After a rebranding last year, Ciel Senior Living is moving forward with strategic growth plans, including acquisitions and future development.
The Winter Park, Florida-based operator which rebranded from Park Avenue Lifestyle last year, has a portfolio of 11 communities under management agreement along with a handful of joint venture agreements for land to be developed into senior living in the future.
With communities in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and plans to build new along the East coast, the company is poised for future expansion. Ciel Senior Living also recently completed acquisitions from HRA of a Chicago-area community and in Princeton, New Jersey.
Ciel also recently took on management of a community in North Carolina.
Now, with those plans underway, it’s “time that we really bring to life our vision and integrate that into the different communities,” Ciel Chief Operating Officer Alexis Martini told Senior Housing News.
In describing Ciel Senior Living’s mission, Martini noted the company’s commitment to “creating a life of balance and flexibility with individualized programming, culinary and care support” for all residents across different markets.
In 2024, Martini said the organization is focusing on improving the resident experience for those living in Ciel Senior Living communities, with an additional focus on talent retention.
“Our biggest undertaking in 2024 and leading the charge into 2025 is getting back to the human capital piece of what we do so we’ve bolstered benefits to help motivate and retain team members,” Martini said.
That emphasis on staffing starts with frontline leadership teams at the community level, with Martini noting executives have spent time with frontline workers to understand their lives both inside and outside of work.
“We want to understand that life experience of our dishwashers, of our care managers and nurses so we can wrap the support in all facets to deliver the optimal experience to residents,” Martini added.
Success in hiring and onboarding lies in having candidates review a “comprehensive skills checklist” in tandem with reference evaluations. In an employee’s first year, training continues throughout that 12-month time period rather than ending after onboarding and orientation, Martini said.
Senior living operators nationwide have faced challenges of bringing in and retaining quality executive directors that can help drive a community’s recovery and growth.
That’s no different for Ciel, Martini said, noting that identifying executive directors over the last 18 months to lead its communities has been a “mission critical” piece of improving operations. In that time period, Martini noted the organization has over 90% of its executive directors in place for more than one year, with half of them having been with the company for two years.
“We’re really proud of those retention numbers,” Martini added.
Complimenting the push on improving staffing challenges, Martini outlined how Ciel Senior Living recently implemented a new electronic health record (EHR) software platform, with plans to explore additional technology improvements like fall detection capabilities in the future.
Future development of new communities relies on capital markets improving “slightly,” later this year and into 2025, Martini said. The company is also exploring acquisition opportunities and new management agreements with ownership groups in search of a new operator.
“We have a very thoughtful approach to how we want to grow and we want to grow with ownership and equity that understands the value of taking care of our team members and taking care of our residents,” Martini said.
While development could happen on the East coast, acquisition opportunities are mostly concentrated in the Western states, she added. Just when that new growth happens though remains fluid, with Martini estimating the company will continue its growth strategy in the fourth quarter of this year and in the first half of 2025.
“I think the thing that makes us unique is our ability to successfully manage the different continuums and the different infrastructure types in the different markets,” Martini said.
