Location and creative marketing are proving to be secrets to early success for The Baldwin, a continuing care retirement community under construction in Londonderry, NH. The community is fully reserved 10 months ahead of its anticipated October opening.
“There’s not a significant number of continuing care retirement communities in this part of New Hampshire, so we did a market study, and there seemed to be a significant demand for it,” Marlene Rotering, CEO of The Baldwin and sister community Edgewood, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
It was in 2015 that the board of parent company Edgewood Senior Solutions Group seriously began discussing where and how it wanted to expand the organization’s footprint in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, Rotering said, the sales kickoff ultimately coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, which delayed progress.
The organization has used multiple strategies to stir up interest in The Baldwin, she said. Older adults are more tech-savvy than they’re given credit for, Rotering said, and the company turned to virtual events for marketing when people were told to stay home during the pandemic.
“We immediately transitioned from in-person events to a live, interactive online format, making The Baldwin one of the first communities in the nation to market itself this way,” Heidi Harrison, a partner at Illumia, agency of record for The Baldwin, said in a statement.
With a mix of digital strategies and traditional media layered in, The Baldwin’s sales team logged reservation deposits from prospective residents at an accelerated rate and, within 16 months of beginning the sales process, the community was preparing to break ground.
“Success like this is almost unheard of, even without a pandemic to contend with. But The Baldwin’s commitment to innovation and flexibility is creating the kind of community modern seniors want to live in,” Rotering said.
The average age of committed future residents is 76. When they move in, they will have on-site access to small-home-model assisted living and memory care as well as short-term rehabilitation.
The Baldwin will include 190 independent living apartments for adults aged 62 and older, on-site healthcare and other services and amenities. Plans include a fitness center, indoor pool and hot tub; multiple dining venues; a multi-use theater/auditorium; an art studio and gallery; a woodworking shop; a library and classrooms; and underground parking. Several of the community’s amenities, including a spa and salon, a convenience store and the dining venues, also will be open to the public.
What The Baldwin won’t have, however, is a traditional nursing home. In New Hampshire, Rotering said, a retirement community can offer the same level of care in assisted living as could be offered in a skilled nursing facility.
“I think it was very forward-thinking of New Hampshire,” she said.
The challenge now, Rotering said, is to keep prospective residents engaged for the next 10 months until the community is open.
“We’ll continue to be creative and innovative, just as we have been since 2020,” she said.
This is the second CCRC for Edgewood Senior Solutions Group. Edgewood, in North Andover, MA, was the first and opened in 1997.
Rotering said she has found that CCRCs continue to be very attractive to older adults, and some who felt isolated in their homes during the pandemic have decided that they might fare better in a retirement community.
“It’s very hard to survive in their homes, and it’s very hard to survive on your own. I think that’s got people thinking twice and moving into these senior communities,” the executive said.
