Catherine Buell is founder of Wellness Real Estate Innovations. Previously director of Amazon Housing Equity Fund, president/CEO of Atlanta Housing Authority, chair of DC Historic Preservation Review Board, and executive director of St. Elizabeth's East Campus Redevelopment. Harvard Kennedy School Loeb Fellow.
(00:00) Introduction to second interview. Former Amazon Housing Equity Fund director, Atlanta Housing CEO, Harvard Kennedy School Loeb Fellow.
(03:14) New company Wellness Real Estate Innovations - bringing wellness real estate solutions to diverse urban audiences at intersection of health and housing.
(03:42) Personal motivation: mother's dementia/loneliness during COVID highlighted lack of aging options even in expensive continuum care facilities.
(05:33) Philosophy: housing is healthcare and building with care. Traditional housing continuum has cracks - expensive senior housing, limited diverse options. Beautiful places impact how you feel through social connection, walkability, vibrancy.
(09:05) Amazon lessons: Corporate investments influence markets but can't solve entire spectrum. Healthcare organizations increasingly investing in affordable housing targeting high-cost patients. Innovation gap for aging demographic - need co-housing, shared living, wellness communities.
(15:23) Combat loneliness through intentional community design - new urbanist model plus different housing types, oversized green spaces, shared amenities for organic connection.
(17:06) Alternative models: co-housing, shared living, ADUs. PadSplit's tech approach for $27K income essential workers - streamlined access to furnished shared rooms. Shared models add people without changing community character, help aging in place.
(21:26) Key challenge: lack of documented data on wellness community benefits. Need to document outcomes from 1990s/2000s wellness communities.
(23:37) Global Wellness Institute trends:
(27:38) Gap: middle-income households with $80-120K retirement income can't afford elite wellness solutions ($400K-$1M deposits), don't want to leave social networks.
(32:48) Policy needs: data on health/housing intersection, true cost of "do nothing" strategy, economic benefits. Fastest growing DC population is 55+. Loneliness epidemic costs $6.7B annually to Medicaid.
(37:20) Example: dementia village in Ward 7 - 13% of DC seniors have dementia (16% east of river). Netherlands-inspired model with store, pub, church, arts room for quality of life vs traditional memory care.