Aviva Senior Living Seeks More Middle-market Management Opportunities In 2026

Middle-market growth is top of mind for Aviva Senior Living.

The operator is in 2026 pursuing growth in the Southeast and targeting new management of communities with rates that middle-income residents can afford, according to Senior Vice President of Operations Matt Kessler.

Aviva operates 13 communities in eight states. The platform is the senior living segment of Lloyd Jones, a private equity real estate investment firm.

Aviva Senior Living delivers a “high level of care in a holistic way,” something Kessler believes will be a “powerful” differentiator ahead.

“We’re encouraging really active lifestyles and we’re encouraging a heavier care model in other communities and we determine what the local market wants and provide that in a meaningful way,” Kessler said. “There can be some differentiation in our portfolio and I think that’s a very powerful thing for us having that flexibility.”

In 2026, Aviva Senior Living aims to solve staffing challenges in a “year of talent,” he said. The company recently hired Matt Rigdon as senior vice president of talent to help with creating recruitment and retention plans. Rigdon comes from outside the senior living industry. He worked as the recruitment and talent acquisition manager for digital engineering company Akkodis and in a similar role at IT company Datavail before joining Aviva Senior Living.

The addition of Rigdon has helped improve the “caliber of talent” that Aviva Senior Living is now attracting to open positions, Kessler noted. That includes new hires from the hospitality industry and financial sector to find mission-driven leaders “looking to dip their toes” into the proverbial senior living pool.

“People want to come and make a difference and we’re finding individuals from across a wide spectrum of industries that are looking to find that mission-driven career path,” Kessler said.

To sustain the pace of hiring outside executives coming into the sector, Kessler said Aviva Senior Living is “trying to build pathways” that span internal career mentoring to local outreach at the community level to advertise open positions. Executive directors at Aviva Senior Living communities continue to play an outsized role in improving retention at the site level, making capable and communicative leaders extremely valuable in the ongoing talent effort.

Licensed care staff still are tough to hire, a common theme in recent years, as competition in healthcare has made hiring direct care workers a difficult hurdle for today’s senior living providers as acuity trends force greater clinical complexity of operations.

“It’s about finding the right staffing model for the right communities where we can continue to operate and provide a high level of care while also being very cognizant of the effect it has on our margin,” Kessler said. “I think that’s where we’re trying to find harmony.”

Solidifying Aviva Senior Living’s staffing comes as strong demand for middle-market senior living continues to grow, something Kessler said was a “massive tailwind” for middle-market operators. For example, an Aviva Senior Living property in Nebraska brought in a new executive director that helped overhaul the building’s occupancy to full because of this strong site leadership effort, Kessler said.

In the last two years, Kessler said Aviva Senior Living had worked on achieving stabilization, something that will be expanded out to other communities still in lease-up this year focused on operational improvements.

“We are trying to create a level of trust and accountability across all levels and, really, again, drive consistency so we can demonstrate to individuals that we deserve their trust,” Kessler said.

Looking ahead, Kessler said rising senior living demand based on aging demographics will remain a bright spot for the industry in the near future, combined with pent up demand to improve occupancy and the industry’s push to improve talent and hiring efforts.

But the real difference will come from senior living operators capable of managing existing communities while courting the next generation of customers, Kessler added.

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