Vitality Adds 10 Former Atria Communities in JV with Winterpast, Sculptor

Brentwood, Tennessee-based Vitality Living and partners Winterpast Capital Partners (WCP) and Sculptor Real Estate announced the acquisition of 10 communities across the Southeastern United States.

The communities, located in Florida (5), Kentucky (4), and Alabama (1), were previously owned by Ventas (NYSE: VTR) and operated by Atria Senior Living. Vitality did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

The portfolio brings more than 500 workers and 1,300 residents to the Vitality portfolio, which now numbers more than 30 communities and marks the company’s first venture in the state of Kentucky.

The timing was fortuitous, as the deal was completed before year-end 2021, and expanded Vitality’s portfolio just as the company was also exiting seven standalone memory care communities, CEO Chris Guay told Senior Housing News.

Those memory care communities were the last third-party management contracts that Vitality was involved in; the company has moved toward a model of having an ownership stake in its properties.

The move is in keeping with comments made by Guay during his appearance on SHN+ TALKS in December.
“We think the Southeast has got some great markets that are still prime opportunities,” said Guay. “We were looking and tapping into those.”

The acquisition capped the most active year for acquisitions in the history of WCP-Vitality, according to a press release.

The communities were very well operated by Atria but are around 20 years old, Guay told SHN. So, Vitality and its JV partners plan some capital improvement projects.

Location played a big role in the acquisition, according to Guay who said that Vitality liked that the locations are all clustered together.

Indeed, three of the five Florida properties are within a 45-minute drive from one another and the four Kentucky properties are in the Louisville area.

“It fits really well with where we want to be; what we want to do from a geographic standpoint,” Guay said.

Covid-19 caused Vitality to shift its growth strategy.

“Pre-Covid… we were doing more development,” said Guay. “We were looking at developments, the cost to build was better. It was cheaper and there were more opportunities.”

One such pre-Covid Vitality development is Landmark Lifestyles at Tupelo, an active adult community in Tupelo, Mississippi.

For Guay, markets like Tupelo and Madison, Georgia are “honey holes.”

“We were all looking for those underserved markets,” Guay said in an appearance on the SHN Transform podcast in December 20202. “Where maybe there’s not a lot of product there [and there are] great resident demographics – a potential draw for adult decision-makers.

However, during the height of the pandemic, Vitality assessed how the landscape had shifted and moved toward acquiring communities or existing businesses.

“Everything we’ve done so far in 2021 has been acquisitions or helping take over a business that was already existing,” said Guay. “That seems to be the direction we’re still going as we head into 2022.”

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