Distinctive Living Turns To Jv Growth Strategy To Evolve, Expand For Tomorrow’s Residents

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Distinctive Living is taking a new approach as part of its growth strategy: joint-venture acquisitions with larger capital partners.

The Freehold, New Jersey-based operator is currently fundraising for a specialized investment fund and pursuing joint ventures in order to access broader capital sources, with a target between $100 million and $200 million, according to Chairman and CEO Joe Jedlowski.

Distinctive’s portfolio now numbers 46 communities, and the company is getting back to a new growth footing looking ahead to 2026. Earlier this month, the operator expanded its footprint through a strategic venture with Seascape at Naples and a West Coast global investment firm, one of the first deals through its new fund and “allows us to leverage the expertise and resources of trusted partners while maintaining our core commitment to delivering high-quality care and community integrity,” Jedlowski told Senior Housing News.

“It also provides us with greater flexibility and resilience in a competitive market, enabling us to expand our footprint in a thoughtful, sustainable way that aligns with our long-term vision,” he said.

Alongside its plans for external growth by acquiring and managing new properties, the operator is turning inward and enhancing its care structures and using data to further boost margins and operational performance.

In September, the company announced it had reorganized its executive team by bifurcating one role into two new ones: senior vice president of health and wellness and senior vice president of quality and risk management. Devi Patel will work as SVP of health and wellness while Carol Griffin assumed the role of SVP of quality and risk management.

According to the operator, the reorg underscores its “commitment to elevating resident care, clinical outcomes and AI-enhanced predictive technology as well as increased capture of level of care.”

Distinctive has largely operated as a third party manager and developer, but is now taking a swing at ownership, at least as part of a joint venture. Seascape at Naples meets all the benchmarks the operator is looking for in new investments, including a high barrier to entry with sustainable rent growth opportunities from a 95% occupancy rate.

Distinctive Living will use its new fund to finance development projects in markets between Boston and Florida along the East Coast and other locales that “make sense” for growth, Jedlowski said.

“We’re trying to fill in spots that we maybe don’t have a building,” he said. “We’re trying to be smart and intentional about not only the asset, but where we’ve got and can adequately and appropriately resource our buildings.”

Back to internal and external growth

Distinctive Living’s growth hinges on a three-pronged approach to add the right kind of communities that are in the right markets and are capitalized appropriately, according to Jedlowski.

Distinctive Living’s leaders have spent the better part of the past two years stabilizing the operator’s portfolio, he said. The company’s four-person business intelligence team, which focuses on data and analytics across the company, is a cornerstone of its growth strategy.

The team has in 2025 focused on “peeling the onion” and diving into budgetary areas such as labor and appropriately charging for care. Based on the analysis the team has been able to provide, the company made the decision to shift and expand the levels of care residents can receive based on the needs they have.

“Someone high-functioning can come in and they’re not getting killed with care with someone that is high-acuity or essentially moving through the continuum,” Jedlowski said. “We are perfectly fine with high-acuity, but we also want to be able to capture the revenue associated with it. Otherwise you can’t properly provide the care.”

Through the remainder of 2025 and into early 2026, Jedlowski said one of the company’s priorities is to further build out its analytics team, including the addition of data scientists, healthcare analysts and operations specialists. The team will focus on data points including resident health outcomes, satisfaction scores, operational performance, staffing efficiency and financial metrics, alongside market trends and competitive benchmarks.

The overall goal is to “translate them into actionable strategies that improve resident care, streamline operations and support revenue growth.” To further support the growing team, he added Distinctive is investing in new technology offerings, particularly in AI.

“We’re investing in cutting-edge analytics tools, including machine learning and predictive modeling, so we can stay ahead of industry trends and make data-informed decisions that elevate our communities,” he said.

‘Holistic personalized care’

Distinctive also is looking to explore and expand ancillary services to generate additional revenue throughout the next year. At the moment, outside of its management services, the company doesn’t have any other operating lines, though Jedlowski would like to see that change.

The company has “been sitting back on the sidelines” when it comes to pursuing options such as value-based care, which has shown an increased interest across the senior living industry over the past year. Part of the reason for doing so, according to Jedlowski, is due to the limited results available from operators on the amount of money made or if the services have been able to extend the lives of residents receiving the care.

As such, Distinctive is looking to complement its slate of offerings in search of more holistic operations by adding new services that bolster care and enhance resident wellbeing, he said. That might include anything from specialized wellness and rehab programs and pharmacy solutions to adult day, transportation and digital engagement.

Distinctive is seeking to pilot those concepts in select communities over the next four to 12 months, Jedlowski said.

“Based on resident feedback and operational insights, we’ll gradually scale and refine these offerings to ensure they deliver real value and align with our commitment to creating enriching, life-enhancing environments,” Jedlowski said.

All of these strategies are being implemented for Distinctive Living to take a slow, methodical and sustainable approach to growth.

“We don’t want to be the company that has explosive growth … you see a lot of operators disband because they take on too much that they can’t handle and can’t effectually change and so for me, that’s where my head is,” Jedlowski said.

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