Civitas Senior Living is flexible when it comes to its growth. With the right deal and the right partner, the company develops assisted living/memory care communities with the intent of owning and operating them outright, co-owning with a development partner or being brought in as a third-party manager with a smaller ownership stake. They’ll build independent living where it’s needed too. With three properties open, and two of them stabilized in Winnsboro (East Texas) and Mesquite (Dallas MSA) with 94% occupancy, Civitas has five communities under construction, with two set to open in March 2015 in Midlothian (North Texas) and Austin, two in June 2015 in Flower Mound and Allen (both Dallas MSA), and one late in the year in Burleson (Fort Worth MSA). Plus, the company plans to open at least three more in 2016, in Dripping Springs (Austin MSA), Fort Worth and one in Colorado.
Working with local and regional banks to cover 70%-80% of construction costs and equity sources covering the rest, Civitas also works with its development partners to bring in other financing sources. If all goes well, the company will have at least 15 communities open by the end of 2016, and it is looking for both development and acquisition opportunities outside Texas. Aware of the increased seniors housing development in Texas, Wayne Powell, President and CEO of Civitas, believes that being based in Fort Worth means that their local operations and knowledge of the communities better helps them assess local demand and choose their building sites more carefully. With the first communities well occupied, and the newest filling up or pre-leasing at a brisk pace, their model seems to be working. It will be interesting to see how all these new communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth MSA fill up in the next year.
