As developers pitch fitness centers, outdoor terraces and other features to attract tenants and residents, estimated global spending on the construction of wellness-related real estate could more than double to nearly $1 trillion by 2028.

Spending on homes and buildings, from office and residential to hospitality and medical properties, that are “proactively designed and built to support the holistic health of” their occupants, is expected to reach $913 billion in 2028 from $438 billion in 2023, according to the Global Wellness Institute. The nonprofit announced the findings Tuesday at a wellness in real estate symposium hosted at JPMorgan Chase’s global headquarters at 383 Madison Ave. in New York.

The growth comes after wellness real estate spending rose 18.1% between 2019 and 2023, more than triple the 5.1% overall global construction spending during the same time, according to the study. While global construction spending has slowed considerably, from 16.7% in 2020-2021 to only 1.9% in 2022-2023, wellness real estate spending still rose 13.4% over the past two years.

Demand is driven not just in the United States, the largest market for such spending. Each of the top 10 largest markets worldwide, which also include Australia, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada and Australia, has seen at least a double-digit annual growth rate in the past five years, the study found.

“The big shift is that you see a lot more types of buildings and developers and real estate projects [incorporating] wellness amenities or elements,” Katherine Johnston, GWI’s senior research fellow, said in an interview. It’s “not just an amenity. They're really thinking more holistically. … We're seeing it across so many property [types like] office, apartments, condos, single-family in a way that it wasn't [done] six years ago.”

The trend of developments with health and wellness pursuits started even before the pandemic began, Johnston told CoStar News, adding the pandemic “sparked” and accelerated the trend.

“You go back 10 to 15 years ago, when you were talking about wellness and environment, it was going to be more in the hospitality space, like a destination spot,” she said. “Now it's getting into regular suburban master land development. … It's completely shifted into the mainstream.”

Real estate developers have discussed the importance of amenities in helping them lease or sell properties. As office vacancy rates in New York and the United States have reached record highs, many employers have expressed the desire for appealing wellness and health-related amenities to help them attract talent and bring workers back to the office.

For example, in what was billed as the largest U.S. office lease last year, brokers negotiated with the landlord to create a double-height outdoor loggia as part of the package that led law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to sign a lease of 765,000 square feet across 17 floors at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, relocating from 1285 Avenue of the Americas.

“Healthy” buildings’ effective rents are between 4.4% and 7.7% more per square foot than those that aren’t considered so, according to a 2020 study of major cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, New York and San Francisco by the Real Estate Innovation Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“There’s a huge focus on wellness standard” from building occupants based on their feedback, Nadia Meratla, executive vice president and head of architecture and design at developer Witkoff, said at the Tuesday event. Witkoff’s portfolio includes such properties as the One High Line luxury condo residences in Manhattan.

This article was updated on May 17 to correct the spelling of Nadia Meratla's name.