Mrs. Helen Foster

Helen is the owner and principal of Foster Strategy, LLC. She just completed a four-year tenure as Chair of the Urban Land Institute's Lifestyle Residential Development Council, which she also co-founded, and she is the immediate past Co-chair of the Global Wellness Institute's Wellness Communities and Real Estate Initiative. She's an advisor, speaker, and awards judge for organizations including ULI, Leading Age, NIC, and the Pacific Coast Builders Conference. In 2022, she was a panelist for the Wharton D.C. Innovation Summit and ULI's Charles H. Shaw Symposium on Urban Community Issues. Before launching her own company in 2008, Helen was Partner and Co-manager of the Boomer+ consumer division of the multinational communications firm, J. Walter Thompson. Her unique approach to development strategy is rooted in her 13-year tenure at JWT – an immersion in consumer-mindedness and branding expertise. Now with over 28 years of real estate experience, she helps developers and operators across the U.S. envision and deliver wholly new approaches to community development and resident life. She is best known for 20+ years of collaboration with two renowned, large-scale developments: Willow Valley Communities (Lancaster, PA, since 1996) and Rancho Mission Viejo (San Juan Capistrano, CA, since 2004), which have received countless awards for innovation and development excellence. For Willow Valley Communities – a Lifecare Type A community that is already home to more than 2,600 residents from 40+ states – Helen has worked extensively in strategic planning and marketing, most recently to support the organization's expansion into downtown Lancaster. She has taken a lead role in establishing and advancing a vision to master plan two significant sites – one, a complete revitalization of an historic (c. 1888), 45,000 sf market structure; and the second, a new 20-story, mixed-use tower on an urban infill site, which ultimately will be the tallest structure in Lancaster. Lancaster's Southern Market opened in February 2022, featuring a modern food hall with 12 chefs serving international cuisines, a full bar, coffee shop, flex and permanent offices, and community rooms. The mixed-use tower, Mosaic, is now fully entitled, with construction expected to begin by early 2025. Mosaic will include 146 age-qualified (55+) apartments, a full array of resort-grade amenities, and restaurants and retail that will be open to the public. Helen is immediate past Vice President of the Board at Willow Valley Communities, and she now serves as Member Emeritus. For Rancho Mission Viejo, Helen provides vital support to the development and marketing teams. Rancho Mission Viejo is entitled for 14,000 single-family homes on over 23,000 acres – 6.000 acres of which will be developed, with the remaining 17,000 acres set aside for permanent preservation. The plan integrates parks/trails, indoor/outdoor amenities, retail, commercial, traditional multi-family, and service-enriched communities. Rancho Mission Viejo engaged Helen in a strategic planning capacity in 2004, and its first home sold in 2013. Now with 5,000+ homes sold and occupied, The Ranch is widely recognized as an intergenerational community best practice. Helen is a recognized contributor to its success, and her role has expanded over the years – now encompassing research oversight and interpretation, visioning and direction setting, amenity planning and resident life, 55+ and all-age integration (neighborhoods and programming), and homebuilder support. A third long-time client, David Weekley Homes, engaged Helen in 2014 to prototype and launch the company's 55+ community brand, Encore. Now after years of successful launches, expansion continues with Helen's support. She helps to assess new land-acquisition opportunities, and she offers guidance on master-developer/builder partnerships, residential mix, development scope/scale, amenities, brand positioning, and resident policies and restrictions.