Keren Brown Wilson, Noah Levy and Chuck and Karen Lytle are the 2023 inductees into the Senior Living Hall of Fame, the American Seniors Housing Association announced Thursday.
ASHA awards the annual honor. The association credited the four industry leaders with having “the foresight to anticipate the emergence and dramatic growth of senior living,” saying they were “instrumental in guiding its ascent.”
“We are very grateful to them and their commitment to senior living,” ASHA President and CEO David Schless said.
The honorees will be inducted in January at ASHA’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, AZ. They will join 20 others previously inducted in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Keren Brown Wilson
Wilson founded Assisted Living Concepts, now known as Enlivant.
“She was at the forefront of a new movement in serving seniors as she opened communities that met the needs of the price-sensitive middle market,” Schless said.
Wilson’s founding of the company stemmed from her experience with her mother, who moved into a nursing home after having a stroke at the age of 55. Wilson had recently earned a PhD in gerontology, according to ASHA.
She developed a 112-unit “living center” called Park Place that became the private-pay prototype for what now is known as assisted living, prioritizing resident choice and autonomy. Private apartments had kitchenettes and a full range of support and health-related services. State housing bonds and a special waiver to provide residential care were used.
After Oregon became the first state in 1981 to receive Medicaid waivers for home- and community-based services, she sought Medicaid funding for assisted living. Her second building, Regency Park, received the first contract for Medicaid HCBS clients in 1986.
At that point, according to ASHA, Wilson refocused her efforts to reach a different market: the mid-level private market with capacity to serve Medicaid where it was available. Sites typically included 30 to 40 units and primarily were located in rural and suburban communities with populations of 10,000 to 40,000 people. Universal workers were used.
Although senior living operators today eye the emerging Baby Boom demographic and deliberate how to serve the price-sensitive middle market, she was far ahead of her time in delivering a low-cost venue for assisted living. Rates averaged $1,600 a month. She also introduced tiered rates based on level of service based on individualized service plans.
Assisted Living Concepts went public with an IPO, growing to more than 3,000 employees with 184 communities in 18 states. Wilson left the company in 2000. Shareholders opted to sell the company in 2004, and it was renamed Enlivant in 2014 after it was purchased by private equity firm TPG.
Noah Levy
Levy, with PGIM Real Estate, “was a visionary whose singular focus on the senior living sector played a major role in raising its profile among investors and opened the way for far broader access to capital,” Schless said. His singular focus over 20 years on the senior living sector played a major role in raising its profile among investors and opening the way for far broader access to capital, according to ASHA.
In 1998, when Levy moved from his role leading Prudential’s senior living lending program and joined PGIM Real Estate, the commercial real estate arm of Prudential Financial, institutional investors typically allocated only 2 to 4% of their funds to commercial real estate, but by the time he retired in 2018, commercial real estate was drawing approximately 10% of all institutional investments, ASHA said.
Levy developed and managed PGIM’s Senior Housing Partners investment funds, which throughout his tenure invested more than $2.6 billion in more than 150 properties across the United States through a series of private equity funds.
Levy validated the sector’s ability to consistently sustain cash flow and deliver net operating income growth, and the yield-hungry capital markets took notice, ASHA said, noting that institutional investors began to take comfort that sufficient liquidity existed to successfully round trip their senior living investments.
While he was chairman of ASHA in 2004 and 2005, one of Levy’s priorities was reinforcing the association’s outreach among federal policymakers. Working with other members of the ASHA Executive Committee, Levy expanded Seniors Housing PAC’s influence by introducing a new venue for raising donations, the Chairman’s Circle, an annual retreat for those who contribute between $2,000 and $5,000.
Outside of his professional career, Levy has focused his energy on promoting living options and programs for adults with special needs, serving on the boards of two not-for-profits: Annandale Village and Certified Fitness for Special Needs.
Chuck and Karen Lytle
The Lytles, of Lytle Enterprises, “had a long record of success over 40-some years as they built, acquired and managed independent and assisted living communities across the western United States,” Schless said.
At the height of those efforts, the Lytles oversaw a portfolio of 33 properties with 4,838 apartments. Today, their family-owned company, based in Bellevue, WA, controls 19 communities in Arizona, California, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, totaling 3,000 units with an average size of 157 units.
Chuck Lytle, who had a hand in managing, acquiring and developing more than $1.5 billion in healthcare and retirement community properties throughout his career, in 1976 founded both Lytle Enterprises to oversee real estate development for senior living and Leisure Care to manage the sites.
Karen Lytle left banking and in 1981 joined Lytle Enterprise to oversee operations. She subsequently was named president and chief operating officer and later, in 1998, was promoted to chairman.
The Lytles’ daughter, Jill Ashton, joined her parents in 1992 and held positions in management, real estate and finance. In 2007, she was promoted to senior vice president at Lytle Enterprises, where her responsibilities include finance, investment, strategic portfolio management, and lender relations.
In 2003, the Lytles stepped back from day-to-day operations after selling Leisure Care to its CEO, Dan Madsen. Lytle Enterprises maintains ownership of its assets, whereas Leisure Care manages the properties.
“One of the greatest testaments to the Lytles’ legacy is the network of senior living leaders they helped develop over the years,” ASHA said. “These include the aforementioned Dan Madsen, who now heads Leisure Care; Dwayne Clark with Aegis Living; Paul Dendy with Milestone Retirement Communities; and Tana Gall with Merrill Gardens.”
This year’s inductees were chosen by the Senior Living Hall of Fame Selection Committee, which is led by former ASHA Chair Larry Cohen, CEO of Trustwell Living. Committee members include Lois Bowers, editor of McKnight’s Senior Living, and Steve Monroe, Tim Mullaney and Matt Valley.
