Senior living grows crowded

Michigan-based developer Dale Watchowski isn't necessarily daunted by competition from others in the region-wide senior housing industry boom, but it's something he thinks about — often.

Watchowski's firm, Southfield, Mich.-based Redico, through it's affiliate American House, has ambitious plans for the Gulf Coast. Those include American House Coconut Point, a 194-unit complex with independent living, assisted living and memory care units that opened in mid-August; American House Bonita Springs, where phases one and two, says Watchowski, are 90% occupied, and work on phase three is underway; American House Fort Myers, in the development stage; and American House Zephyrhills, an acquisition and renovation of another facility in Pasco County. American House Coconut Point is the firm's 51st senior living community nationwide.

While Watchowski chats up his company's expansion, he's cognizant of market saturation. “The challenge is really competition,” Watchowski tells Coffee Talk. “There's a lot of product out there. We have to sell our virtues against everyone else. We think we can do that.”