Senior living operators with smaller footprints are making moves that will help them compete in a new operating landscape. Small-home operator Dallas-based Sage Oak has grown through ground-up development but is shifting to focus on “aggressive acquisitions,” according to CEO Loe Hornbuckle. “We did a distressed acquisition of a chunk of someone else’s portfolio that […]
Baby boomers are a different customer than the generation that came before them. Many want experiences – and contact with people of all ages. University senior living projects are one way that senior living operators have incorporated people of different generations. Senior living communities also are sometimes directly hosting students, artists in residence and researchers […]
Senior living development is anything but easy in 2026, which is why some operators are adding pocket neighborhoods, expanding independent living and memory care and planning other new projects to expand their existing campuses. These new projects typically are aimed at either end of the senior care continuum, ranging from adding lifestyle-focused independent living to […]
Leaders with Sonida (NYSE: SNDA) Senior Living have shifted their focus from stabilizing communities to growth as the company enters into a new phase of operations built around leveraging scale. Sonida earlier this year completed an acquisition of CNL Healthcare Properties, a move that helped assemble the Dallas-based company into a $3.5 billion platform with […]
Simply reaching prospects is half the battle for senior living sales teams. Sometimes, the hardest part is getting them to actually walk through the front door. High demand is leading to higher occupancy rates and longer waitlists alike. Senior living providers are taking steps to engage prospects by making event programming more targeted, social and […]
Increasing dietary flexibility. More variety. New tastes. These are among the top trends for senior living culinary staff in 2026. Benchmark Senior Living staff have responded to a dramatic uptick in the number of requests for dietary information in order to keep up with the increased level of care and medicine residents have, according to […]
Epoch Senior Living is continuing to grow in 2026, including with the launch of a new brand to support recent acquisitions and expanding their renowned Bridges memory care program to a new brand. Epoch Senior Living Chairperson Laurie Gerber took over as the company’s top leader in 2023 following the death of her husband and former Epoch […]
While the senior living industry is preparing for the baby boomers, active adult operators already are looking even farther down the road. With a resident base that is usually in their low 70s, active adult operators have for years grappled with the needs and desires of the boomers. Some are even thinking about Gen X, […]
Some senior living trends are obvious, from the boom of the active adult sector to the rise of wellness-focused models. But other trends are less apparent. These “ghost trends” are not yet the industry equivalent of the gigantic Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, but they are shaping the industry in notable and increasingly important ways. They involve consumers, investors and operators, and […]
This story is part of your SHN+ subscription As demand for senior living surges and the rate of new community openings stagnates, operators are in 2026 moving closer to full occupancy. That means they must be at the top of their games. In 2026, the oldest baby boomers turned 80 years old. In the coming […]
