On April 27, The SeniorCare Investor’s Steve Monroe moderated a webinar entitled “Investing in the CCRC and Independent Living Market,” with panelists Breck Collingsworth of Resort Lifestyle Communities, Adam Kane of Erickson Living and Rick Swartz of Cushman & Wakefield. During the wide-ranging 90-minute discussion, which you can listen to here, the panel tackled CCRC valuations, cap rates, the IL/CCRC development market, whether these property types will suffer in the next recession as much as the last one. We also brought in the audience a few times to get their insight. First, we asked which property should have a higher cap rate, 100% independent living or a mix of IL, assisted living and memory care? Not surprisingly, the majority (75%) believed the acuity mix deserved a higher cap rate. Higher care levels usually mean higher risk. Although we shouldn’t discount the potential dangers facing the IL market, including occupancy, age and real estate values.

We then asked our listeners, if capital was not an issue, whether they would buy a CCRC or independent living community. The response was less definitive, with a slight majority (52%) preferring IL to CCRCs. That may have to do with the make-up of the audience (whether they are already IL or CCRC investors), but we typically do see more IL sales than CCRCs.