Some senior living operators continue to rebuild occupancy in the wake of the pandemic, but three Thrive Senior Living communities have achieved 100% occupancy — with one community at full capacity for the past 19 months.
Thrive at Augusta, an assisted living and memory care community in Augusta, GA, has been at 100% occupancy for more than a year and a half. It is joined by Thrive at Brow Wood, a senior living community in Lookout Mountain, GA, and Thrive at Green Island, an assisted living and memory care community in Columbus, GA, in achieving full capacity this year.
“For us, 100% occupancy means much more than a number,” Thrive President and Chief Financial Officer Sebby Kannukkaden said. “This milestone tells us that every room is filled with older adults living their best, most fulfilled lives. It means that our teams are making sure they’re valued, understood, cared for and appreciated.”
Thrive founder Jeramy Ragsdale told McKnight’s Senior Living that the three communities are known as the best places to work in their respective markets and that having a “unified and engaged” onsite team made them great places to live as well. Thrive, he added, is committed to “paying up” for executive directors — referred to as “presidents” by Thrive — and that that investment has paid off.
“We’ve learned that it’s not possible to remain the ‘newest’ or ‘most modern’ community in any market for long, and that the culture and reputation of the community are crucial to sustainable success,” Ragsdale said. “In addition to making the community a great place to work, we are simply willing to pay what it takes to keep team members engaged.”
Community leaders also are charged with “building a bench” of potential candidates to fill future vacancies. The tactic has helped the company eliminate almost all agency labor across its portfolio of communities in Alabama, Georgia and New Jersey.
Each of the three communities that achieved 100% occupancy, Ragsdale said, did so after their current leadership teams were installed, affirming the company’s belief that the teams themselves are key factors to success. The company anticipates that “multiple” other communities likely will reach 100% occupancy in the next few quarters.
Growth in ‘new and exciting ways’
“Motivated by this performance, we are advancing plans to grow in new and exciting ways over the coming months and years, including expanding our reach to the baby boomer generation through the development of a new class of active adult communities,” Chief Investment Officer Alan Moise said.
The decision to pursue active adult prospects relates to a shift that the company has seen in its independent living resident profile, as well as a niche market need that is not broadly being met, Ragsdale said. The company is focusing on Southeast markets where it already has a footprint.
“By offering a mixed typology of units — cottages, stacked flats and some apartments — and adding some limited, but unique, amenities not typically seen in active adult, we feel that we’ll appeal to the ‘renter by choice’ resident a bit earlier than they may be open to a typical independent living or active adult apartment,” Ragsdale said. “We love the creative process of learning what the consumer needs and creating a fresh way to meet those needs with each project.”
Thrive introduces new GP capital fund
At the same time, Thrive has announced the successful raise of its first discretionary general partner capital fund, which will be capped at $15 million. The new GP fund co-invests in each of the company’s new communities alongside its institutional limited partners.
After years of raising funds on a deal-by-deal basis with its 42 initial projects, Thrive adopted a new investment strategy. Friends, family and investors now have the ability to invest across multiple assets at the same time. This move, according to the company, will ensure smoother capital management and open new avenues for potential investors to “piggyback” on the underwriting and asset management abilities of Thrive and its larger limited partners, as well as get access to direct investments.
“The launch of our first discretionary GP capital fund is an exciting step forward for Thrive, as it allows us to streamline our investment process and forge stronger partnerships with our investors,” Ragsdale said. “We remain dedicated to our mission of creating meaningful communities and connections for seniors and look forward to a continued future of growth and success.”
