Calgary-based United Active Living has acquired three adult living properties containing 544 apartments, and is laying the groundwork for more expansion through both acquisitions and, possibly, new development.
Kim O’Brien, president, CEO and an owner of United Active Living, said the company now has five adult communities, all in Calgary, with 862 senior housing units. It plans to continue its growth across Western Canada.
“With strong roots in Calgary, we’re thrilled to grow our presence here to serve even more seniors in our community,” she said. “This expansion is not just about growth; it’s about staying true to our vision of creating vibrant, inspiring places where older adults can thrive.
“We’re excited to welcome the residents, families, and team members of these new communities into the United family and to advance our growth strategy with this landmark acquisition.”
The company acquired Lake Bonavista Village, The Lodge at Valley Ridge and Trinity Lodge, comprising a total of 544 units. They had previously been operated by Verve Senior Living.
No financial details were disclosed.
United Active Living’s growth
United Active Living was founded in 2003 with a seniors’ home development in St. Albert, Alta. The two principal founding shareholders are Don Douglas and Michael Kanovsky.
“Over time, that building was eventually sold to focus on Calgary. Up until this acquisition that we just (recently) completed we had two communities in Calgary that we had developed ourselves. One was our Garrison Green community that opened in 2008 and the other community was our Fish Creek community which opened in 2015-2016,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve had a strong foothold in Calgary and now we’re delighted to welcome these three new communities into our United family.”
O’Brien said the acquisitions provide scale for the company in Calgary.
“The things that really stood out for us and why it was attractive to us, was because it was a portfolio concentrated here in Calgary. That certainly had great appeal,” O’Brien said. “One of the things about seniors’ housing is, because it’s such an operationally intensive business, that local presence and the strength of a local operation is really something that appeals not only to our investors but also to our employees and to our residents.”
The residences United has added to its portfolio also have a high profile in the community, she said.
“These properties have such a fantastic reputation in Calgary. They’re well established, they’re well located and certainly since I joined United Active Living back in 2017, you would mention those properties and generally speaking there was always such a great reputation associated with them in terms of quality of experience for the residents and certainly for their employees.”
Recovery of the seniors housing sector
O’Brien said seniors’ housing was one of the most significantly impacted real estate assets during COVID. Occupancy levels across the country took a hit. But she said the recovery took off in 2023 when the market began to gain traction. Overall in Calgary, the occupancy was about 76 per cent in 2023. A year later, that has grown to about 86 per cent.
“Certainly the market is experiencing a strong recovery and it goes without saying we all know what’s coming in terms of the demand, in terms of population growth,” O’Brien said, referring to Canada’s aging population.
“We’re going to see an evolution that’s going to continue in the coming years. Currently, like many asset classes, with construction costs, with interest rates, hopefully things are starting to settle out, there’s not been a ton of new supply . . . We’re not expecting a significant amount of supply over the next little while, but we do think that will change as the market stabilizes.”
O’Brien said residents are becoming very discerning and there’s going to be an overall drive to quality.
“We think that going forward operators that can provide not only a high quality of care as it relates to physical health, but can also match that with a really high quality customer service and living experience, we certainly think those are the groups that will really succeed and do quite well,” she said.
Continue to seek opportunities
With the increased demand and limited supply, seniors’ housing is expected to be an asset class that will continue to attract investment.
“We will continue to be very strategic. We haven’t set formal gross targets per se but we continue to look at opportunities as they present themselves to make sure that they will strategically fit overall with our offering,” O’Brien said.
On the subject of possible development, she said that will depend on market conditions. But it is an option United Active is considering.
“We think there will come a time when the market conditions are such that . . . we will look to develop into the future,” she said. “We’re always trying to find the key types of opportunities that are not just to have units, but to create the type of experience that we think both our residents, our employees but also our investors will really get behind.
“We’ll continue to look at opportunities here in Calgary and outside the city.”
