Open Mic

A heady combination of coastal beauty, a vibrant economy, a laid-back beach culture, and one of the nation’s *lowest costs of living, has set up a wave of seniors migrating to Corpus Christi as their chosen retirement destination.  Much of the gain for Corpus Christi is coming from the East and West Coasts—both traditional retirement meccas—where living costs are far less friendly to seniors. Some now call Corpus Christi the new “Third Coast” for retirement.

One national media outlet has named Corpus Christi as the nation’s †top retirement destination for $150,000 or less.  But that basket of attractions is drawing more affluent seniors as well, with California, New York and Florida leading the list of states where seniors are cashing out of the nation’s highest home values and bringing those dollars where they will stretch the furthest—Corpus Christi, Texas. (See Sources, page 5)

“These more affluent seniors from the coasts are just as interested in Corpus Christi as native Texans, based on the natural beauty and ultra low cost of living,” said Wendy Gainan, director of sales and marketing for Mirador. “They typically have relatively large home equity to invest and want the very most they can get in terms of total lifestyle—both in housing and healthcare. But they will not compromise on quality.”

Mirador senior living community—scheduled to open in Summer 2011—will help the local economy catch the upper tier of the retirement wave with a combination of resort style living and “life care” health services that compare well to any in the nation. Also, Mirador will offer the Coastal Bend area’s only life care spectrum of health services, including independent (active) living, assisted living, skilled nursing, and memory care. 

While the life care feature looms largest for older seniors who may anticipate health issues sooner, younger seniors are primarily attracted to the active, resort-style amenities, social opportunities, and five-star food prepared by professional chefs. Combined, these seniors will have a significant impact on the Corpus Christi economy, not only in supporting Mirador as an employer and tax source but also via direct, local spending. The community will serve 125 families seeking an active lifestyle and a premier address close to local restaurants, shops and attractions. However, the economic impact is already being felt during the construction phase.

“Mirador will support the Corpus Christi economy in a big way with a $32,000,000 construction contract,” said Burt Derr, vice president of developmental services of Greystone Communities, development consultant for Mirador. Derr projects that, at the peak of construction, Andres Construction will employ more than 300 construction personnel. Many of those will be from local labor pools.

Despite recent recessionary trends, Mirador has secured project financing and construction is already well underway. The community already has a robust base of depositors are eager to move in upon the opening in 2011.

Mirador itself is actually the fifth successful life care community sponsored by parent Senior Quality Lifestyles Corporation, a Texas company that has been named by the AASHA Ziegler 100 Report as the ‡nation’s fastest growing developer of not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) every year since 2000.

“Despite a difficult economic environment for these type of projects, Mirador was successfully financed based on the strength of their proven project team, including SQLC as the owner/developer, Greystone (Communities) as develop consultant and an attractive primary market area,” said Rich Scanlon, Managing Director at Ziegler Capital Markets, the company who is the bond underwriter of the $79 million financing for the 17-acre campus. SQLC has a long record of successful projects with Ziegler.

In fact, Mirador is the fifth SQLC project Ziegler has successfully sourced financing for since 1999. Three of these are operating successfully—Edgemere in Dallas, The Buckingham in Houston and Querencia at Barton Creek in Austin. The fourth—The Stayton at Museum Way in Fort Worth—is still under construction as a developmental community similar to Mirador.  Ziegler has financed nearly $1.7 billion of senior living facilities, like Mirador, in Texas since 1995 and is the §leading underwriter of tax-exempt bonds for senior living communities on a nationwide basis.

 SQLC is focused exclusively in Texas based on the exceptionally strong economy as well as the fastest population growth rate in the United States.  Significantly, Corpus Christi has an even ¶faster rate of senior population than Texas as a whole.  While Mirador does offer resort style living, it is by no means exclusively for wealthy seniors.

“When you consider that housing and healthcare costs are included in moving to Mirador, the investment is quite reasonable, within reach of many who have recaptured their home equity,” said Kristen McCaig, VP of sales and marketing for SQLC, parent company and developer of Mirador. “Also, those costs are locked in for life to insulate from a chaotic economy. It’s really a conservative choice when you consider that almost the entire initial entry fee reverts back to the resident’s estate.”

Now under construction in the heart of south Corpus Christi, Mirador will be the area’s only all-inclusive life care senior living community.  Designed to enrich the lives of seniors, Mirador will feature 25,000 square feet of commons areas on a lush 17-acre campus at South Staples Street and Timbergate Boulevard.  The gated community will include approximately 125 customized independent living apartment homes, each with a fully equipped kitchen, washer and dryer, and 24-hour emergency response system, as well as 44 private assisted living suites, 41 private rooms for dignified nursing care, and 18 private residences for memory support.

Mirador will be a 501(c)3 not-for-profit senior living community owned by Senior Quality Lifestyles Corporation (SQLC), a Texas-based nonprofit organization that owns sister communities Edgemere in Dallas, The Buckingham in Houston, Querencia at Barton Creek in Austin, and The Stayton at Museum Way in Fort Worth.  For information, visit www.miradorretirement.com, or call (361) 288-7027.

Sources:

*   For the fourth quarter of 2005, Corpus Christi ranked as the 38th most affordable of 298 participating cities, according to the most recent ACCRA Cost of Living Index. The ACCRA Cost of Living Index is compiled and published quarterly by ACCRA, The Council for Community and Economic Research.

†     Corpus Christ (Vocus) November 11, 2009 – Corpus Christi has been voted No. 1 for “Best Places to Retire for $150,000 or Less” by WalletPop.com’s “Road to Retirement 2009 Guide.’ WalletPop.com is AOL’s consumer and money news website and is owned by AOL.

‡     2010 AASHA Ziegler 100 -- This report presents a variety of data metrics that show the size of the of the not-for-profit segment of the senior living sector and outlines characteristics of growing systems and overall trends of system growth. SQLC was the fastest (aggregate) growing system from 1990 to date, and ranked as the fastest growing from 2000 to date in the AAHSA Ziegler 100 publication. 

§      Census Bureau 2008 Population Estimates

¶      Source: Based on full credit given to senior manager of lead-managed underwriting principal volume for senior living transactions completed nationally. Rankings and amounts through Thomson Financial Securities Data as of 1/8/10."