Environments for Aging’s 2025 Senior Living Design Industry Predictions series continues with Philippe Saad, principal at DiMella Shaffer (Boston).
Check out Saad’s thoughts on what opportunities and challenges are ahead for the industry over the next 12 months, including the drive to better connect senior living communities to their surroundings and his hopes for market differentiation.
Environments for Aging: Where do you think the senior living design industry is heading in 2025?
Philippe Saad: I want to see more connected senior living, developments that are integral parts of their environments whether urban or suburban. And by “connected” I do not mean only places like The Baldwin that are pedestrian and physically connected to their surroundings, but rather communities that actively develop ties and partnerships with the communities where they are. This will help break down the stigma of senior living and make senior living less isolated.
EFA: What’s the biggest opportunity for change in the new year?
Saad: Continue to work on changing the stigma around senior living by elevating its design and working with owners to better integrate communities; it has changed a bit in the last few years, but not enough.
I think what is helping move senior living more into the mainstream development world is the slowing down of the multifamily market, a reality that is pushing developers to explore senior living. We are getting a lot of inquiries and interests from national multifamily players to help them understand senior living metrics.
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”?
Saad: The good news is that we are not seeing a slowdown, but we are seeing a need for market differentiation—owners and consumers are not satisfied with just pretty spaces—they are asking for more meaning in the buildings they operate and dwell in. I think this will be a big shift in 2025.
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].
