Ohio company expands ‘Courtyards’ offerings aimed at 55-plus in northern suburbs

Brent and Eleanore Wilson became part of a growing cohort of Americans when they decided it was time to leave the family home behind.

The Wilsons, both 73, needed a house that was smaller and more convenient, especially after Brent experienced a stroke. So, they did their homework and moved from their two-story house near Geist Reservoir into a “courtyard community” in Carmel.

The Courtyards of Carmel, developed by Dublin, Ohio-based Epcon Communities, is a 149-lot, age-restricted, 55-and-over neighborhood near Keystone Parkway and East 136th Street. It’s one of seven communities Epcon has built or is developing across the northern suburbs as it develops its brand in central Indiana.

The communities offer ranch-style houses with open floor plans ranging from about 1,500 to 4,000 square feet, individual private courtyards and two-car garages. Amenities in each neighborhood include a clubhouse, swimming pool, fitness center, pickleball courts, walking trails and community gardens. Yard maintenance is managed by a homeowners’ association.

Eleanore said she and Brent enjoy watching the sunset from their porch and the moon from their courtyard. While Eleanore tends to a spot in the garden, Brent joins neighbors for euchre games throughout the week. And they both appreciate the lack of stairs in the home they purchased in March 2023.

“Everything just flows, and it’s so convenient from our kitchen to the laundry room, then to our bedroom and our shower,” Eleanore said. “It’s one of the big decisions that we made that has really helped with our lifestyle.”

The Wilsons considered other age-restricted communities in Hamilton County, such as those developed by Phoenix-based Del Webb, which typically have hundreds of home sites. However, the smaller size of The Courtyards of Carmel—Epcon’s largest in the area—was more appealing.

“We looked at a couple,” Brent said. “But we were just concerned they were going to be too large by the time they got fully built out.”

Epcon, founded in 1986 by Ed Bacome and Phil Fankhauser, has focused on the 55-plus demographic from the beginning. The company found an initial niche by building two- and three-bedroom ranch condominiums. Indiana Regional President Robyn Crawford said it was after the housing downturn in the late 2000s that the company started to put a focus on courtyard communities—a concept and design Epcon has copyrighted.

“The company was founded in 1986, but with the focus on continued innovation,” Crawford said. “As the economy changed, then we had to refocus on, ‘What are buyers asking for now?’”

Epcon opened a regional corporate office and design center in 2021 at 11555 N. Meridian St. in Carmel. The company began selling lots at its first community in Carmel in September 2021, followed by the 120-lot Courtyards of Westfield the following month.

In 2023, The Courtyards of Fishers opened with 50 lots, and Epcon in May began selling lots in Zionsville at The Courtyards of Russell Oaks, which will have 140 houses. The 40-lot Courtyards of Towne Run is expected to open in January adjacent to The Courtyards of Westfield.

Members of the Noblesville City Council recently approved plans for The Courtyards of Hazel Dell, which will have 111 houses, and Westfield councilors this month gave the OK to the 80-lot Courtyards of Cielo Ranch. Epcon plans to begin selling lots in both communities next spring.

Home prices range from $450,000 to $1 million. Most of the communities are not restricted to people over 55, but they are targeted tp that age group. (Like Carmel, however, The Courtyards of Cielo Ranch will be age-restricted.)

Looking for land

Director of Land Acquisition Dale Pfeifer compared Epcon’s geographic focus to a clock and said the company targets areas “10-to-2 on the north side, from Brownsburg to McCordsville.” Half of all buyers come from within a 3-mile radius of a courtyard community, he said, while others move from out of town to be near grandchildren.

“We’re more boutique and exclusive and have a higher price point, so people feel like they’re buying into that cachet and that feeling,” Pfeifer said. “They’ve got money, and they’ve got time, and they’re invested in their community, and now they want to right-size from that bigger home that they’ve lived in in Carmel and Zionsville for 30 years.”

When Pfeifer looks for new sites, which typically range from 20 to 40 acres, he appreciates land that has topographical complexities that might have turned off other developers, he said. He also considers nearby services, such as shopping, parks, trails and medical facilities, that can be reached in five minutes.

“I joke that I’ve got a super easy job because of the product and who we are, and it’s easy to sell and the demand is super strong,” Pfeifer said. “But I’ve got a very tough job because we’re very picky and selective on our site locations, and we need to be in areas like this [in Carmel] that are so hard to find.”

In addition to its company headquarters in suburban Columbus, Ohio, and its Carmel office and design center, Epcon has regional corporate offices in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and suburban Atlanta.

While the north-side communities are developed and managed by Epcon’s Indiana-based corporate team, the company also has an extensive franchising network through Epcon Franchising Inc. that has built more than 450 communities in 30 states, including in Franklin and West Lafayette, since its founding in 1995.

Epcon franchisees in Indiana are Indianapolis-based Daugherty Inc., Indianapolis-based Davis Building Group, Valparaiso-based South Shore Communities and West Lafayette-based Essential Homes.

“I worked for a publicly traded builder for almost my entire life, and I’ve been here a little over a year-and-a-half,” Crawford said. “And what really inspired me about the company was, wow, we really know who we are, and that is something you can get behind and help grow.”

‘Silver storm’

The population of the United States is rapidly aging, according to AARP. By 2030, one in five people will be age 65 or older. And by 2033, the number of adults older than 65 will be greater than the number of children under 18.

Kara Shipman, director of sales at Epcon’s Carmel office, called the coming influx of older residents a “silver storm” for the real estate market.

“The silver storm is, they’re all sitting on their homes, getting ready to list them as interest rates maybe start to slow down,” Shipman said. “We anticipate supply going up and more people coming into our communities.”

The situation has led some cities to begin examining their senior housing stock and determining what they need to do to accommodate residents as they age.

In Carmel, Mayor Sue Finkam this summer announced the formation of the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Senior Living, and this month, the Carmel Housing Task Force released a list of 13 key recommendations, which include finding solutions to the city’s shortage in senior housing.

Pfeifer said it’s a benefit to developers like Epcon when cities like Carmel study their needs.

“They figure out that there’s a true need and a true economic benefit for these municipalities to retain that segment of the population for all the benefits because [senior residents] have time and money and resources to put back into the community,” he said. “That’s very helpful when they can acknowledge that and figure out the data.”

Carmel City Council member Rich Taylor, who co-chairs the senior-living commission with Carol Applegate, a retired attorney who worked for Indianapolis-based law firm Applegate & Dillman Elder Law, said he has heard from longtime residents who wonder if they will be able to stay in Carmel, or if they will need to move to Westfield or another community that has a larger supply of senior housing.

“If we provide opportunities for seniors to stay in the community and housing that better fits their needs, then it also frees up housing stock for a young family or others to move into that home since we have very limited housing stock and future housing development opportunities,” Taylor said.

Westfield Mayor Scott Willis acknowledged that his city has gained residents who moved north from Carmel to live in age-restricted communities like Kimbelwick by Del Webb near West 156th Street and Towne Road.

“A number of residents coming to Westfield are retirees who are looking to downsize,” he said. “They live in Hamilton County and can’t find that product or that option in, say, Carmel, and they come to Westfield because we have that.”

Willis added that he is enthusiastic about Westfield soon being home to three Epcon courtyard communities. He said Epcon will acquire some additional land near the Courtyards of Cielo Ranch along East 161st Street to connect a community trail to the Monon Trail.

“It has some really neat assets on the property that fit what we’ve tried to do here in Westfield in terms of amenities for our residents,” he said.

Marlin and Sally Meyer are two of Westfield’s newest residents. In April 2023, the couple moved from their home in Fishers to a 2,200-square-foot house at the Courtyards of Westfield. Marlin, 75, said he and his wife had considered downsizing for years before finally pulling the trigger.

“Would I do it again? Absolutely,” he said. “Only I would do it even earlier.”•