Inside Gallaher’s New Senior Living Operator Launch And Plans To Boost Hospitality

Earlier this month, Gallaher Companies launched  a new management company – all part of a larger plan to create a “boutique luxury provider” offering senior living lifestyle, wellness and care options.

Through its new management company, Gallaher Signature Living, the company aims to expand with seven continuing care retirement community (CCRC) projects. Leading the charge is CEO Page Ensor, who is a senior living veteran with experience at companies including Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD).

Behind the launch is an idea to bring luxury residential options with supportive care services to serve the incoming generation of older adults that is considering a transition to a new lifestyle. She believes that operators must stand out to truly appeal to them, not only in how their communities are designed but also in their operations and service quality.

“True differentiation lies in culture and luxury is not just about the architecture or the finishes, it’s about how our teams and residents interact every day,” Ensor told Senior Housing News in a recent interview.

Older adults of today and tomorrow don’t want to just mull around or watch television all day, they want to shop, walk and dine out, Ensor added.

“They’re also looking for exercise amenities, not just on campus, but something unique to their apartment, even AI-driven options that let them work out right at home. The consumer is evolving,” she said.

Standing up GSL, focus on personalization and choices in design

In 2021, Gallaher was part of a $1.2 billion acquisition of 24 senior living communities operated by Oakmont Management Group through PGIM Real Estate and Greystone. This was done after recognizing an undersupply of senior living options for older adults in California driven by lack of development and customer demand, Ensor said.

The existing portfolio for Gallaher Cos. will be transitioned to GSL over time and will be completed by January 2026. The company also has a $1 billion pipeline of seven CCRC projects in various California markets. All told, the company’s portfolio is set to grow to 31 communities.

Gallaher plans to design future communities to personalize them for residents in local markets, allowing for multiple layout options with multiple styles of residences throughout the future communities.

“We really shine on the hospitality side and we want to look at every detail from programming to wellness to dining and we can ensure consistency and quality,” Ensor said.

The company’s in-house development wing has operated under tight regulations and zoning in California, and Ensor believes that makes it more nimble and able to navigate the tricky entitlement process in other markets.

“With several projects moving forward, we can leverage the volume of our work to secure better pricing and stronger partnerships,” Ensor said. “Most importantly, those relationships give us insight into the market and help us identify opportunities.”

Ensor believes the CCRC model can serve a wide range of resident needs and wants across the continuum with services supplemented by active lifestyles and amenities such as pickleball courts, pools, wellness spaces and fitness centers. The management company also recently brought in new tech partners for its electronic health record and customer relationship management systems to aid discovery, onboarding of new staff and matching residents based on their shared interests.

Ensor is in the process of bolstering the operator’s C-suite and she aims to bring a mix of industry veterans and those from outside of the industry. The operator’s leadership team will be “in the field” at communities approximately half of their time. By design, Ensor has given executive directors of GSL communities direct lines of contact to her to remove “unnecessary layers” of senior living operations.

This is in the name of developing a new culture of building strong leadership teams at the community level with access to corporate leaders, something she said will “make or break us” in senior living operations.

“I don’t want multiple layers between myself or the support team to the communities,” Ensor said. “I don’t want a large mid-level team, that just slows down responsiveness.”

Other important positions include bringing on a director of culture and director of resident experience to maintain continuity and consistency in culture across all GSL communities.

Focus on hospitality

Senior living providers in recent years have pivoted towards more hospitality models in resident programming, lifestyle and daily living from dining to care delivery aiming to meet changing customer demand for more refined retirement options.

GSL’s focus on hospitality intensified earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic when residents couldn’t socialize or conduct normal programming, Ensor said.

This emphasis on hospitality comes at a time in which Ensor feels the industry has “gotten away from very simple basics” of welcoming, and comforting prospects, residents and their families. That means rolling out the proverbial red carpet for prospects from their first inquiry and until they move in, aiming to anticipate the needs of prospects and their families, Ensor said. To create these red carpet moments, Ensor said even simple gestures of offering refreshments prior to a tour or personalizing a message could help make an impact in swaying a family’s decision.

“That hospitality approach is not there currently and it’s going to be incumbent upon us on the front end to bring hospitality to them and a red carpet experience for our prospects,” Ensor said.

To help install hospitality values in GSL, Ensor said the new management platform will focus on the interactions between sales staff and prospects families that are often involved in the “buying decision” for helping an older adult move into a senior living community.

In further differentiating GSL, Ensor said GSL communities will look to interact with prospects in the name of “delighting modern adults,” rather than using vernacular like senior living or seniors to describe older adults.

“Scaling only works if the culture comes first and we’re going to stay lean and we’re going to stay nimble,” Ensor said.

To be prepared for these “modern adults,” Ensor said GSL must be prepared to offer comprehensive wellness offerings, including of lifestyle trends that are niche or novel to senior living all together, including an exercise physiologist to develop diets and “holistic medicine access” with local health providers for things like acupuncture or an intravenous concierge service that gives infusions personalized to each resident. That could also mean a concierge visit from a botox consultant for older adults seeing access to a local plastic surgeon.

“I’m seeing a state of change in luxury living of what our residents want,” Ensor.

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