A regional senior living player has plans to grow its presence on the West Coast.
La Jolla, California-based Westmont Living is planning to open half a dozen communities over the next three years — and it’s staffing the company accordingly. Earlier in January, the company announced it had appointed a new vice president of human resources, an operations specialist, a regional director, an executive director and a digital marketing manager.
The new personnel are meant to aid the company as it expands its regional footprint, according to Rob Henderson, senior vice president of operations for Westmont.
“Westmont has been operating under the radar for a bit, and we’re doing our best to get on the radar,” Henderson told Senior Housing News. “With our pipeline now, a lot of things are falling into place.”
Westmont is headed up by CEO Michael O’Rourke and President Andy Plant. The co-founders — both alumni of real estate services firm Marcus & Millichap — created Westmont in 2008 after more than a decade of leasing out owned communities to third-party managers.
Westmont currently has 15 communities, with 13 of those in California and two in Oregon. Most of its communities range between 110 to 120 units of independent living, assisted living and memory care — but not all. Last September, the company acquired for $58 million a 589-unit former CCRC in Riverside, California, that was said to be California’s third-largest senior living community. Westmont renamed the community from Altavita Village to Westmont Village after the acquisition and converted it to a rental fee structure.
And, last October, Westmont opened a 137-unit senior living community in La Mesa, California, as part of a public-private partnership between the senior living provider and the City of La Mesa. The project also includes some collaboration with the nearby Sharp Grossmont Hospital and Healthcare District.
The company is a majority or sole owner in 14 of the 15 communities it operates. Its partners include developer SRM, which is working with Westmont on four upcoming projects. Westmont also has its own general contracting arm, Westmont Construction, which typically oversees about one project per year, Henderson said.
Looking ahead, Westmont will continue to expand through development and acquisitions, though likely not outside of the Golden State, where Westmont can rely on efficiencies of scale to streamline its operations.
“The one thing we know for sure is we want to be a California organization,” Henderson said. “We’re not in it for the flip. We’re long-term holders.”