Buffett’s Margaritaville launches senior living
Minto Communities is banking on singer Jimmy Buffett’s legion of Parrothead fans buying into the flip-flop lifestyle at a senior community planned for Daytona Beach.
Marketing a Buffett-style diet of seafood, surfside songs, and shuttles to a private beach in Ormond Beach, Latitudes’ Margaritaville might be the country’s first community riding the wave of 55-and-older developments based on the appeal of a celebrity singer songwriter.
“I have never heard of a place branded with one personality, but you do sometimes see products and services linked to a star recognizable by older people,” said University of Florida Professor Stephen Golant, author of Aging in the Right Place. “I think the concept is very attractive. I think it will fill a niche with a group of older people.”
With 1,600 acres at Interstate 95 and LPGA Boulevard and prospects for another community outside Florida, the Margaritaville partnership hopes it is on to something bigger. They hope to redefine a housing sector that has long been married to golf courses and organized activities.
“We’re reinventing this industry,” said Bill Bullock, vice president of longtime senior-community developer Minto Communities. “We really believe we are.”
Spawned by a 1970s song about a salt-rimmed drink, the Margaritaville group now has nine resorts/ hotels; four gaming locations; more than 60 food-and-beverage retail operations, a line of apparel; home decor; and signature beverages. James Bagley, who markets Margaritaville Resort Orlando, said he knows of no plans to add a senior element to the vacation-rental development planned on U.S. 192 south of Disney World.
The singer’s involvement at the proposed Latitudes’ project is not clear. Bullock said Buffett has taken an interest in naming streets and “you never know when and where Jimmy Buffett will show up.”
The Latitudes development would have 7,000 residences when completed, which could take 20 years.
Its entree into the “active adult” market comes as developers seek new ways to compete for buyers age 55 and older. The number of houses built in senior communities almost doubled nationally during a recent five-year period, increasing to 20,000 in 2015 from 11,000 in 2010.
Seventy-five miles to the west, The Villages sprawls over parts of three counties and advertises more than 2,000 activities. In Celebration, a six-story community for seniors slated to open this year would include two restaurants, a health club, retail and public space. In Lake Nona, the Watercress senior-living project plans to offer three chef-prepared meals daily and wine tastings.
Golant, a gerontologist, said the Jimmy Buffett concept may succeed because it offers retirees a less regimented way of life.
“While Jimmy Buffett may be a draw for some people, I don’t think he will be the draw for going into that community,” he said. “Bettereducated buyers are less swayed by the emotional appeal of a product. They will find it a nice bonus — the idea of Jimmy Buffett. But they will come because it offers a unique opportunity to live a retirement lifestyle that allows them more freedom in how they spend their time.”