October 21, 1999

Developer targets gay retirees

By TOM KIRCHOFER
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON -- Targeting an older generation open about its sexuality and thinking about its golden years, some developers are looking to build gay-friendly retirement communities.

"We want to create something that mirrors the life they're living now," said Boston real estate agent John Goode, part of a group planning an urban homosexual retirement community in Boston.

In generations past, societal pressures forced many gays and lesbians to keep their sexual orientations under wraps. Today, developers think those who helped pave the way for vibrant gay communities will want to continue living in gay communities after retirement.

"In the mainstream aging community, there is the assumption that everyone is straight," said Terry Kaelber, executive director of the New York-based Seniors Active in a Gay Environment. "We have a place that does not assume that. In fact, it assumes that old people can be attracted to old people of the same gender."

Kaelber's group is working with a real estate development company to locate a site and investors for a 100-unit, mixed-income assisted living facility.

Current options for gay- and lesbian-themed retirement housing consist primarily of a handful of mobile home parks and small resorts in Florida and Arizona.

Goode's group of seven partners wants to build a 75- to 100-unit retirement community somewhere in urban Boston. They have completed a feasibility study they say shows many older gays and lesbians are interested in living in such a community.

"The idea of community to us is very important because we've had to create our own from the 1970s on," Goode said.

The project, called Stonewall Communities, is named after a gay bar in New York City where a 1969 police raid sparked what many say is the beginning of the modern gay rights movement.

Other entrepreneurs across the country also have begun thinking about how the gay and lesbian baby boomers pushing into their 50s will want to spend their retirement years.

"I'm looking for the active retirement market," said Peter Lundberg of San Francisco, who is trying to round up capital to build a gay retirement community in California. "It's essentially a Sun City for gays and lesbians, without the golf course."

Gay retirement housing options will likely increase dramatically in the coming years, said Laura Connolly, who chairs the Lesbian and Gay Aging Issues Network for the San Francisco-based American Society on Aging.

"I think it will grow over the years," she said. "They will be in a variety of configurations, from the more affordable trailer park options on up to the more upscale and expensive models."

Goode's group, which hopes to gather financing, locate a site and begin construction in the next several years, wants to stress urbanity with its project.

"What distinguishes Stonewall Communities is that we want to live in the city," said David Aronstein, one of Goode's partners. "We're of the mind that not everybody wants to live in the Sun Belt."

The community would include amenities such as a wellness center, gardens, a restaurant and a business center for people who want to continue doing some kind of work after they retire.

Lundberg said he ultimately would like to build resort-like communities -- called "Our Town" -- on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas.

"I just think that people would like to be with their own kind," he said.