Consider this about Iowa’s population:

A little more than 1.1 million, or 36%, of Iowa’s 3.19 million residents are 50 years or older, according to information compiled by SeniorLiving.org. In Polk County, Iowa’s most populous county, nearly one in four residents are 55 or older.

As the state’s population ages, older residents will likely gravitate to housing that is easy to get around in; has little maintenance requirements; and is near amenities like trails, commercial centers and medical facilities.

“Between now and 2050, demand for housing aimed at older adults is just going to get bigger and bigger,” said Bryan Schnurr, who over a year ago partnered with J. Ross Nichols to start MavenCrux Development, a Clive-based company that specializes in the development of senior living communities.

Schnurr and Nichols both have extensive backgrounds in developing senior living communities across the country. Most of the projects involved the development of continuing care retirement communities that included a range of living arrangements, including single-family homes, independent and assisted living, and skilled and memory care.

The business partners wanted to bring a slice of retirement community living to Central Iowa and opted to focus on single-family residences.

MavenCrux Development is developing Amare Vita at Shadow Creek, a new community for active adults being built at 4401 N. Warrior Lane in Clive. A second development, Amare Vita at High Pointe, is planned in West Des Moines, southwest of Jordan Creek Mall. The partners are also looking at developing Amare Vita projects in at least three other Des Moines-area locations and in Iowa City.

Fifty-eight homes either have been built or are being constructed at Amare Vita Shadow Creek, a development aimed at active adults 55 and older. The development is at 4401 N. Warrior Lane in Clive. Photo by Duane Tinkey

Stand-alone townhomes in Amare Vita Shadow Creek include seven models. All are low maintenance with luxury vinyl plank flooring and quartz countertops. Photo by Duane Tinkey

Several of the home models at Amare Vita Shadow Creek include rooms that can be used as a den, office or sitting room. Photo by Duane Tinkey

Homes in the new Amare Vita development in Clive include wide turning radiuses for people who use wheelchairs or walkers. The width of doorways in the homes can accommodate wheelchairs. Photo by Duane Tinkey

The project’s general contractor is Ankeny-based Keen Project Solutions. Houses were designed by Schemmer architect group in Grimes. 

The Clive development will include 58 lots and homes that range in size from 1,800 square feet to over 3,200 square feet in a two-story model. Homes each have oversized two-vehicle garages with extra storage space. Prices start at about $497,000.

Amare Vita is aimed at people 55 and older who are active but ready to downsize and spend less time mowing grass and shoveling snow, Schnurr said. “This is for people who aren’t really ready to move to a retirement community but who want to downsize. They might want to live in a Sun Belt state six months of the year and live [in Iowa] the other six months.”

Few Central Iowa developments offer new, stand-alone, high-end townhomes, Schnurr said. “There are some that are 10 to 15 years old and people are putting a lot of money into them for renovations. … We’re missing this type of product in this market.”   

Beginning in the 2023 tax year, Iowa will no longer tax retirement income. The new rule, which was part of legislation passed by Iowa lawmakers in 2022, will likely attract new residents to the state and keep current residents from moving to states with similar laws, Schnurr said.

“There are a lot of baby boomers with cash who want to downsize but they don’t have a lot of options available to them,” Schnurr said. The Amare Vita developments are now a new option, he said.

The community is designed to create interactions among residents, Nichols said. Decks on most of the stand-alone townhouses face walking trails that will go through the development. A clubhouse is in the middle of the Clive development; a swimming pool and pickleball and bocce ball courts are also planned.

“It’s usually couples that move into these types of communities,” Nichols said. “They don’t want to sit in their home and marinate. They want to be out in the community.”

The layout of the community creates opportunity for chance encounters, Nichols said. “When people are out for a walk, we want them to run into each other. If you’re sitting on your front porch and someone walks by, you are close enough to the sidewalk that you can say ‘hello.’”

Fifteen or so years ago, most high-end developments targeted at people 55 and older were built in Florida, Arizona and parts of California and Texas, Nichols said. A few years later, areas of Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina were popular places for the developments.

“Now, since Covid, I think the draw to move back to the Midwest and be closer to family is going to be more and more prevalent,” Nichols said. “Actually, we’re already seeing it. We are getting a lot of calls from people wanting to move here because they want to be closer to their families.”