Build Senior Living Pushes Ahead With Development-forward Growth Strategy

Build Senior Living has built a portfolio of over 40 senior living communities from ground-up development since the company’s founding in 2012, focusing on building regional density in growing senior living markets in Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Texas.

Build Senior Living CEO Shahid Imran has a simple goal in all that: to delight generations of older adults now entering senior living communities through thoughtful community design and a wide range of lifestyle services and amenities.

“Our mission is about spoiling the generation who spoiled us,” Imran told SHN. “If someone should have a better lifestyle, it should be our seniors.”

Imran said he’s spent a large portion of his time educating finance partners on why they should keep investing in new development, noting a “lack of knowledge” for some newer entrant investors in the space.

At present, Build Senior Living has six projects under construction as it stands in 2025, and development will continue to be a priority for the Cape Coral, Florida-based senior living developer and operator.

“Development gives strength to our operations and at the end of the day, there has to be a product that’s easily manageable and profitable,” Imran said. “We want our communities to feel like home and we have to adapt things.”

Imran pointed to the extreme new unit shortage facing the industry as demand for senior living grows but construction rates remain muted and below past norms.

“There will be opportunity in this space for the next 30 years and we must be ready,” Imran said.

Build Senior Living projects typically have at least 85 or 90 units to create scale and generate strong operating performance, with communities including independent living, assisted living and memory care.

The company’s latest project, in Chesapeake, Virginia, is slated to open in July of 2025. The company also has a project underway in Winchester, Virginia, that is set to open later this summer. Build Senior Living recently opened a new community in Crowley, Texas, the first in the state. The company has projects under construction in Titusville, Florida and Daytona Beach, Florida, along with an ongoing project in Saint Augustine, Florida, according to Imran.

In a given year, Imran sees it possible for Build to start on six to seven properties annually, depending on market conditions. The company did not open any new communities in 2024, but rebounded with multiple starts and openings this year, he added.

To identify which areas to build next, Imran said Build will review population density and various economic data points like median household income in determining where to next locate a Build community.

“It’s simple, we study where the seniors are and we build density,” Imran said.

Alongside the company’s development effort, Imran launched a public awareness campaign calling for sweeping changes to assisted living reform. The effort started following resident and staff complaints at a Build community that had received 81 allegations of potential infractions. In the proposed reforms, Imran called for creating a nationwide, centralized caregiver database to provide operators with insights into a prospective employee’s job history, along with creating a national system for tracking employees dismissed for abuse, neglect or misconduct.

“We’re not just building communities, we’re shaping what the future looks like in senior living,” Imran said. “We can’t do anything if my foundation in providing care and protecting residents is not good.”

To adapt to the changing needs of senior living customers, Imran said Build communities rely on an array of amenities, including things like movie theaters, salons, libraries, game rooms, golf putting greens and swimming pools, while still remaining competitive for middle-market senior living options, Imran said.

“We’ve found a good pocket of demand in the middle market and this is where we are today,” Imran said.

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