Avenue Development has brought in prolific active adult operator Greystar to manage its new Viva Bene active adult line of communities, the first of which is slated to open near St. Louis.
The Viva Bene concept is one that marries the more middle-market rates of active adult with access to preventative care for residents. That’s been made possible through a partnership with primary care provider Sevi Health to offer preventative mobile and on-site preventive care for residents.
The first Viva Bene in St. Peters, Missouri, is set to open in October 2024 with pre-leasing underway. The 161-unit community will offer apartments with gathering space, co-working niches, outdoor amenities, a wellness and fitness hub and an area offering preventative primary care dubbed “WellVB.”
Charleston, South Carolina-based Greystar has a deep well of expertise in a variety of industries, including multifamily and senior housing operation, construction and development. The company’s footprint in active adult includes 110 communities owned or operated in 28 states and 90 markets.
Principal and Co-Founder of Indianapolis, Indiana-based Avenue Development Laurie Schultz told Senior Housing News the partnership with Greystar, an “unparalleled” manager of active adult communities, would help propel the Viva Bene concept forward.
“Viva Bene and Greystar share the same vision that we want our residents to be socially and actively engaged,” Schultz said. “Those are the perfect active adult components and they want to create this strong sense of vibrant community that is different for a lot of residents who are living at home.”
Schultz added that the primary care component of the Viva Bene brand will grow over time, fueled by the underlying support from Greystar.
“We’re talking about other locations with [Greystar], and I think the first project is a lot of work on both sides,” Schultz said. “There’s a lot of education, especially with the Sevi Health partnership and we’ve had multiple meetings to put this into Greystar’s robust advertising platform.”
The Sevi Health platform will enable “concierge-type medicine” at a cost that is already included within most residents’ insurance plans. Residents are not required to participate and can keep their own health insurance while Sevi Health provides physician and care coordination services.
While Greystar’s management expertise and Viva Bene’s collaboration is starting small, it is one that could blossom into a larger arrangement , Schultz added.
“I would love for this to be the first of many and I think both companies believe that it will be,” Schultz said. “We’re bringing a first-of-its-kind concept in active adult, and in integrating preventative primary care services and combining Greystar’s leading active adult property management company is a recipe for success that we want to replicate for many years.”
In August, Greystar Senior Managing Director of Active Adult Real Estate Michael Levine told SHN that the company would expand its already extensive active adult footprint “significantly” in 2024.
“We are starting to see that that market is about to explode,” he told SHN in August.
The rapid growth in active adult comes as operators are attracted to the sector’s wide margins and light-to-no-acuity range of residents, with the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) defining the sector in September of last year. That step was viewed widely as a major step forward in the future of active adult and how operators interact with the product type.
At the recent SHN BUILD event in Orlando, Schultz spoke of Avenue’s plans to pursue future development in relatively untouched markets to gain a leg up on the competition.
“We’ve allowed our industry to go stale, and we’ve allowed people to say they want to stay at home or hold off until moving in late,” Schultz said. “Active adult has come … to answer the consumer demand factor and hopefully the industry can get onboard.”
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