How The Senior Living Industry Can Compete Against Margaritas And Disney Magic 

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Senior living architects are right now designing communities for the industry’s next wave of development. They should take heed of other projects to break the mold, including communities that aren’t traditionally thought of as senior housing.

Earlier this month, Disney Storyliving and partner DMB Development unveiled new plans for their forthcoming project slated to open in 2028 in Chatham Park, North Carolina. The community includes multiple elements that evoke the Disney brand, such as a club with a name inspired by Peter Pan and a wellness center for older adults that follows the master-planned development’s overall theme.

As SHN Senior Editor Tim Regan wrote in 2023, the Disney-branded product and others, like Latitude Margaritaville, show that many adults desire fun and sun in their later years, and it’s a perception that senior living operators will have to compete with in the years to come.

By necessity of design, senior living communities don’t offer the same kind of lifestyle-oriented amenities, activities or locales as their 55-plus counterparts. They also lack branding from Walt Disney and Jimmy Buffett.

I don’t think that senior living operators need to adopt much or any of the outsized fun and magic of a Storyliving or Latitude Margaritaville to succeed. Senior living operators play an important role the age-restricted housing sector does not in the sense that it cares for older adults and gives them what they need, not just what they want. Operators also have plenty of tools at their disposal to keep their residents engaged and happy without building waterparks or restaurants. But I do think these 55-plus communities show that senior living’s future customers want to feel like their next chapters are as lively and engaging as the ones that came before, and there’s a lesson in that for senior living operators.

The oldest baby boomers are turning 80 in 2026. But people as young as in their 50s and 60s are interested in master-planned developments like Storyliving and Margaritaville. At least some of these older adults will one day move into a senior living community, and they will bring their preferences with them. Senior living operators have a real opportunity to innovate and evolve to better meet these tastes, and I think some are already doing that today.

The industry also has a problem. Anecdotal accounts from a handful of providers show older adults still think of private-pay senior living as akin to nursing homes. If that perception continues, I think the industry could struggle to market their services when compared to more lifestyle-oriented communities, even when they are two different products.

Older adults also are resistant to the idea of being in housing for aging people. According to CEO Keven Bennema, “you can’t just call somebody a senior.” They might reject the label. Bennema told me that future communities might need to move away from the “senior” connotation entirely if they want to attract a new generation of residents.

In this week’s exclusive, members-only SHN+ Update, I analyze recent development announcements and marketing efforts from operators, and offer the following takeaways:

• Why Storyliving and Margaritaville appeal to older adults
• How senior living operators are changing perceptions of the industry for a new group of residents

The appeal of margaritas and magic

Disney Storyliving and Latitude Margaritaville have an inherent draw with older adults who desire a more lively next chapter. Both companies have multiple communities open or underway in locales such as Daytona Beach, Florida, Rancho Mirage, California and Chatham Park, North Carolina.

The Margaritaville and Disney brands are some of the more recognizable ones in the U.S. And their communities offer something notable in the form of buzzy amenities such as waterparks, restaurants, spas and retail outlets.

Like its other counterparts, Disney Storyliving Asteria is planned to have a certain number of units set aside for 55-plus housing. Plans also include a club and central hub space designed by Disney Imagineers and named after the “second star to the right” that Peter Pan followed to Neverland with ping-pong and sports-viewing spaces.

Members of the club will have access to laser engravers and fabric printers to practice crafts such as quilting and woodworking. The wider development is planned to have a lodge and wellness space set aside for 55-plus residents.

The team behind the project is “combining the rich traditions of the Piedmont region with the magical storytelling and service that is uniquely Disney” with the project, according to Claire Bilby, senior vice president and general manager of Storyliving by Disney.

Meanwhile, Minto Communities is moving ahead with Latitude Margaritaville developments in markets like Daytona Beach, Florida, and finding they are totally sold out years ahead of schedule. The master-planned developments feature for-sale homes and pairs that with amenities such as waterparks, pet spas, restaurants and pools.

“While we have been extremely successful over the years, the phenomenal success of Latitude Margaritaville has sped up our plans to expand into additional markets,” Minto President William Bullock told Senior Housing News last year.

Regardless of how different the model is from senior living, the success of Disney Storyliving and Latitude Margaritaville show older adults are flocking to these kinds of projects. Latitude’s Margaritaville community near Hilton Head in South Carolina has been so successful and has attracted so many people that it is causing some issues among locals.

Three years ago, Regan noted the popularity of such projects and challenged senior living operators to find a vibe and build services that match the socialization and lifestyle appeal of Disney or Margaritaville. In the time since, I think many operators have realized they cannot compete with those concepts simply by positioning themselves as the “cruise ship on land,” as they have for years.

I don’t think the senior living industry needs to be as much a cruise ship on land as much as it does need to be a central location for socialization and wellness. Senior living operators can’t compete with the branding and bells and whistles of Mickey Mouse, no matter how well-known their names are; but they can offer older adults more than nostalgia or fun in the sun. And that’s where I think the industry should focus its efforts in the years to come as the Margaritavilles and Storylivings of the world – and whoever follows in their footsteps – expand.

Giving older adults what they want and need

Senior living operators simply don’t have the budget, nor the inclination, to build developments that can compete with the square footage or curb appeal of Disney or Margaritaville. But they don’t have to in order to compete in the years ahead.

A recent ASHA report found that social connection and lifestyle benefits can drive “strong interest” among prospects, including social connection and reduced loneliness, which are among the “strongest motivators” for prospects. These are desires that I think senior living operators are best-suited to meet, not Disney or Margaritaville. And senior living operators play an even more important role safeguarding their residents’ health and wellness.

As Heritage Communities Chief Marketing Officer Lacy Jungman said during the SHN Sales & Marketing Conference earlier this year, operators should show their communities are not cruise ships on land or a “last chapter” for their residents. Instead, operators have an opportunity to show prospects that the rest of their lives are only just beginning.

To Bennema’s point about how older adults don’t want to feel like “seniors,” community designs and amenities are likely going to change to avoid being associated with senior living, in part through technology incorporation, luxury dining options and streamlined wellness programming.

Senior living sales teams are driving the point home by targeting target “influencers” in their marketing. Among their big goals is to make older adults see themselves fitting into a community even before they step foot in it.

As I wrote last week, senior living architects are aiming for these goalposts through new community designs and projects that are top-end luxury in locations such as Florida or by maintaining entrance fees to help cover the cost of their construction.

New models of care can take a person-centered approach, or place particular emphasis on “citizenship models,” where residents have a say and impact on programming and operations, along with an emphasis on resident care outcomes over occupancy as a community benchmark.

Senior living operators also can compete on the level of care they offer residents. Though Lifespark communities don’t have cartoon character or musician branding or theme park amenities, the operator earlier this year launched a “Complete” model to create what CEO Joel Theisen sees as an important new frontier for the industry. The model unifies multiple services under one brand and in the process aims to improve both resident and staff experiences.

“We really wanted to bring a complete solution that was about building a trust-based relationship and understanding our customers, not just by trying to throw things at them, but by delivering our value proposition for the rest of their life,” Theisen told Senior Housing News.

At the end of the day, I think the senior living industry has multiple roads to tread to stand out against the lifestyle-oriented 55-plus developments cropping up across the country. The challenge is to both grow and iterate on the typical model to offer something truly new to the boomers.

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