Vi Senior Living, Classic Residence

Vi Senior Living, formerly known as Classic Residence by Hyatt, was founded in 1987 by Penny Pritzker.[3][4] The Pritzker family background in founding the Hyatt hotel chain and Marmon Group inspired Penny Pritzker's vision to bring high-end hospitality to senior living communities across the United States.[5][6] The Chicago-based company acquired a few high-end independent living rental communities that contained assisted living units. In total, Classic Residence by Hyatt, since rebranded as Vi Senior Living, developed six original communities and acquired another four communities, each of which required additional development.[4] Before Classic Residence by Hyatt rebranded to Vi Senior Living, the first Classic Residence rental communities were located in Monterey, California, Chevy Chase, Maryland, Teaneck, New Jersey, Dallas, Texas, Reno, Nevada, and Chicago, Illinois from 1989 to 1990.[7][8]

As Classic Residence made efforts to expand under Vi Senior Living, its first acquisition of Bentley Village, a continuing care retirement community in Naples, Florida, was completed in 1992.[4] This location has since been renamed Vi at Bentley Village.[4] In 1996, Vi purchased its first residential tower of La Jolla Village in San Diego, California.[9] The same year, Vi at Lakeside Village in Lantana, Florida was acquired.[4] The Lakeside Village community includes two restaurants and cafes, bar and ice cream shop, a beauty salon, fitness center, swimming pool, and hosts regular bus trips for residents.[6] A big part of Classic Residence by Hyatt and Vi Senior Living's lifestyle is the variety of amenities offered to residents, which resemble continuing education in the form of field trips, group discussions, and classes.[10]

In the coming years, Vi continued the trend of developing and acquiring retirement communities. The company acquired TidePointe in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina out of bankruptcy in 1998.[4] Vi at Grayhawk, one of two Vi communities in Scottsdale, Arizona, opened in 1999. In 2002, Vi at The Glen in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago's North Shore opened its 1,000-acre master-planned community. Between 2003 and 2010, the following communities opened: Vi at Aventura in Aventura, Florida (2003), Vi at Palo Alto in Silicon Valley, California (2005), Vi at Highlands Ranch in Highlands Ranch, Colorado (2008), and Vi at Silverstone in Scottsdale, Arizona (2010).[4][11][12][13][14] Classic Residence officially rebranded as Vi in June 2010 (pronounced “vee”, derived from “vida”, the Latin word for “life”). The continuing-care retirement communities were rebranded as Vi, while rental properties were renamed to “Classic Residence, a Vi Community.”[15]

In January 2012, Pritzker announced her resignation as Vi Senior Living chairwoman. As a result, Kevin Poorman, vice chairman of the company, was appointed to fill her role.[5]

• Randy Richardson joined Vi in 2000 as Chief Executive Officer.[5]
• Gary Smith joined Vi as Chief Financial Officer in 2001.[1]
• Judy Whitcomb, Senior VP of Human resources, Learning, and Organizational Development as of 2007.[2]

Through its Management Development Program, Vi employees can access more than 1,000 online courses. More than 600 employees have graduated from this program since its start in 2008.[2]

Residents of Vi's La Jolla community filed a class action lawsuit against Vi in 2006.[16] Accusations included fraud and deceit, elder abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair business practices, and violation of part of the California health and safety code.[17] Vi denied any wrongdoing, but reached a settlement with affected residents in 2008 that included:

• A lump sum payment to residents,
• A 3% annual ceiling on monthly fee increases through 2013 for residents who took part in the lawsuit, and a 4% ceiling for every subsequent year, and
• Certain changes to the Wellness Center operations.[16]

In 2014, a resident at Vi's Palo Alto community filed a class action lawsuit against Vi, alleging refundable entrance fees were improperly being transferred out of state to its parent company without establishing a reserve fund as required by state law. The case was dismissed by a US District Court judge in February 2019.[18]

• 2011: Vi was ranked 85th out of Training Magazine's Training Top 125 list.[19]
• 2017: Chicago Tribune added Vi to its list of Top Workplaces.[20]
• 2018: Vi was named one of the Top Companies to Work For by Arizona Central.[21]
• 2018: All 10 Vi Senior Living communities earned the Great Place to Work certification.[22]
• 2018: Ranked #10 in Fortune's Best Workplaces for the Aging Services.[23]
• 2019: Vi was ranked 4th out of 57 global organizations for its corporate education program in Chief Learning Officer's LearningElite Awards.[24]
• 2019: Recognized for "Best in Wellness" Culture in ICAA NuStep Beacon Awards.[25]
• 2019: Mentioned in Glassdoor's Best Places to Work for the coming year 2020.[26]
• 2020: Ranked #42 in Training Magazine's Top 125 Organizations.[27]
• 2020: Judy Whitcomb, SVP of HR, recognized as Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leader[28]

• Official website