December 2013
| Business World Magazine | 51
Retirement homes in the early days
and into the 1990s, were intended to be a
tangible downsize from a family’s previ-
ous residence. Most were a single story
with less square footage, around 800 in
many instances, which meant less space
to maintain and lower property taxes to
pay.
The homes got larger in the final few
years of the ‘90s and up until 2002 when
the Greenbriar Oceanaire community
started in 2002, Ritter says, with the ap-
pearance of multi-story buildings that
ranged from 2,000 to upwards of 3,000
square feet.
An emerging trend these days leans
back toward smaller being better.
“With what they’re building now, I
don’t think you’re going to see the size
homes we saw in 2003 and 2004 return-
ing,” Ritter says. “Retirees don’t seem to
want as much in terms of size as they did
a couple years back. It all tends to come
in trends and it follows how the economy
is and where the price of land goes.”
CELEBRATE THE
GARDEN STATE
A chore that faced Lennar at the creation
stage, and one that now tasks Ritter and
colleagues daily, is battling the perception
of some would-be residents that luxury
and New Jersey are mutually exclusive.
As a result, the golf course, the ameni-
ties and the homes are built to a standard
that’s aimed at convincing retirees from
