• October Kicks Off with Multiple Financings

    VIUM Capital announced a slew of closings at the start of October, ranging from HUD refinances to acquisition loans. The largest was a $72 million bride loan that refinanced four skilled nursing facilities in Pennsylvania totaling 525 beds. Proceeds will be used to take out senior debt and senior mezzanine debt. The facility will be structured as... Read More »
  • Newmark Negotiates Several Large Financings

    Sarah Anderson of Newmark has closed some notable financing transactions in the last couple of months, in addition to arranging acquisition financing for numerous deals handled by the Newmark investment sales team. One of the closings was for Vivante at Turtle Creek, a to-be-built seniors housing community on the prestigious Turtle Creek... Read More »
  • Funding Arranged for Skilled Nursing Clients

    MONTICELLOAM, LLC, a specialized multifamily and seniors housing bridge lending platform, announced a couple of financings for skilled nursing clients in New England and North Carolina. First, for eight skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the firm closed a $70 million senior bridge loan with a 24-month initial term. It... Read More »
  • Newly Constructed Community Secures Financing

    BWE arranged refinancing for Clarendale Arcadia, a newly constructed senior living community in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona. The financing was arranged on behalf of a repeat client joint venture between Harrison Street Asset Management, LCS, and Ryan Companies US, Inc., with LCS serving as the operator. Ryan Stoll, National... Read More »
  • Brookdale Shares Hit Seven-Year High

    Brookdale Senior Living has posted occupancy increases for several consecutive months. The operator has lagged behind the industry for a decade now, so it is about time.  Weighted average occupancy has increased each month since January, beginning at 79.2% and reaching 82.5% in September. The third quarter’s average of 81.8% is up 290 basis... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Do We Really Have To Worry About A Recession?

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Do We Really Have To Worry About A Recession?

We just can’t seem to get a break. Just as we are coming out of the pandemic morass with some decent census increases since March of 2021, now we have to worry about a looming recession and stagflation.  Many people in the sector have only seen a growing economy in the past decade and inflation rates hovering between zero and 2%. Stagnation? Never heard of it, well, not for a few decades at least.  As a result, we thought we would take a look at what happened to the senior care sector in the last major recession in 2008-2009, as well as the mini-recession in 2020, and see what exactly happened in our sector and what might happen this time around.  What we concluded is that... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Occupancy Optimism in the Seniors Housing Market

60 Seconds with Swett: Occupancy Optimism in the Seniors Housing Market

When we did our analysis of NIC MAP census data in late 2020, we discovered that from 2009 to 2020, there was only one year when the assisted living sector did not report a Q1 decline in average occupancy. That was in 2012, when census stayed flat. Not only that, every year after 2012 reported a Q2 decline as well. All this showed us that the road to recovery for the seniors housing market would be long following the pandemic, and much longer than most optimistic predictions at the time. Last year’s first quarter continued the trend, as the industry bottomed out and most public providers hit their lows too. Although, vaccines had only just started being distributed to seniors, and there... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Do We Really Have To Worry About A Recession?

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Labor Headwinds Everywhere

In case you did not notice, practically every equity analyst report we read on healthcare companies in the past four weeks had “labor headwinds” either in the title or the first paragraph. And I am not talking about senior care companies. These were home health, managed care, PMGs, you name it. Providers just can’t find the staff they need, and when they do, it is expensive. But you know that. Perhaps if we enter into a small recession that will help with the labor shortage, but don’t hold your breath. I’m not. We have a systemic problem, and it needs major changes if it is going to be fixed for the senior care industry. And the senior care industry must be a leader on the labor front to... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Best Senior Living List Is Revealed

60 Seconds with Swett: Best Senior Living List Is Revealed

U.S. News & World Report came out with its first ever “Best Senior Living” list on Tuesday, creating new designations of Best Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and CCRCs. U.S. News and its survey provider, Dr. Jacquelyn Kung’s Activated Insights, administered satisfaction surveys at 3,045 communities throughout the country between March 2021 and February 2022, evaluating four basic categories: community & activity, food & dining, caregiving, and management & staff. Also, family responses were taken into account for assisted living scores, and memory care community scores were derived solely from family surveys. Residents tended to respond more positively than... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: OHI Soars After Q1 Earnings 

60 Seconds with Swett: OHI Soars After Q1 Earnings 

Omega Healthcare Investors came out with its first quarter earnings on Monday May 2nd, and its share price soared throughout Tuesday, peaking at 28.89 per share (as of this filming), or up 14.8% from its previous close at $25.13. Granted, that is still not far off of its 52-week low of $24.81, but good news is good news.  First off, the company announced that it successfully sold 22 of its struggling Gulf Coast Health Care skilled nursing facilities, representing the majority of that portfolio for $318 million in cash. Gulf Coast had stopped paying contractual rent in the second quarter of 2021 as it was in the process of filing for chapter 11, so getting these facilities off its plate... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: REITs and the Post-Pandemic M&A Strategy 

60 Seconds with Swett: REITs and the Post-Pandemic M&A Strategy 

Coming out of the pandemic, the senior care REITs have had their difficulties dealing with low occupancy, operator/tenant problems and staffing shortages, like most in the industry. Rent collection rates and lease coverages have been less than ideal in more than a few cases, a couple of high-profile disputes played out, and REITs even were the target (albeit misguided) of the Biden Administration’s critique of the skilled nursing industry. However, after the major balance sheet decisions they made early in the pandemic and some strategic divestments, many REITs are still poised to grow on a massive scale, if the right deals come along.   What properties are they targeting, and... Read More »