Realty players bet big on homes for the senior citizens

Housing projects specially designed for senior citizens seem to be the flavour of the season with a string of them ready and more in the works, according to real estate developers.

For instance, Rajiv Swagruha Corporation Limited, the affordable-housing wing of the state government, has an exclusive project for senior citizens at Bandlaguda on the city outskirts. Its senior marketing manager M Bharat Reddy says: “This is a new concept based on the old-age homes. The project aims at providing maximum comfort to the elderly.”

The design to provide a barrier-free access to the elderly residents is the USP here. It has a laundry, kitchen and round-the-clock medical facilities. “There will be panic buttons in the house. They can be used for help in emergencies,” Reddy says. The project also has separate guest rooms for visitors to stay in.

Maintenance of the facilities would be done by the corporation itself in the initial period, with plans to engage a non-governmental organisation later through the residents' association. “The project will be ready by September,” he says.Each dwelling unit of roughly 650 sft is priced around Rs 13.15 lakh. Of the 100-plus units coming up at Bandlaguda, 35 have been sold. “The response is picking up. We have about 800 leads,” says Reddy. The corporation is hoping to do another 35 units by June. A new, slightly bigger project of 800 sft is on the anvil at Chandanagar.A private real estate developer, Saket Engineers, has launched Pranaam, calling it an active adult retirement homes in 4.5 acres at ECIL crossroads in the city.

The gated community has a studio, and 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom flats with 445 to 1,735-sft and a price of Rs 2,300 per sft (Rs 13.25 lakh to Rs 45 lakh in three blocks).