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Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium to Take Place May 14 in New York City

With wellness real estate the fastest-growing market in the global wellness economy, the Global Wellness Summit’s event will feature top experts exploring the new ways that health and wellness are transforming homes, cities, workplaces, architecture and design

Miami, FL – March 12, 2024 – The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) today announced that its third annual Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium will take place Tuesday, May 14, 2024. The all-day event will be held in person at JPMorgan Chase headquarters in Manhattan—and also virtually. This is the first, and only, conference that brings together leaders in real estate, investment, architecture, design, public policy, technology, medicine and sustainability to take a deep dive into how a new health and wellness lens is reimagining every built environment: our homes, communities, cities, workplaces, hospitals and senior living.

Experts will explore the concepts, trends and technologies that will define the future of this fast-evolving sector. Presentations will tackle a wide range of topics, from a rising democratization in the market (new, affordable wellness-focused housing), to the breakneck speed with which new technologies are creating healthier buildings, to how wellness design is transforming healthcare, and how longevity programming and design is a fast-rising trend in wellness real estate.

The first slate of speakers includes Christopher Sharples, founding principal of world-renowned global architecture firm, SHoP Architects; Deborah Birx, MD, the physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator; healthy buildings “guru” Joseph Allen, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; David Luu, MD, doctor and tech entrepreneur focused on longevity science; and Frank Lipman, MD, one of the world’s top experts on integrative and functional medicine.  The Global Wellness Institute will present new research and insights on the global wellness real estate market.

On the evening before the symposium (May 13), there will be a networking cocktail event at SHoP Architects’ studios in the Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan, where attendees will be introduced to the creative design process.

The fastest-growing wellness market: Within the $5.6 trillion global wellness economy, wellness real estate has been the fastest-growing of all eleven wellness sectors—before, during and after Covid-19. But the market is very much a tale of “before” and “after” the pandemic, which dramatically accelerated the understanding among consumers and the building industry about the critical role our environments play in our physical and mental wellbeing. The sector nearly doubled from 2019-2022 (growing from $225 billion to $398 billion), while overall construction output fell significantly. Wellness real estate is forecast to be the #1 wellness market growth leader through 2027 (17.4% annual growth), when it will reach $887.5 billion. While the US is by far the largest market at $176 billion, it’s a huge global movement, with China ($63B), the UK ($23B), Australia ($22.5B), and France ($17B) rounding out the top five markets.

“In just the last year, there has been incredible global momentum for wellness real estate: it’s no longer just amenity-packed, resort-like properties for the lucky few,” said Nancy Davis, GWS executive director and chief creative officer. “Everything in the built environment is getting a healthy, holistic rethink. Homes, buildings and workplaces that work to improve the wellbeing of occupants are no longer a ‘nice to have’ feature: it’s becoming an expectation. This is a pivotal, permanent shift, and we’re bringing together a powerful group of experts to discuss where this is all going. And we will present real-world investment numbers and returns on projects.”

Early Speaker Lineup: 

  • Joseph G. Allen, assistant professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; director of the Healthy Buildings program.
  • Deborah Birx, MD, chief medical & science advisor, ActivePure, will host a unique town hall-style session exploring the impact of wellness design on healthcare.
  • Anjan Chatterjee, MD, professor of neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; director, Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, on what the latest neuroscience research tells us about architecture.
  • Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO, will present a curated overview of more than a dozen important global projects underway.
  • Don Genders, founder and CEO, Design for Leisure, on how wellness projects are taking over unused real estate, such as offices and retail.
  • Andressa Gulin, MD, of AG7, the first wellness building platform in Brazil, operating as developers, asset managers, private equity real estate investors and property managers.
  • Frank Lipman, functional medicine leader, and Dr. David Luu, longevity science expert and founder of Hearty, the longevity tech platform, in conversation on “Longevity by Design: The Ultimate Real Estate Amenity.”
  • Ari Peralta, award-winning neuroscientist and sensory designer on how interior designers are turning to art, science and technology to develop exciting new spatial therapies for wellness real estate.
  • Red Sea Global, the company behind some of the world’s most ambitious development ventures, including luxury regenerative tourism destinations The Red Sea and AMAALA in Saudi Arabia.
  • Christopher Sharples, founding principal of SHoP Architects.
  • Teri Slavik-Tsuyaki, principal, tsk ink, and JF Garneau, principal, INITIAL real estate, on the process of authentically embedding wellness into properties, literally “from the ground up.”

Early sponsors include: Fountain Life, Arch Amenities Group, JPMorgan Chase and SHoP Architects.

About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit is an organization that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $5.6 trillion global wellness economy. In addition to an annual conference, held at a different location around the globe, GWS hosts regular in-person and virtual gatherings, including an annual Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium,  and a series of Wellness Master Classes. GWS also produces the Global Wellness Conversations podcast and “The Doctor is INclusive” webinar series.The organization’s annual Global Wellness Trends Report offers expert-based predictions on the future of wellness that are oft-quoted in the media. The 18th annual Summit will be held in St. Andrews, Scotland, November 4-7, 2024.