Wellness Real Estate: COVID-19's Positive Impact on the Industry
Wellness has held a small but growing position in the real estate industry over the last decade, with homes, offices and wellness communities increasingly being designed and built to include an emphasis on natural materials, eco-friendly solutions, and new technologies that aim to support longer, healthier and more balanced lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this shift dramatically as health and wellness have been pushed to the forefront of our everyday lives.
This reshuffling of our priorities has created a powerful opportunity within the real estate industry, driven by growing consumer demand for products that support wellness, personal growth and environmental values.
What’s Driving the Demand for Wellness Real Estate?
At a time when health awareness is at an all-time high, it’s important to acknowledge the science that is underpinning the ongoing increase in demand for this new lifestyle approach.
Research by the World Health Organisation shows that a staggering 80-90% of our health outcomes are ultimately connected to the built environment in which we live.
Harvard researchers have demonstrated that air quality alone has a dramatic effect on our health and ongoing productivity.
88% of urban dwellers are exposed to unhealthy levels of pollution. City life increases the risk of mental illness in children and adults.
There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that a wellness-optimised environment and a wellness lifestyle can have long term positive effects on even those suffering with chronic disease.
At its core, wellness real estate is really all about creating built environments – from homes and hotels to offices and apartment buildings – that are proactively designed around the occupant’s holistic health. Wellness is no longer an esoteric nicety, but a powerful movement that will shape huge facets of the industry over the coming years.
How Big is the Wellness Real Estate Industry?
Current projections show that the global wellness real estate industry will reach a value of US$197 billion by 2022, growing by 6.4% annually since 2015. In North America alone, the market is worth US$52 billion and, with 1.3 million buyers each year seeking wellness communities and wellness homes to live in.
This growth isn’t just being driven by ecologically-aware Millennials and Gen Xers – it’s being driven by the world’s wealthiest individuals too. 90% of luxury homeowners say their personal wellness is their top priority and that real estate offerings that allow them to practice personal wellness (including meditation spaces, home spas, home gyms, etc.) are extremely attractive. Additionally, nearly 30% of consumers from all income ranges are willing to pay more for real estate that prioritises wellness.
The ability to take a mental health day or work out at the gym is simply not enough for the growing market of consumers who are eco-focussed, wellness-aware and committed to living in a way that supports mental and physical wellbeing.
For so many, work environments have dramatically shifted during the pandemic, increasing the demands for higher levels of personal care. Wellness real estate plays a crucial way in meeting these needs.
Wellness Real estate Design Features
Successful wellness real estate combines a wide range of technologies, design and service integrations to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Examples of features with high ROI include:
Non-toxic, locally sourced and sustainable building materials
Home air purification, reduced heating/cooling, high-quality indoor air and water
Natural walls/indoor garden spaces
Proximity to nature, increase walkable areas
Plastic-free environments, composting and waste recycling
Wellness services like healthy food options, yoga studios, fitness centres, mental health facilities and wellness classes
In response to the growing market demand, new design concepts and certifications have been rapidly emerging. Biophilic design is a growing architectural field that creates spaces in buildings and communities to help support everything from cognitive function and physical health to psychological wellbeing, reducing blood pressure and stress hormone production while synching our busy lives with our natural rhythms.
The WELL Building Standard puts health and wellness at the centre of design and construction decisions, measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellbeing, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.
Wellness Real Estate Developers Leading the Way
There are a growing number and variety of wellness communities in the US and lifestyle homes worldwide. Let’s take a closer look at some leading examples of projects lead by wellness real estate companies:
Villa Valencia – This Coral Gables, Florida development from Rishi Kapoor’s Location Ventures is set to open later this year. Each of the 39 units offer all the latest wellness real estate features on the market, from hospital-grade air and water purification and lighting that mimics natural circadian rhythms to the innovative and intelligent Darwin smart home system for monitoring environmental pollutants and allergens.
The units also feature landscaped roof gardens and a hammam spa to create a complete wellness ecosystem for residents.
Val de Vie – This award-winning luxury estate, based in Cape Town, South Africa, was one of the earliest of the world’s wellness developments. With 42 kilometres of mountain bike routes, 21kms of jogging and trails, picnic spots, stables and paddocks, spas and golf course, this development epitomises community-based wellness.
With a focus on 6 pillars of wellness (social, mental/spiritual, economic, community, environmental/green and physical), the development aims to provide a holistic and self-contained support system for the families within it, promoting the philosophy that where you live can change your life.
One Heddon Street – This flexible London co-working space is positioned to not only take on the needs of a post-COVID workforce, but also the current demand for wellness real estate. Having achieved platinum WELL certification, the building prioritises natural sunlight, has built in noise and vibration reduction, exceptional indoor air quality, thermal comfort and water purification.
The building also features living walls and indoor garden spaces, bike storage, cafes, healthy food options and everything the market needs to support a healthy, holistic lifestyle.
Aro Ha – This hotel and resort in New Zealand pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved in terms of wellness real estate, providing an experience that promises a “complete physical and emotional overhaul”. Designed to support the local ecology from the structure through to waste management, environmental management and food, it effectively combines both the green and wellness real estate movements.
As luxurious as it is demanding, this project combines strict, organic nutrition with a demanding schedule of yoga, hiking, functional strength training, cooking classes and treatments – all situated in the remote wilderness. This isn’t just a wellness retreat; it is a training and growth process designed to set you up for a robust approach to wellness in everyday life.
In Closing
Wellness real estate is not a new concept – but it has evolved rapidly thanks to the pressures of the pandemic and the changes it has wrought on everyday living and working.
With the increasing awareness of how our environments impact our health, the growth trajectory may only get stronger from here. Building upon the trends of wellness tourism, green living, and climate awareness, wellness real estate is truly bringing the movement home.
