Seniors Housing Business (www.seniorshousingbusiness.com) recently published a fascinating article on attempts by some senior housing operators to create facilities with a mix of independent living and assisted living residents.  Recognizing that couples moving into facilities might require different levels of care but want to stay together, some operators believe the potential higher rates they can charge and ability to keep residents in place for longer periods of time (as they can essentially age in place) outweigh the added costs that come with building a facility to assisted living standards and having staff with training required for assisted living serving residents requiring less care.  The article itself acknowledges that hybrid communities don’t make sense in every market, but as more and more product comes on line, offering that flexibility may provide a competitive advantage worth considering.