• 60 Seconds with Swett: M&A Activity Tops 350 Deals in H1:25

    In the second quarter of 2025, there were 176 publicly announced transactions, a preliminary number that is almost certain to increase in the weeks ahead. That brings our total for the first half of the year to 355 deals, or 710 on an annualized basis. Considering we finished 2024 with 716 total deals, which was a record by far, we are in a good... Read More »
  • Bloom Exits South Carolina’s Seniors Housing Market

    Kandu Capital, LLC, and its operating company, Bloom Senior Living, collectively known as Bloom, sold its final seniors housing community in South Carolina. The company is seeking realignment as it exits the state after a decade-long presence in the region. The 129-unit independent living and memory care community, which is in Bluffton, sold for... Read More »
  • Improving Ohio SNF Sees Strong Price

    Ryan Saul of Senior Living Investment Brokerage secured a strong price for a skilled nursing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio. Built in 1965, the facility was originally licensed for 199 beds, but the decision was made to strategically reduce the beds to 167 to save on provider tax and improve the Medicaid rate.  The facility struggled for many... Read More »
  • Stacked Stone Ventures Makes Major SNF Acquisition

    Stacked Stone Ventures, a real estate investment firm founded by Kent Eikanas, has made a major acquisition in the skilled nursing sector, acquiring nine skilled nursing facilities for approximately $33 million, or $66,000 per bed, at a 13% cap rate. Stacked Stone bought the portfolio in a joint venture with Praxis Capital from a large... Read More »
  • Tremper Capital Group Announces Two Refinances

    Tremper Capital Group announced a couple of refinances at the end of the second quarter for seniors housing clients. The first was arranged on behalf of Kisco Senior Living for its 333-unit entrance-fee CCRC in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Built in 2004, the campus was acquired by Kisco as part of a larger CCRC deal in 2013, and since then it... Read More »
What Does Brookdale’s Proxy Fight Cost?

What Does Brookdale’s Proxy Fight Cost?

It seems that hardly a day goes by without yet another SEC filing by Brookdale Senior Living detailing why its slate of Board candidates is far better for shareholders than the slate submitted by activist investor Ortelius Advisors. But how much are they spending on this? It would be nice to know, and we are sure shareholders would rather have the money spent on operations or debt repayment. It has now come down to two Board seats, and Brookdale’s management has been touting both Lee Wielansky and Victoria Freed’s qualifications. Here’s the problem we have. Wielansky has been on the Brookdale Board since 2015, where shareholders witnessed one of the largest losses in shareholder value ever... Read More »
Do We Hear $30 Per Hour as the New Minimum Wage?

Do We Hear $30 Per Hour as the New Minimum Wage?

We know we have the People’s Republic of California, and after New York’s Democratic Party primary, we may have the People’s Republic of New York City by November. The surprise winner of the primary was 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani. He is a self-professed Socialist, and more. In addition to free bussing, freezes on apartment rents, higher taxes on the wealthy (already one of the highest taxed regions in the country) and government run grocery stores, he wants to implement a $30 an hour minimum wage for New York City. We suspect he has no idea what the impact would be on employers. We suspect he does not care. But it could be different in the seniors housing industry. You may remember our... Read More »
Brookdale Making A Run?

Brookdale Making A Run?

Brookdale Senior Living just announced that May’s occupancy levels jumped quite impressively. Nothing like a proxy challenge to get things moving in the right direction. If only they had worked it two to three years ago, Cindy Baier might still have her job. But heck, she still has a lot of equity in the company, which is now increasing in value. Finally. May’s month-end occupancy increased by 50 basis points over April’s to land at 81.5%, or 200 basis points higher than last May. The weighted average occupancy in May was 80.0%, or 190 basis points above last May’s. Same-community weighted average occupancy in May jumped to 80.6%, up 20 basis points sequentially, while month-end... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Brookdale Senior Living and SWAT

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Brookdale Senior Living and SWAT

Brookdale Senior Living announced it had recently formed SWAT teams to deal with its lowest-occupancy buildings to try to get them over the 80% hump, and there are a lot of them. Since then, the term SWAT team has been appearing more and more with other providers.  SWAT is a scary term, and stands for Special Weapons and Tactics, and in law enforcement is used to deal with barricaded persons, active shooting scenes and high-risk search warrants. Not exactly something we want to be associated with trying to get customers into senior living. But I understand the intent. The other frequently used term is the “silver tsunami” about to hit us. Again, a tsunami is extremely destructive,... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts

60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts

There will be significant political interest in what happens to Medicaid funding as Republicans work to pass a budget and tax bill with their very slim majority. Touching entitlements remains politically risky, and the party is divided on whether any Medicaid cuts would be acceptable heading into an election cycle. At this stage, per-capita caps on federal Medicaid payments to states do not appear to be under serious consideration. However, even without direct federal cuts, rulemaking changes could materially affect Medicaid-dependent providers. CMS has issued a proposed rule that aims to close what it describes as a Medicaid “tax loophole” that some states have used to inflate federal... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend

Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend

We are at the end of the first quarter 2025 earning roll call, and Sonida Senior Living posted another solid quarter. Weighted average occupancy for its same-community portfolio (56 communities) increased by 100 basis points year over year to 86.8%, which is at the top end of many of its competitors. In addition, same-community RevPOR increased by 5.5% to $4,274 year over year, same-community net operating income increased by 19.3% to $16.1 million, and the same-community operating margin jumped by 280 basis points to 27.6%.  On a sequential basis, RevPOR increased by 1.8%, same-community net operating income increased by 4.5%, and same-community net operating margin jumped by 80... Read More »