Senior housing apartments are becoming a major consideration for apartment owners. With 10,000 baby boomers or more reaching the age of 65 daily, the senior housing market is big business.

While American families are scaling up and opting for bigger houses in the suburbs, seniors are looking to scale down into something that’s easier to take care of and maneuver around. If you decide to take the plunge into the world of senior housing, what can you do, with respect to renovations, to make your apartments more appealing to the masses?

Create an Affordable Housing Option

Many seniors are adjusting to life on a fixed income. Many retirement plans took huge hits during the economic downturn and haven’t had an ample amount of time to fully recovery. This means some seniors must do more with less. Keep this in mind as you make renovations. Choose functionality and frugality whenever possible without sacrificing safety and quality. Pass the savings on to the people who choose to rent from you.

Cater Amenities to Your Target Market

Choose amenities that are appropriate for seniors. Tanning beds, car wash areas, and state of the art gyms might appeal to the twenty-something generation of apartment hunters. Seniors, on the other hand, are going to appreciate amenities like community gardens, green spaces with park benches or outdoor tables, lap pools, shuffleboard courts, and indoor gathering spaces with comfortable seating and nice views.

 Keep Accessibility in Mind

This goes well beyond installing wheelchair ramps and grab bars. Use lower kitchen cabinets. Provide adequate lighting throughout the apartment. Keep hallways and community spaces wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. Create an apartment that encourages independent living for those who are aging.

Consider Offering Memory Care

Alzheimer’s disease is one that is particularly brutal on the people who experience it as well as the people who love them. There are activities and exercises, though, that can help slow the progression of the disease for those who have been diagnosed as well as a few that are believed to prevent or delay the onslaught of the disease. Offering memory care services is a great way to engage your residents and assist them in maintaining full, healthy, independent lifestyles.

Create a Sense of Community

Create social areas, indoors and out, where your residents can gather to play cards, watch television, or watch the world go by. Provide community activities, such as morning Tai Chi exercises, weekly bingo games, movie night, and community outings to popular cultural attractions. If your senior multifamily housing unit has a pool, arrange to have daily water aerobics, which are aging-joint friendly, and seniors especially enjoy. Give them opportunities to dress up and “step out” by hosting Oscar Parties — complete with a red carpet. Give them fun things to do as a community and encourage involvement.

You really don’t have to make costly renovations to make your apartment community an appealing option to seniors. These are a few small changes you can make that will have big results on the overall appeal of your community to seniors who are ready to scale down, but still have a lot of life left in them.