Senior housing in Sonoma County: high occupancy, high rates

A snapshot of Sonoma County senior housing facilities shows the units mirror the conventional apartment market in terms of relatively high occupancy rates and rents.

The data also highlight a category where the county differs from other parts of the country: Only 6.7 percent of households with residents ages 75 and older live in senior facilities here.

In contrast, the rate of older senior households in such facilities is 10.4 percent for the nation’s 31 largest metropolitan areas and 7.3 percent for 41 smaller metro areas more comparable to Sonoma County, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, a nonprofit that tracks such data.

The rate of older households in such senior facilities gets as high as 14.6 percent in Boulder, Colorado and 18.9 percent in Durham, North Carolina.

The reasons for such differences can be hard to discern, and the significance can be a matter of debate, said Beth Mace, chief economist for the Annapolis, Maryland-based center.

Some suggest the lower rate of use can mean a community’s seniors are less familiar with such facilities, she said. But some investors may want to build senior facilities in places like Sonoma County because the lower rate means “there’s an opportunity there.”

The center reports the county has 1,503 units at facilities that provide independent living, assisted care and memory care services.

The facilities, which contain at least 25 units each, were on average 93.3 percent occupied in the county at the end of June. That compares with an occupancy rate of 89.7 percent for the 31 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and 89.4 percent for the county’s peer group of 41 smaller metro areas.

The average monthly rent at the county facilities in the second quarter of the year was $4,158, compared to $3,595 for the largest metro areas. The rents may include some fees for assisted living, such as helping residents bathe or get dressed, but not the costs of memory care.

Mace suggested the seniors’ rents and occupancy likely mirror the county’s conventional home sales and rental market.

“It’s a beautiful place to live,” she said of the county’s attraction for seniors.

Spurred by tight vacancy rates and strong demand, the county’s regular rental market in 2014 rose faster than almost anywhere else in the nation. In the five-year period ending in June, rents have risen 48 percent to $1,792, according to Real Answers, a Novato company that tracks data from large apartment complexes.

Mace reported the county currently has three new senior facilities in various stages of construction. When completed in the next few years, those facilities will increase the number of units now available by about 14 percent.

In comparison, construction projects underway in the 31 largest metro areas would boost the number of available seniors units by 5.6 percent.

Across the nation, the number of new projects has grown since the last recession, Mace said.

Among those building is Oakmont Senior Living, a Windsor company that develops and operates senior housing facilities. The company, founded in 1997 by William and Cindy Gallaher, runs 19 facilities in California, including 10 it has opened in the last three years.

“We’ve like doubled our portfolio,” said Crystal Robinson, vice president of sales and marketing.

The company plans to open other new facilities this year in Concord and San Jose, and next year in Pacific Beach and Redding.

The existing facilities average an occupancy rate of 98 percent, she said. Four are located in Santa Rosa’s Fountaingrove neighborhood - the 163-unit Varenna, the 60-unit Villa Capri, the 33-unit Terraces and the 70-unit Fountaingrove Lodge, the nation’s first LGBT senior community.

“I think the timing was good for us and we saw the need throughout California,” Robinson said. Part of that need is “baby boomers getting older.”

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 707-521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit