Smith/Packett was founded in 1982 by James R. "Jim" Smith as a development and Certificate of Need consulting firm. By 1986, Mr. Smith had formed various partnerships and developed nursing homes throughout Virginia, Florida and the Carolinas. These partnerships grew to include senior housing communities, active adult communities, independent living, assisted living, nursing homes, medical/office buildings, and mixed use facilities and grew geographically to be throughout the United States east of the Mississippi.