Willow Ridge Senior Residing has doubled its administration footprint within the final yr and carried out organizational adjustments to assist extra development forward.
The Albany, New York-based senior dwelling supplier now manages 27 communities throughout six states following acquisitions accomplished in 2025, increasing its footprint from 12 communities in 2024. Willow Ridge acquires distressed properties and helps turnarounds by bringing in assets and expertise to stabilize challenged operations, drawing on experience in impartial dwelling and higher-acuity assisted dwelling.
The corporate acquired six impartial dwelling communities final yr, and CEO Michael Morris stated these additions will give the operator a various mixture of choices and permit for “calibration” of the general portfolio as properties attain stabilization and sale.
Heading into 2026, Willow Ridge restructured its communities into three areas to raised align assets and strengthen cooperation between properties. The corporate has additionally expanded its finance and accounting groups and goals so as to add as much as 10 impartial dwelling and assisted dwelling communities in 2026, if attainable, in line with Morris.
“Progress is thrilling however I believe it’s necessary to notice the strain that it places on a complete group,” Morris advised SHN. “We now have to be sure that these new alternatives can add worth and achieve success.”
Ongoing challenges embrace elevated staffing prices and regulatory strain in sure states, Morris added.
Together with the portfolio adjustments, Willow Ridge made adjustments to its staffing mannequin to ease its rising pains and accommodate extra bandwidth. The corporate’s management group elevated a upkeep director right into a regional position as vp of upkeep to enhance capital expenditure oversight. In addition they promoted a senior government director right into a regional position to steer its New York communities and added a vp of scientific companies and a vp of finance.
Willow Ridge has additionally created “specialist” roles for neighborhood employees and made inside promotions, together with naming regional administrators of operations as vice presidents of gross sales.
“Having these employees and the flexibleness and that plug-and-play place actually helps us fill vacancies throughout a important time of the turnaround,” Morris stated. “Having these specialist positions is mostly a huge a part of our mannequin.”
To additional strengthen its working mannequin, Willow Ridge is shifting bookkeeping features in-house from third-party suppliers to enhance communication and strengthen oversight of expense management, Morris stated.
Within the first quarter of 2026, Willow Ridge expects to finalize three acquisitions scheduled to shut in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Virginia with its main capital associate, Boston-based personal fairness agency Cougar Capital Administration.
“We’re on the lookout for acquisitions and markets that we’re conversant in,” Morris stated. “Our actual area of interest is discovering communities which have traditionally struggled with occupancy or want some important operational finesse to get issues money flowing and productive once more.”
Whereas remaining “geographically agnostic,” Willow Ridge primarily operates within the Northeast. The corporate lately cast a brand new relationship with Michigan- and Maryland-based personal fairness agency ValStone Companions. Morris stated the connection has launched Willow Ridge and its leaders to the reporting expectations and processes wanted to construct robust relationships with institutional capital, calling the partnership one in every of “diversification.”
“Having capital companions that perceive you is step one in these robust relationships and helps us construct these long-term relationships,” Morris stated.
Morris credited Willow Ridge’s methodical development to a components of increasing or refining the working mannequin—and strengthening monetary reporting capabilities—earlier than acquisitions be a part of the portfolio. He stated that strategy institutionalizes the corporate’s potential to report efficiency and monetary knowledge to capital companions.
“We’re constructing the infrastructure and guaranteeing that we have now the sufficient assets in place to tackle the brand new development,” Morris stated.
To arrange for future tendencies, Morris stated Willow Ridge prioritizes capital relationships that align on mission and philosophy, no matter an investor group’s timetable.
Rising resident acuity continues to problem operators, and Willow Ridge is not any exception, Morris stated. He pointed to census development adopted by a flurry of move-outs attributable to loss of life. Larger-acuity senior dwelling strains assets and employees, whereas extra older adults stay in impartial dwelling settings regardless of needing further care.
Willow Ridge expects to thrive on this surroundings now and sooner or later, Morris stated.
“We’ve developed fairly a distinct segment and we’ve been capable of leverage our expertise and ship outcomes due to our group, footprint, and make-up,” he added.
