Approximately 18% of the U.S. population are senior citizens — a number that is only expected to climb.

As a result, senior living accommodations are becoming more popular among older generations, with everything from active adult communities to assisted living facilities and nursing homes gaining traction. In the Northeast alone, independent living occupancy rates ticked up to 93% and assisted living occupancy increased to 90% in Q4 2025.

With this kind of market growth, industry players must be willing to adapt their approach to a continuously evolving sector, said Michael Morris, founder and CEO of Willow Ridge Senior Living.

“We used to acquire communities that were distressed at a low price per unit, using incentives to drive incremental leasing volume and occupancy,” Morris said. “But values are rising fast, and this is no longer feasible. We’ve had to reduce our reliance on incentives and focus more on discipline and quality move-ins that support rate growth.”

Morris will speak about trends such as those at Bisnow’s Northeast Senior Housing Conference in Boston on June 11. Click here to register.

Bisnow spoke with Morris to learn more about the state of the Northeast senior living market, his firm’s approach to operating these communities, and what he’s hoping attendees will take away from this event.

Bisnow: How would you describe the state of the senior housing sector in the Northeast?

Morris: The industry is really just adjusting and adapting to the rising values across the sector. We’ve noticed recently that values for assets have appreciated both on the buy side and the sell side.

Historically, we've been acquiring distressed communities at sub-$100K per unit, and we're gradually watching values rise. It's worked to our advantage on a few fronts — largely with recapitalizations and refinancing at new assessed values. When exploring divestments, the values have worked to our benefit.

It's also worked to our disadvantage on the growth side, largely because as values increase, margins for investments are compressed. This has slowed down the acquisition pipeline by 10% or so. We're still on track for a very aggressive 2026, but the rapidly rising values have certainly stalled.

Bisnow: What can you tell us about Willow Ridge Senior Living and its ongoing projects?

Morris: We formed in 2019 with a single acquisition in New York. We are licensed operators of assisted living and memory care but also hold a large management footprint within the independent living product. We operate roughly 30 communities in seven states, and so far in 2026, we've had two acquisitions: one in Pennsylvania and one in Virginia.

We currently have seven transactions under contract that are slated to close in the next four months. Those communities are going to be located in several states, including New York, Tennessee and Maryland.

Bisnow: You're speaking on a panel titled Best-In-Class Operations and Management Strategies. What key principles guide decision-making at your firm?

Morris: The acquisition profile and criteria for our growing organization is critical. We've been more selective in recent months on which communities are fitting that profile. We are getting into communities that are priced appropriately at the right basis and really looking to be selective on which opportunities we choose to explore.

We recently looked at two buildings in the Midwest that were priced quite aggressively and opted not to pursue. This is a strong demonstration of our discipline and conservative approach to the evolving environment.

The importance of labor in today’s rapidly changing environment cannot be understated. Labor is a continual pressure that we're seeing, whether it's rapidly rising minimum wages or wage pressure from existing employees.

Bisnow: What do you think will be the hottest topics of conversation at this event? 

Morris: With rising values on the acquisition side, I think new construction and development will be a big topic. We’re able to find distressed operational communities at a basis that's far below the cost of new construction — and I think more value can be created through acquiring an operating building that's underperforming versus paying the large premiums to develop ground-up construction. Rapid population growth is going to surpass the inventory available, and I think that those metrics are very important.

My fear around new development is that with each market that you go into, there can be a lot of competition, and there's a lot to be analyzed outside of population growth. The demographics of each individual market are critically important. New construction is a bit premature as values go up. Interest rates are very volatile, and the overarching economic outlook is uncertain. I’m very conservative and bearish on the new construction and development.

Bisnow: What is the main takeaway you hope attendees will have from this event? 

Morris: The evolution of the industry is happening rapidly with changing times. There's a lot of new capital coming into the industry, and people trying to tap into the senior housing sector, which is incredibly exciting.

Click here to register for the June 11 Bisnow event.

This article was produced in collaboration between Willow Ridge Senior Living and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.