covid-19 may lead to construction of new housing communities

Among the numerous COVID-19 impacts on the nation’s construction industry, one of the more longlasting may be the building of health-centered housing communities.

Dennis Frenchman, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate, has announced the inauguration this fall of a new course that will be focused entirely on developing and building such communities.

The course, which is geared for architects, real estate investors, city planners, and health technology entrepreneurs, will underline the importance of factoring in health care considerations in the building of residential space.

“As the concept of health and well-being is continuously adjusting to people’s needs, especially during health crises such as the one caused by COVID-19,” notes the publication Multi-Housing News, “focusing only on site selection and building materials is no longer enough.”

Health-centered housing communities, according to sources, will see an emphasis put on both architecture and technology in a move to promote healthy living. The construction of such communities is thought to be more likely to occur, at least initially, in the nation’s towns and smaller cities.

Such communities will additionally have open courtyard spaces where residents can interact, with space also provided for entertainment and community events.

The syllabus for Frenchman’s course, which will be taught on the campus of both MIT and Harvard University, notes that with seniors seeking convenient housing options and younger generation members pursuing better work/life balances, a “confluence of medical and real estate trends” is coming together.
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Bringing together the goals of the nation’s housing industry with those of the medical care industry may be less complicated than imagined, contends the Multi-Housing news: “There’s a huge pool of resources out there that could be used to establish community health care centers and other localized places of care, and provide support to people in their homes.”

​By Garry Boulard

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