Is your community performing as planned? Let us help it reach full potential.

Welcome to Greystone management services …

… where we know and understand the systems and challenges involved with improving performance. No matter your community’s stage, our team focuses on the total resident experience to maximize hospitality and enhance market position. We can leverage our experience in opening and managing communities to:

Guide an organization through the challenges of reaching stabilization

Reposition and improve outdated communities and business models

Prepare business improvement and operational reviews and evaluations

Recruit and train staff, emphasizing hospitality as vital to a community’s success

We work to apply this knowledge of hospitality, operations and healthcare to an organization’s mission, values and goals. We want to make your vision of service and resident satisfaction a reality. Click here to contact us.

Results That Matter

Redstone Village

Redstone Village has successfully expanded its market position where others have faltered.

Redstone Village

By phasing its development strategy, Redstone Village has successfully expanded its market position where others have faltered.

Redstone Village in Huntsville, Alabama, is a perfect example of how successful a community can be when using a phased approach to development. The Redstone Village board of directors worked with Greystone Communities to mitigate market risk by downsizing the scope of the initial first phase to just 88 independent living apartments. This decision was driven by a desire to increase speed to market, as well as to respond to market dynamics — including a new competitor that was going to open before Redstone Village.

Why a Phased Development Approach?

This approach has served Redstone Village well by mitigating risk during the development and allowing Redstone to be proactive in responding to market demand. Further, each expansion has brought with it enhanced economies of scale.

Redstone Village was marketed and opened approximately six months after Huntsville’s first life care community opened to area seniors. That competitor has suffered in the market due to extensive value engineering and the brief withdrawal of Medicare certification. As a result, the competitor filed for reorganization protection under Chapter 11 in August of 2006. Despite the challenges faced by its primary competitor, Redstone Village continued to expand the continuum of care and provide additional resident amenities through two phased expansions.

Description of the Project

Construction of Redstone Village began in January 2003 and opened for occupancy November 2004, after initial construction delays due to city permitting delays and unanticipated construction-related requirements imposed by the municipality. The assisted living apartments and health center beds became available in April and May 2005, respectively.

To expand the continuum of care and to respond to the demonstrated market demand, Redstone Village expanded its available assisted living units by opening another 10 in August 2008.

In 2009, they added 32 memory support assisted living units, achieving 100% occupancy within 13 months.

Challenges and Results

This “start-small” approach is not without its challenges. Fewer units means tighter cost controls and unwavering focus on the bottom line. This must be balanced against the hospitality focus expected by residents and quality care consistent with the mission and values of the organization. Redstone Village has worked closely with Greystone on both the development and management of the community to ensure these competing dynamics are appropriately considered and addressed.

Keys to Success

Redstone Village is led by a forward-thinking board and management team with a commitment to providing quality services. A carefully managed development process and well-timed expansions have positioned Redstone Village for continued success and the ability to be opportunistic in its efforts to develop future phases, all driven to address market demand and in support and furtherance of the organization’s mission and vision.

Not willing to rest on its laurels, Redstone is in the process of planning its fourth phase. This new phase will bring the community around full circle by adding a third wing of independent living apartments. These are the same units that were removed from the first phase back in 2003. Redstone is poised to take advantage of its reputation and the lack of development by its local competition. The addition of this new phase will also bring a new aquatics and fitness center to the community.

Santa Marta

A commitment to exceptional hospitality makes the difference at Santa Marta.

Santa Marta

A Commitment to Exceptional Hospitality Makes the Difference

Santa Marta, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community in Olathe, Kan., opened in late 2007. While Santa Marta experienced strong presales and encouraging initial occupancy, 2008’s economic crisis eroded the community’s depositor base. Santa Marta’s board and management worked with Greystone on an action plan that would differentiate Santa Marta through unparalleled hospitality.

The Santa Marta Story

The vision for Santa Marta came from three parishioners who approached the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City about the need for a Catholic-sponsored, high-quality continuing care retirement community. The Archdiocese assembled a board whose collective experiences and skills could apply to senior living. This board chose Greystone as development and management consultant. The Archdiocese contributed 50 acres of land, and Greystone and Ziegler raised the seed capital necessary to reach permanent financing.

Santa Marta’s 138 independent living units and 24 villas opened in November 2007. In April 2008, Santa Marta opened its health center, including 32 assisted living units, 16 memory support units and 32 private nursing rooms. The community experienced strong presales, but, when the economy turned, area home values dropped. Smaller, less expensive units became more popular with prospective residents. Health care occupancy stagnated.

Many prospective residents held off on depositing, waiting for their home values to rise again. Those who did move in had received less for their homes than expected. These residents arrived at Santa Marta concerned about their decision to sell and anxious about their finances.

Problem Solving

Greystone created an action plan and met with Santa Marta’s management, board, resident council and marketing team to implement solutions. The problem: A challenging economy had turned prospective residents into value investors — they wanted to feel like they were getting more than they paid for. The solution: Santa Marta would provide added value by emphasizing hospitality as its differentiator. This emphasis would promote the Santa Marta experience and show that the CCRC lifestyle meant more than just shelter and health care.

Named for the patron saint of hospitality, Santa Marta had been created to provide unmatched service and care. Establishing a reputation for hospitality takes time, but Santa Marta needed to accelerate the process in order to overcome the economic downturn.

To execute on its plan, Santa Marta named a new executive director, one whose background included work in the hospitality industry. Santa Marta also implemented a Hospitality Initiative. This initiative would soon permeate Santa Marta’s culture, touching staff, residents and the community itself.

Staff. Santa Marta increased the amount of time and budget spent on training. Management began the PERFECT program, which calls for professionalism, enthusiasm, respect, friendliness, going the extra mile, caring and trustworthiness. The staff became more invested in the community. In time, Santa Marta became the area’s No. 1 employer. Staff turnover dropped by 20 percent in two years.
Residents. Those living at Santa Marta were invited into the Hospitality Initiative. Residents went through hospitality and first impressions training. They attended sessions on the community’s business model. Residents began leading tours, building and maintaining a memory garden and forming a health and wellness group. As residents became more invested in the community, referrals climbed substantially.
Community. Staff and residents transformed Santa Marta into a preferred place to work and live. Santa Marta developed a “wow” factor, activating the five senses with colorful flags, fresh flowers, a fountain, warm smiles and welcomes. Friendliness, attention to detail and teamwork with a common vision became contagious. A sense of synergy grabbed hold of staff and residents alike, allowing Santa Marta to realize the vision with which it started.

Soon, the community began to develop increased momentum. During challenging times, leadership had expressed a clear vision and desired outcome. By planning, training and communicating, those involved reached that desired outcome. Commitment and accountability became a daily routine, leading to outstanding results.

Looking to the Future

Today, campus census is at 98 percent with dramatically increased employee and resident satisfaction. More than a third of all leads are resident referrals. Because of tactics implemented during the economic downturn, Santa Marta is now exploring expansion opportunities. The board’s planning committee is working to meet resident needs today, tomorrow and into the future, ensuring that Santa Marta has the resources and facilities to provide the service and quality of care that residents have come to expect. In short, Santa Marta continues to pursue the mission with which it first began.