Belmont Village President: ‘Wind in Our Sails’ for 2027, With New University Partnerships in Tow
Senior living provider Belmont Village is partnering with Rice University to expand access to university-level courses and learning opportunities for older adults. It’s all part of the company’s path forward this year and next, according to Belmont Village President Mercedes Kerr.
The launch serves as a “new phase” in a partnership that started as a pilot program at 12 Belmont Village communities with Rice University’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Belmont Village’s Lifelong University program will bring faculty- and expert-led virtual courses directly to older adults, pairing academic presentations with interactive discussions and related activities led by trained community-level staff.
Past programs included an interdisciplinary curriculum that covered a range of subjects, from Art Deco architecture to the study of ant behavior, giving older adults learning opportunities spanning a variety of topics and academic fields. The program was developed based on feedback from residents and staff to hone the curriculum and delivery of the courses. Belmont Village staff receive customized training to facilitate group participation and help residents engage with course material beyond virtual lectures.
“Rice and Belmont Village share a fundamental belief that learning should not have an expiration date,” Belmont Village Founder Patricia Will said in a news release. “Rice brings extraordinary academic resources and expertise, while Belmont brings nearly 30 years of experience understanding older adults from how they engage and what interests them, along with how programming can be successfully integrated into a senior living environment.”
Partnership a ‘foundation’ for more
Since the pilot started, the program has gained popularity and expanded, with more Belmont Village residents and Rice faculty seeking to join. Lifelong University has also led to creative workshops offering new ways for residents to learn and build connections.
The partnership between Rice University and Belmont Village sets “a foundation” for continued program development, including a larger syllabus and opportunities to add more interactive learning formats.
Belmont Village is no stranger to university-based partnerships. In 2016, Belmont Village partnered with UC San Diego to connect academic researchers with work in the field, which ultimately led to the creation of the Living Lab, the first-ever research space within a senior living community, in 2023.
The Living Lab at Belmont Village La Jolla takes a new approach to how aging research is conducted by placing it directly within a residential community. The on-site lab studies physical and functional assessments, biosensor testing, behavioral interventions and the application of emerging technologies. Past areas of study include meditation intervention research, fall prevention and mobility studies, blood pressure monitoring via mobile app and ambient sensing safety technology.
“That gives us an opportunity to test what’s out there and what will be done differently, and we spend a lot of time and effort into this concept of aging successfully,” Belmont Village President Mercedes Kerr told Senior Housing News at the 2026 NIC Fall Conference in Chicago.
Much of the effort to pair research and operations flows through the company’s early-stage memory care program, known as Circle of Friends. According to Kerr, Belmont Village views these university and research partnerships as a way to position the company as a leader in senior living operations in the name of helping older adults live longer, happier and healthier lives.
“We’re always looking for what else do we need to do and how do we incorporate that into our daily operations,” Kerr said.
The Circle of Friends memory care program is focused on older adults with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage memory loss, which is then paired with its advanced memory care program for older adults who manage more severe cognitive change.
Overall, Belmont Village’s approach to memory care focuses on brain fitness and establishing university partnerships, including with Vanderbilt University, UCLA and USC, to base operations and resident engagement on gerontological research.
Kerr sees opportunities for senior living providers to build close-knit academic and research-based partnerships to further aging research, improve operations and ultimately improve resident care and engagement. Going forward, Kerr sees preventive interventions in brain health as a critical area operators must focus on, evolving programming and better meeting the needs of older adults today.
“One of the things about Belmont Village that happens frequently is that people really do live with us for a very long time, and we want to make an environment where they can age in place,” Kerr said. “Having access to those types of services and alternatives is meaningful to them and to us.”
‘Preparing for what comes next’
Providing quality services and care does not stop at independent living or assisted living. Kerr said operators must take steps to address late-stage memory care to provide a dignified, strong quality of life for older adults with advanced dementia or cognitive change. For example, Kerr recalled a resident who was nonverbal for “a very long time” and spoke again after spending time in the company’s memory care program.
With programming and engagement top of mind, Kerr said training is also critical for these complex areas of the continuum. The company provides multiple career pathways for staff seeking advancement opportunities. Belmont Village recently added a leader overseeing human capital and a chief technology officer.
“We’re taking care of growing our own leaders, and I think that is a very good formula for preparing for what comes next,” Kerr said.
In 2026, Kerr said Belmont Village leaders overhauled the company’s technology platforms and governance around AI use.
“With some of the things that we’re doing back of house, or infrastructure at the corporate level, there is definitely an element of preparing for more scale,” Kerr said. “With the growth that we are experiencing, we want to stay very nimble, both at corporate and in the field.”
Alongside their efforts to improve senior living operations, brain health and memory care, leaders at Belmont Village are continuing multiple development projects, opening several luxury senior living communities in the last few years even as development remained difficult.
In 2024, Belmont Village opened Belmont Village Senior Living Coral Gables, a 10-story luxury community spanning 232 apartments across independent living, assisted living and memory care. The community includes an on-site primary care center and clinic through a partnership with Baptist Health South Florida. In 2025, Belmont Village completed Belmont Village San Ramon in San Ramon, California, a 177-unit luxury community with Sunset Development.
This year, the company opened the 11-story Belmont Village Aventura community in Aventura, Florida, in partnership with Turnberry, marking the company’s third community in South Florida.
Set to open in 2027, Belmont Village Rancho Santa Fe, a luxury property located within a gated residential community in San Diego, California, will soon welcome residents. The 187,430-square-foot community spans a 7-acre site and is in partnership with Greystar, HPI Architecture and W.E. O’Neil Construction. Features of the community include clinical and wellness offerings, along with a partnership with the UC San Diego Center for Healthy Aging.
Will outlined the company’s development thesis in 2025, noting the company’s longstanding equity and capital relationships have helped maintain stability and give projects a chance to move forward amid tough development conditions since 2019.
“We’re very selective about markets, and we are in high-barrier-to-entry areas that have a longer development period, but for that very reason, they tend to be wildly successful because these are markets that it’s difficult to bring new communities in,” Kerr said.
Approaching the company’s 30th anniversary next year, Kerr said Belmont Village is looking back on three decades of service, growth and innovation in providing high-end senior living options to older adults, while also celebrating the milestones of residents and staff who have been along for the journey.
“The staying power there is really strong, and it translates to a very beautiful culture, so it’s something that’s very tangible,” Kerr added.
Heading into 2027, Kerr said Belmont Village has “wind in our sails,” propelled by consistent development growth, operating performance and strong demand. She views the next year as a time to “perfect what we do” for the next generation of senior living residents.
