Resort-style active adult communities offer world-class amenities and sprawling clubhouses.
Active adult communities come in a range of sizes and styles, from smaller intimate neighborhoods to sprawling massive resorts. The largest age-restricted communities contain more than 10,000 homes and feature a wide selection of amenities, including shopping centers that make it easy to manage day to day living. While sprawling resort-style communities are usually found in popular retirement states such as Florida, Arizona and California, newer developments in Texas, Nevada and South Carolina are becoming more common.
Both North and South Carolina are popular among retirees, yet active adult communities in these states tend to be small or mid-sized. Many offer less than 1,000 homes. However South Carolina’s Sun City Hilton Head, by Del Webb, will include an estimated 8,200 homes upon completion. This impressive location offers a 45-acre Town Center and Amenity Complex, two championship golf courses, an executive golf course, two restaurants, two fitness centers, tennis facilities, a performing arts theater, and much more.
Nevada also offers options for those interested in a super-sized community. Sun City Summerlin, built between 1988 and 1998, is another sprawling Del Webb development. Set at an elevation of 3,000 feet, this community offers 7,779 homes, a wide range of resort-style amenities and spectacular views of the world-famous Las Vegas Strip. Likewise, Del Webb’s new Sun City Anthem provides similar amenities, close proximity to Las Vegas, and 7,200 homes.
The great state of Texas also has some new communities that will provide between 7,000 and 7,500 homes. The beautiful Sun City Texas stretches over 5,300 acres, boasts three 18-hole golf courses and a 86,000 square foot clubhouse. Texas’ newer development, Robson Ranch Texas, broke ground in 2002 and estimates completion in 2030. Built by Robson Communities, this community features amenities that center on its spacious clubhouse and magnificent 18-hole Wildhorse Golf Course.
Out on the West Coast, California features an impressive active adult community with 12,736 homes. Formerly known as Leisure World, this spectacular community now goes by the name Laguna Woods Village. The community was built between 1963 and 1986 by Ross Cortese and offers every type of home, from high-rise condos to single-family models. The amenities include 36-holes of golf, five outdoors pools and spas, hobby and game rooms, and even an equestrian center.
In Arizona, Sun City is America’s first active adult community. This sprawling development offers resort living to residents with over 26,000 homes in both attached and detached styles. The original Sun City is not the only large age-restricted community in Arizona. Active adults can also find amenity-rich living at Sun City West (16,900 homes) and Green Valley Recreation (12,360 homes).
Finally, with its reputation as being a popular retirement state, it’s no surprise that Florida offer some impressively sized age-restricted communities. Two of the state’s popular communities, On Top of the World and Villages of Citrus Hills, each have plans to expand to 10,000 homes. However, even these spectacular communities pale in comparison to The Villages. With a planned estimate of 75,000 homes upon completion, this Florida landmark is the largest age-restricted community in the world!
While some active adults prefer small or mid-sized communities, the largest resort-style communities offer unparalleled access to fantastic amenities and social clubs with enough variety to match the interests of nearly any resident. Those who are interested in one of these sprawling communities can arrange their own visit to experience the amenities firsthand.
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Thanks for the useful information. I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to more in the future.
Very useful information. Thank you.
Yet another in a long line of interesting reads Susan: So much so i went to the net and looked up your bio. Imagine my surprise when i saw a smiling young face when i was expecting wrinkles, age spots and the weathered look of someone having lived a long and plenttiful life. Nice.
The old joke seems to fit here about “size matters,” but does it? The beauty of the growth of the active retirement lifestyle in age restricted communities is there is literally, something for everyone. Big, small, medium sized; upscale, low end, and all points in between; it’s out there.
I fear sometimes we get lost in the debate over size and what kind of amenities and how many golf courses. While the trend has been to downsize communities to more manageable levels from the original Sun City (save for the Villages of Florida), there is no magic to how many homes is the right number.
Sun City was the first and the largest for many years. The amenities, shopping centers, churches and rest of the infrastructure inside the walls is staggering. So much so that while being interviewed by a German film maker last year (who fell in love with the place BTW), he asked the exact right question: “Is it too big.” The answer was easy, for some it is.
But it goes deeper than that. The history of active adult retirement communities is something that has been lost. What’s tragic is, it shouldn’t be. After all we are only talking about 50 years ago. Understanding how Webb built Sun City is both eye opening and enlightening.
Virtually no one is born in an active adult retirement community. We all have to come from somewhere else. We migrate and in some cases from afar. When you grow up in a town, city or a state you have your roots there. Your loyalties and your memories exist there. Uprooting and finding your next (and maybe your last) home is daunting if you don’t approach it with a sense of excitement.
As we trace the history of the original Sun City, something absolutely fascinating happened. People had to reach out and touch their neighbors. There were no cell phones, internet or emails. Relationships were forged and a lifestyle evolved that was very special. People needed each other and a sense of community grew into a love affair, in some ways every bit as strong as what they had back home.
Some of that has been lost. With the tecnological advances, touching family and old friends is just a keyboard click away. Though whenever i talk to newcomers or even research our history i hear the same comments; “i just love this place.”
Active adult communities, no matter their size, allow a person a new look at life. An opportunity to open up and become something they may never have been in their worklife. It can be a rebirth, an adventure at the exact time when folks 50 years ago would have been looking at the final boring chapter of their life story.
No matter the size, imagine that new way of life Del Webb talked about. He understood there should be more to life as we age. What we know from studying our history is, it worked exactly as he thought it would. Even more impressive is, it still is working today…maybe even better given the remarkable choices out there.