Gray power Retirement living options abound across North Carolina, attracting newcomers and hefty investments from corporations and not-for-profit housing groups.
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BY SHANNON CUTHRELL
ttracting people to move to Brunswick Forest, a master-planned community near Wilmington for adults age 55 and older, isn’t overly challenging these days. Hordes of retiring baby boomers and others long for the coastal lifestyle. Fifty lots sold in January, 20 more than in a typical month. President Jerry Helms says he expects 400 to 500 sales this year. Unfortunately, getting homes built on those lots is frustrating Helms. The typical sixmonth construction process now stretches to nine or 10 months because of worker shortages and delays in deliveries of windows, doors and appliances. “As soon as we get new lots on the ground, our builders are starting homes, and those homes are selling before they’re ever complete,” Helms says. “It’s a great problem to have, but if we had stock on the shelves, so to speak, and weren’t selling just-in-time inventory, we could really have 500 to 600 sales per year.” “When a builder has to wait 22 weeks for a window to go into a home,” he adds, “that slows the whole process down.”
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4/22/22 11:49 AM