living design sector?
Warnock: It’s a little nerve wracking at the moment, and uncertainty abounds regarding tariffs and potential mass deportation of already too few laborers.
Construction costs and labor shortages have been plaguing us for years now, and we will have to wait and see once the dust settles how the incumbent leadership will address these concerns and challenges.
EFA: Where do you think the senior living design industry will head in 2025?
Warnock: In addition to the above comments, I am optimistic that the “forgotten middle” will continue to be top of mind for creative new development opportunities. I saw some really great examples of operators and developers making headway in this area over the last few years.
I continue to look at active adult as a booming new opportunity to pay attention to.
EFA: Demand for senior living units continued to outpace inventory in 2024. Do you expect that to continue in the coming year or will the “cork pop soon?”
Warnock: I believe that demand will continue to outpace inventory for some time, particularly in middle market and affordable products.
Luxury product will likely need to be carefully planned to not oversaturate. There are still a lot of unknowns in the economic forecasts.
For more insights from industry leaders, read here.
Anne DiNardo is editor-in-chief of Environments for Aging and can be reached at [email protected].
