Corfac News

The most recent issue of Development Magazine had an article on the “Back to the City” movement, about how millennials and baby boomers are shaping the future of real estate. CORFAC Affiliates will be discussing the related topics Revitalization and Reurbanization at the 2014 Fall Summit in Chicago, September 3-6.

 The baby boomer generation (about 76 million strong) and the millennials (about 77 million) together total more than150 million people. Collectively, both the millennials and boomers will continue to reshape the nation’s built environment in coming years, because they represent nearly half the U.S. population. Most strikingly, multiple surveys reveal a growing preference for urban living among both generations. Approximately 40 percent of each cohort, about 60 million people, currently prefer to live and work in denser, walkable city neighborhoods accessible by transit, suggesting steady long-term growth in urban populations — and in new commercial real estate projects to meet their needs.

 

Surveys also show that the two cohorts share more than common preferences. They also face many similar economic issues. Boomers, many of whom are facing less secure retirement years, want to reduce expenses, downsize belongings and slash commuting costs — and are willing to have less living space to achieve those goals. Today’s underemployed millennials, on the other hand, need to live inexpensively, and so actively seek to live, work and play in cities because of their often greater affordability, housing choices, walkability and transit options. Increasingly, both generations are seeing cities as the answer to their wants and needs.

The preferences could mean big changes for real estate in cities. Revitalization of downtowns and a focus on multi-purpose areas – where living, working, and shopping can all happen within walking distance – is occurring right now, and CORFAC International will focus on Revitalization and Reurbanization at the upcoming Fall Summit in Chicago, September 3-6.