Mainstay Senior Living Targets Middle-market Expansion With Plans To Double Portfolio

With a familiar face back in its C-suite, Mainstay Senior Living is pursuing its goal of doubling its 40-community portfolio in the coming decade with a strategy centered on catering to the growing demand for middle-market senior living options.

Mainstay has grown in various market clusters across the Southeast with pockets of communities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee through a combination of ownership of its communities without limited partners involved and third-party management. The company’s operational clusters include Lakeland, Florida, where it has seven communities; and Columbia, South Carolina, where it has five communities.

The Lakeland, Florida-based operator has built up its infrastructure to grow in recent months, including by hiring Tod Petty as chief investment officer. Petty previously was chief marketing officer of senior living operations tech platform Fynn, and EVP of senior housing at Lloyd Jones.

“We would like to grow the platform to 80 communities and we do have the infrastructure with our operating company to do that,” Petty told Senior Housing News.

As growth via new development remains tough, Mainstay intends to grow by acquiring distressed assets such as former hotels and repositioning them for middle market-senior living customers.

Petty in the past has not been shy about his enthusiasm for the middle market, calling it an “opportunity of a lifetime” for companies that can make the math work.

“If someone can figure out how to make it more affordable, it’s going to be a whole blue ocean of demand ahead of them,” he said.

Petty’s return to Mainstay earlier this year was not his first foray with the company. In 2017, he worked as the operator’s president and CEO, helping the company grow from a handful of communities to 14 before departing to work with Aviva Senior Living and Lloyd Jones in 2019.

Due to rising affordability needs in senior living, Petty said operators “have to be able” to provide health care services, regardless of the portfolio makeup in the continuum.

“If we can combine health care and the middle market, we can build this boutique environment where we have oversight into the care that’s being provided,” Petty said.

Mainstay’s secondary market growth strategy

Mainstay is growing with a focus on secondary markets that carry strong penetration rates and fewer competitors rather than major metropolitan markets. In 2025, the company’s primary growth levers are value-add acquisitions, repositionings and unit expansions at communities to build regional density.

In order to create more stable operations, Mainstay focuses on inking long-term investments and management contracts rather than seeking out short-term turnaround efforts that flip a community for sale after five or fewer years. The company owns a majority of its properties to maintain long-term control and stability. Two of the company’s communities are former hotel repositioning projects, which Petty said is a viable option that hinges on whether an operator can get the financing right.

“We can go in and create a product for the middle market at a rent that’s around $3,500 to $3,995 monthly, compared to $5,000 or $6,000. We’re really seeing traction with this,” Petty said.

Due to past relationships and its track record, Mainstay is able to finance projects at lower debt rates compared to some newer entrants into the space, giving the company more financial flexibility in its project pro formas, Petty said.

As Petty monitors penetration rates of the senior living industry, he believes the industry is in the “first wave” of demand from the baby boomers. Mainstay has seen early success attracting new residents from the baby boomer generation, at its independent living communities, which carry rates they can afford. This demand for a middle-market option in secondary markets could spur more growth opportunities for Mainstay as affordability remains a crucial issue facing the industry, Petty said.

“We’re looking for those types of opportunities where secondary markets work well and if the penetration rates are good, why wouldn’t we seek those out,” Petty added.

Model built for aging in place

To meet the growing needs of older adults that require greater care services, Mainstay created in-house service lines for rehabilitation, home care and home health services. The company’s goal is to offer services that help independent living residents remain in their units longer before transitioning to assisted living and memory care.

“When a person needs services, they’re connecting them with a qualified partner and not telling them to go out and find someone on their own,” Petty said. “We can provide things like bathing, pharmacy and home care.”

To improve longevity within its communities, Mainstay has also relied on technology improvements. For example, the company piloted an in-unit pharmacy system that is able to dispense medications from a machine connected to Wi-Fi in a resident’s room on a timer.

“When you add the affordability of independent living and you add these services, we can help people age-in-place for longer before making a necessary transition,” Petty said. “We have to blend tech with tried and true practices in operations.”

All of this is in effort to be “there for” the incoming demand brought by baby boomers who are tech-savvy bringing with them more knowledge about senior living than past generations, Petty said.

Adding additional units to existing communities is also a way Mainstay has increased its growth cadence in recent years, adding cottages and villas to communities that are full with pent up demand. For example, at one community in Daytona, Florida, Mainstay is in the process of adding 50 assisted living units.

“We’re adding units where it makes sense and we’re able to work with our own construction company,” Petty said.

While middle-market senior living still “may not be the best profit margin,” Petty said it was crucial operators look at affordability options within their portfolios as need for affordable living options continues to grow.

“It’s underserved,” Petty said of the middle market for older adults. “We want to stay in the Southeast and we’re going to continue to grow a hospitality brand that resonates with people.”

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