Not a bad time to be sixty. The spring in the steps may have gone and climbing the stairs is a bit of a strain, but comfort — crafted just for you — is round the corner.

All you have to do is put your feet up in the home of your choice and relax.

Specially designed apartments for the elderly are becoming increasingly popular with more and more developers packing a host of facilities that range from round-the-clock medical help to anti-skid floors and shorter steps. The focus is on taking care of every need of the 60-plus denizens.

“We are not real estate developers but scientists and servicemen by profession,” said Santosh Mukherjee, one of the brains behind Rosedale Gardens being developed by Bengal Shrachi in New Town Rajarhat on Calcutta’s outskirts.

The set of 60 flats for senior citizens is part of the Rosedale group’s 504-apartment project.

“This project was thought of based on inputs from our friends here who have parents living back in Calcutta,” Mukherjee, who conceived the plan with fellow NRI Shyamal Sarkar, said from the US.

“Handling emergencies, shopping for groceries or even small daily affairs of the home can become a problem for the elderly. In our property we will ensure that the construction follows the latest trends to cater to the needs of the elderly.”

The flats wouldn’t be too large and so easy to maintain. At Rs 2,400 a square foot, they would come with a wardrobe, split air-conditioner, a kitchenette with a one-burner oven, chimney and a refrigerator.

The balconies will be wider and the floors will have special anti-skid ceramic tiles.

Specialist doctors and ambulances would be available on call, while a tie-up with hospitals like the AMRI will ensure quick access to advanced medical help.

Of the 60 flats — the marketing will start from July 1 — 14 would be for local senior citizens and the rest for senior citizens with NRI offspring or relatives.

The flats would come up on around 35 per cent of the total plot while the remaining area would be a vast swathe of green — like the latest construction model followed in America.

Projects like this have been a success in cities like Pune. At Athashri, a 180-apartment complex, senior citizens have everything designed for them — lifts that have plenty of room for wheelchairs and stretchers, compact flats that need minimum maintenance and facilities they can access with minimum physical stress.

There’s a restaurant, a television lounge, a yoga-cum-meditation room, a specially equipped gym and an open-air auditorium. If a resident wants, he can hire a physiotherapist. If someone falls sick, there are doctors and nurses on call.

Even the security staff is trained to give first aid while an ambulance is always ready for any emergency.

A similar project is set to come up in Calcutta, too. Ashakiran, by the PS Group, would be “on the lines of studio apartments or suites, nothing too cumbersome”, said managing director Pradip Chopra.

“And we want the land to be in and around New Town Rajarhat as our study has shown that senior citizens of contemporary times are active and don’t want to live too far from the city.”

The reverse mortgage system — under which an owner mortgages his flat while staying there and gets monthly cheques in return — is also expected to provide a boost.

The senior citizens can buy an apartment for, say, Rs 25 lakh and get paid up to 0.5 per cent of the value of the flat every month. It would also help them take care of medical bills and other expenses.

After the death of the owner, the flat would pass on to another senior citizen, thereby maintaining the chain.

PS Group sources said it was not just about building old-age homes in a society known to look after its elders but about providing an environment, which will give the senior citizens a chance to relive their spring in the autumn of their lives.

So the developers would also enlist the services of an on-campus placement agency to try and find work for a couple of hours or more according to the needs of the residents.

Didn’t somebody say life begins at 60?