active seniors
Ben Burk_ headshot
Headwaters Group

Denver-based Headwaters Group formally announced its launch Wednesday to serve middle-market active adults.

“Active adult is an underserved area that has strong demographics,” Managing Partner Ben Burke told the McKnight’s Business Daily.

The company will focus on for-rent communities for adults aged 55 and older in the western half of the United States initially, with plans to expand nationwide down the line, Senior Vice President of Operations and Finance Chris Ducay said.

“The company has a robust pipeline that has four active builds currently,” he added.

The four projects — three in the Denver area and one in Scottsdale, AZ — are expected to break ground in the latter half of this year. Additionally, the Headwaters Group expects to close on the acquisition of an existing community in Salt Lake City, “within the next week or two,” according to Ducay. 

“We’re kind of focusing on our backyard,” he added.

Headwaters Group is fully capitalized with an unnamed joint partner, “so we’re ready to deploy capital at a moment’s notice for the right investment opportunities,” Ducay said. “We are focused only on this active adult market.”

Burke, the former president of Anthology Senior Living, said he is drawing on his previous experience in senior housing. He said he believes that an opportunity exists in the middle-market active adult space.

“We believe that this product is needed and underserved,” Burke said. “We believe we can better offer our product at an attractive level as compared to traditional senior living.”

Burke said that the Headlands Group views senior living as a spectrum of various offerings and that active adult rental properties serve older adults who wish to live in a multifamily setting with their peers. Headlands Group amenities will include a clubhouse and activities such as walking clubs, book clubs, speaker series, wellness programs and even pickleball, all designed to “engage our residents throughout the day and the week.”

“I think that’s the big differentiator between multifamily [and active adult],” Burke said.

Monthly rents at Headwaters Group properties will be in parity with other multifamily rentals in the areas where the communities are developed, he said, without committing to a hard number.