Business Community Government

Heron’s Key expands as ‘Silver Tsunami’ spurs sales of units that haven’t been built yet

For some within a certain demographic, it’s the hottest ticket in town: Heron’s Key, the life-care facility at Gig Harbor North for people 55 years and older, is expanding.

The $110 million construction project — dubbed Phase 2 — will enlarge Heron’s Key by 111,000 square feet and create 54 new independent living units. Emerald Communities, the Redmond-based nonprofit that owns and runs the facility, projects that the units will house some 80 new residents, bringing the total population on the 18-acre campus to about 380.

The project is now in permitting with the city of Gig Harbor. Emerald Communities expects to break ground in July, said Sandra Cook, vice president of marketing and public relations.

Most units already sold

The nonprofit began pre-sales for the Phase 2 units in early 2025, and has sold 90 percent of them already, she said. The new dwellings consist of three cottages containing two units each and a new four-story building with 48 apartments.

With its rich offering of activities, some residents compare living at Heron’s Key to being on a cruise ship that never leaves port. Phase 2 will add more amenities, including an Olympic-size swimming pool with a hot tub, expanded meeting room and fitness center space, and a deli café for quick meals.

Heron’s Key, which opened in 2018, is fully occupied. An additional 80 households (single and partnered) have paid $5,000 for spots on a waiting list, Cook said. (The $5,000 is either applied to the payer’s entrance fee or refunded, less a $500 administrative fee, to those who don’t enter the facility.)

As evidenced by the strong demand, the Heron’s Key Phase 2 expansion is riding what marketers call the “Silver Tsunami.” The term refers to the large cohort of Baby Boomers entering the years when their demand for age-related products and services is highest.

The planned Phase 2 expansion of Heron’s Key will include 48 units in a new four-story building. Twenty-four of these will look out onto the facility’s pond and trails.

Baby Boomers turning 80

The first Baby Boomers, born in 1946, turn 80 this year. The mean age for entering independent living facilities is 80.6 years, according to a recent survey of 4,600 senior housing residents conducted by the American Seniors Housing Association.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates peg the national population of 80-year-olds at more than 1.75 million as of July 1, 2024. That is almost 31% more than the 80-year-old population nine years earlier.

The trend will increase. The Census Bureau projects the population of 80-year-olds in the United States will reach more than 2.7 million by July 2035, reflecting the fact that births during the baby boom peaked in the mid-1950s and again in 1961.

People high up on the Heron’s Key waiting list aren’t obligated to take the next available unit. They can decline and stay at the top of the list.

But the natural course of aging provides a disincentive to wait. Independent living, the care level at which seniors are fully self-sufficient, is the only entry point at Heron’s Key.

The facility provides housing with more intensive support — from assisted living to skilled nursing and memory care — but only for people who are already in its independent living community.

Heron’s Key screens would-be entrants to confirm they can handle tasks of everyday living. A senior who reaches the top of the waiting list today but turns down an available unit has no guarantee of being able to pass the test when the next spot opens.

Finances

Heron’s Key also screens prospective residents’ finances to confirm they can afford a lifetime commitment to living there.

The costs can be substantial. Residents entering Heron’s Key Phase 1 units in 2026 and opting for a traditional payment arrangement (one that does not include any refund) pay an entrance fee as low as $230,800 for the least expensive floor plan, 729 square foot with one bedroom.

The entrance fee under the traditional payment plan for the most expensive Phase 1 dwelling — an 1,800-square-foot, two-bedroom-plus-den floor plan in one of the facility’s cottages — starts at $989,400. For all units, entrants pay an additional upfront “second person fee,” starting at $37,500 under the Phase 1 traditional plan, if a spouse or partner will share their unit.

Those entering Phase 1 units this year can also opt for packages in which the entrance fee is higher but is partly refundable in 50 percent, 75 percent and 90 percent amounts at the end of their residencies. For example, entrants choosing the 729-square-foot, one-bedroom unit can opt to pay $339,400 upfront, with 75 percent of this amount returned to their estate when they die.

However, in marketing the Phase 2 units, Heron’s Key has eliminated the traditional (non-refundable) payment option. Entrants must instead pay higher upfront fees that are 75 percent or 90 percent refundable.

Dauntless II and Bradbury are two of the floor plans offered in Heron’s Key Phase 2. Source: Heron’s Key.

“We use the higher entrance fees to help initially pay down the short-term debt” associated with the construction, “so we don’t have to finance as much,” Cook said. She noted this is a “very common practice” in the world of life-care plan facilities.

Fees and food

Heron’s Key residents also pay a monthly service fee. For Phase 2 units, this starts at $4,842 per month for the least costly unit, rising to $8,780 per month for the highest-end cottage dwelling. The monthly second-person fee in Phase 2 will be $2,630.

As part of Heron’s Key’s life-care model, its residents can be confident that fee increases will be moderate and predictable, Cook said. Service fees stay level across different levels of care, with skilled nursing costing the same amount monthly as independent living.

Fees are not capped, though, and they increase over time to meet the facility’s operating costs. Heron’s Key entrance fees increased 6% in 2026, while the monthly service fee grew by 4.75%, Cook said. Residents at care levels other than independent living also currently pay $1,000 per month for meals.

Cook noted that if a resident’s assets run out while they reside at Heron’s Key, they can apply for help from a “benevolence fund” maintained for this purpose. No resident who loses the ability to pay fees due to circumstances beyond their control is required to leave, she said.

Residents on board with expansion

Heron’s Key has communicated with current residents about the Phase 2 expansion, both to gather input on how the facility can be improved as part of the project, and to prepare community members for any downsides, such as limited availability of the conferences rooms that are being expanded during construction, said Oscar Roberto, who has lived with his wife at Heron’s Key for the last five years and serves on its residents’ council.

Outreach has included meetings at Heron’s Key with Emerald Communities management about the upcoming work, he said.

Roberto, a 75-year-old retired chemist, said residents’ reactions to the expansion has been fairly positive. “We’d really like to have more space” in the conference rooms, he said. The deli will be convenient, he said, noting that he thinks the existing sit-down eatery at Heron’s Key is “the best restaurant in town.”

Heron’s Key will still have space on its campus to accommodate growth after Phase 2. The facility’s mater plan includes a Phase 3 expansion and will probably occur in about seven years, Cook said. “We want to be cautious in how we grow.”

Roberto said that however much demand exists for the Heron’s Key lifestyle, he prefers to see it expand in phases, rather than all at once. “You need to stabilize and make sure everything works, then you expand,” he said.