Senior Living Operators Heed History While Growing New Third-party Management Platforms

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Development is still stalled out in 2026. For some senior living operators, inking new third-party management agreements is the only current way to scale.

In 2026, companies including Greystar, Beztak and active adult provider Treplus Communities are jumping into third-party management of new communities they previously did not operate. All three companies see their burgeoning management businesses as part of their next chapters while they wait for development conditions to turn positive again. It’s all part of what my colleague, SHN Reporter Austin Montgomery, called the industry’s choose-your-own-adventure year ahead.

Third-party management agreements date back to the industry’s earliest days, but the changing nature of owner-operator relationships has necessitated evolution in the kind of agreements these companies are making with one another. In recent years, multiple senior living operators have bucked unfavorable management agreements, in some cases adopting RIDEA “skin-in-the-game” type agreements with landlords.

Recent conversations tell me senior living CEOs in 2026 are keenly aware of the challenges of third-party management. But the fact remains that managing communities for other owners remains the fastest way to grow in senior living, and it’s a strategy numerous companies have taken to propel themselves to bigger and better things later.

In this week’s exclusive, members-only SHN+ Update, I analyze recent announcements and the history of third-party management agreements and offer the following takeaways, including:

• Why some senior living operators are broadening services into third-party management
• Risks of third-party management based on historical examples
• Why I think more operators will take on more management agreements ahead

Third-party management trend

Looking across the senior living industry today, it’s not hard to see why more companies are jumping into third-party management and broadening into other sectors and services. A lack of growth via development and the fervent state of M&A are two big reasons why.

In simple terms, a very low level of newly built communities are opening each year, constricting the number of new communities that operators own and manage. While the unpredictable cost of construction and other forces keep developers on the sidelines, owners with cash to spend are transacting on communities and portfolios they think will help them scale in the meantime.

Buyers often are seeking Class A properties with stabilized occupancy. In other cases, there are some new entrants to the industry with properties that are struggling with operational issues amid otherwise high demand. In both cases, owners need strong operators to maintain and propel community performance. And that’s where companies like Beztak, Treplus and Greystar come in.

For example, active adult giant Greystar launched a new independent living management business in February due to the fact that “there are residents today that we can’t handle at this point based on acuity,” Greystar Property Management Services Senior Managing Director Michael Levine told SHN earlier this year.

Greystar is leveraging the hub-and-spoke model it built for its sizable active adult management business to operate new independent living properties, he added.

“This is an extension of where our active adult platform is now and what our next steps are,” Levine told SHN in February.

Beztak is taking a “selective” approach to third-party management with an initial focus on luxury, Class A properties. The company is targeting independent living communities, including with assisted living and memory care units on site.

Yet another operator, Treplus Communities, launched a third-party management business in recent weeks. The company is broadening its scope of services to include property management, resident engagement, marketing, sales and leasing, financial planning and risk management of other active adult communities.

According to CEO and Founder Jane Arthur Roslovic, there is a big opportunity for Treplus to third-party manage other owners, especially new entrants into senior living that might have bitten off more than they can chew.

“It’s a challenge, but I think it’s an exciting challenge, because it’s going to set us up for lots of opportunities that are coming our way,” Roslovic said. “We also want to be careful that what we’re managing is successful.”

These are only the three latest companies launching new management businesses, but they are not the only ones. High-end operator Galerie Living in late 2025 also began managing communities on a third-party basis.

I think it’s natural these companies should want to expand what they do to other owners, especially if they are good at it. In my mind, the real risk for them is not whether they can effectively manage communities, but whether they can grow and maintain quality across their footprint as they do so.

Reward, with some risk

Communities changing hands. Opportunities to scale in an existing footprint. The need to grow for immediate demand. New entrants and investors in senior living. These are all propelling the third-party management trend in 2026, and I see little slowing this down.

The fact remains that senior living communities are changing hands, and owners have a real need for management companies with experience and know-how. Given the influx of baby boomer demand, I understand why operators are champing at the bit to expand now for what comes next, especially if they still cannot reliably tee up new development projects.

I thought it was notable that the leaders of Greystar, Treplus and Beztak discussed remaining selective or only taking on successful communities, and I think that caution stems from years of risk and failure related to management agreements. The senior living industry is littered with examples of senior living operators that grew too quickly for their operational infrastructure to handle and either substantially downsized in the years that followed or outright went out of business as a result.

I recall a 2022 conversation between Aegis CEO Dwayne Clark and SHN Senior Editor Tim Regan wherein Clark talked about the need to get past “broken” management agreements that can leave operators with little incentive to perform. Clark, who has criticized the senior living management contract before, believes that operators should think hard about their management contracts before they enter into new ones.

An operator managing a community under a typical management fee and meager incentives might only send their “C-team” to operate it, but that is good for neither owner nor operator in the end, he said.

“The building that should have been filled in 25 months is now going to take four or five years,” Clark said in 2022.

To me, the bottom line is that operators have both an opportunity to succeed and grow with third-party management in 2026 and a real risk to expand too quickly if they aren’t careful. Third-party management can leave operators with a suddenly smaller business overnight if ownership groups decide to swap one company for another. It’s not uncommon for senior living companies to lose dozens of communities over the course of months or years as ownership partners seek greater margins and new approaches.

As always, it’s incumbent on senior living operators to understand why they are taking on the opportunities they are and where they will lead in the future. Third-party management can indeed unlock the door to growth and help springboard to financial success in the future. But it also can be the weight under which operators are crushed if they are not careful.

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