The Wharf waterfront neighborhood in Washington, D.C. While millennials and young adult renters in neighborhoods like this get the bulk of media attention, older renters actually have as much or even more to do with the last decade?s upswing in downtown urban living | Shutterstock

Wealthy empty nesters looking to downsize are flocking to high-rises; in an aging nation, it?s only the start When Chicagoland developer Michael McLean was building Centrum, a 12-story apartment building in Evanston, a lakefront suburb and university town on the doorstep of Chicago, the target occupant might have seemed obvious. Set amid a walkable downtown of shops, restaurants, and easy transit access to Chicago, the 101-unit high-rise, like so many that have gone up in cities and commuter suburbs across the country, would appear custom-made for millennials. But McLean was actually betting on an older crowd. When Centrum opened in 2017, a third of the building was set to be occupied by empty nesters, 50- to 65-year-old renters, most of whom had downsized from homes they owned in nearby suburbs.
?It just made sense to us,? says McLean, whose company has a number of projects for older renters in the works in Evanston and elsewhere. ?A lot of people want to get out of those huge homes in the North Shore, wanted less maintenance hassles, and an easier trip downtown, yet didn?t want to buy. To rent in a convenient place like Evanston just made a lot of sense.?
While the real estate prefere...