---
title: "Development Project Costs Rose to Average of $388K Between 2023 and 2026"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/961f0683-901d-40dc-af13-7d43dd8ebe34
source: "Senior Housing News"
original_url: https://seniorhousingnews.com/2026/07/10/development-project-costs-rose-to-average-of-388k-between-2023-and-2026/
author: "Andrew Christman"
category: "Senior Care"
industry: "Senior Care"
published: 2026-07-10T21:06:45.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T13:18:35.664Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1524749292158-7540c2494485?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Development Project Costs Rose to Average of $388K Between 2023 and 2026

**TL;DR:** The average cost of senior living construction projects rose to $388,830 per unit between 2023 and 2026, according to CBRE's development costs report. The cost includes hard costs, soft costs, and site acquisition costs, with hard costs making up 72.5% of the total development cost.

*By Andrew Christman, originally published in Senior Housing News on 2026-07-10. [Read the original](https://seniorhousingnews.com/2026/07/10/development-project-costs-rose-to-average-of-388k-between-2023-and-2026/).*

## Story

New data from CBRE shows the cost of senior living construction projects rose during the ongoing development slowdown.

From the third quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2026, the average cost of senior housing development rose to $388,830 per revenue unit or $364 per square foot, according to the survey, according to CBRE’s most recent development costs report.

The amount of building’s available rentable area has declined to 55.5% of gross building area over the past three years, down from 59.1% in 2023. The cost of furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) surged over the past three years to an average of $11,900 per unit, totaling 3.2% of development costs.

Hard costs such as sitework, foundation work, building shell construction, roofing, finishes, landscaping, signage and labor make up 72.5% of a building’s total development cost. Soft costs such as inspection fees, construction loan expenses, architecture, design, project management and any other carrying costs during construction and leasing make up 16.2% of total costs. Site acquisition costs made the remaining 8.1% of the total cost, ranging from $16,000 to $36,600 per unit, according to the survey.

CBRE also surveyed developers on the returns on costs, noting cap rates rose to 7% in 2026 from 6% in 2023, resulting in returns dropping to 8.1% from 8.2%.

Andrew Christman is a reporter for Senior Housing News as part of WTWH Media, an avid reader and writer. He enjoys new book finds from his local library, and playing tabletop games with friends.

## Entities

- Senior Care (sector)
- Senior Housing News (publication)
- Andrew Christman (person)
- CBRE (company)
- WTWH Media (company)
- construction costs (topic)
- senior living development (topic)
- development costs report (topic)

---
Originally reported by Andrew Christman, Senior Housing News (https://seniorhousingnews.com/2026/07/10/development-project-costs-rose-to-average-of-388k-between-2023-and-2026/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/961f0683-901d-40dc-af13-7d43dd8ebe34).