• Brookdale’s Operations Improve While NOI and Margins Lag

    Following the preliminary results announcement after the January 28 close, Brookdale Senior Living’s stock spiked 11.5% on January 29. Investors cheered the upbeat early numbers, but the mood shifted once the official quarterly and full-year results came out February 18 after the bell. The stock opened nearly 7% below the prior close and dropped... Read More »
  • Morgan Stanley and Foundry Commercial Exit Spring Arbor Portfolio

    Morgan Stanley Investment Management, through funds managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, and Foundry Commercial have completed their exit from the Spring Arbor Senior Living portfolio through the sale of the remaining 11 assets. The seniors housing communities, located in Maryland and Virginia, comprise 795 assisted living and memory... Read More »
  • Investor Enters Seniors Housing Sector Through Recapitalization

    Amy Sitzman and Giancarlo Riso of Blueprint handled the recapitalization of Countryside of Wichita Falls, a 50-unit assisted living community in Wichita Falls, Texas. The asset offered value-add potential through renovations, rebranding and a planned memory care addition. As occupancy began to improve, Blueprint launched a marketing process,... Read More »
  • Public REIT Divests to National Provider

    A publicly traded REIT recently completed the wind down of its relationship with an outgoing operator through its sale of a seniors housing community in Wisconsin. Michael Segal, Lauren Nagle and Daniel Waldhorn of Blueprint handled the deal, targeting local, regional and national investors. A growing national provider was selected as the... Read More »
  • Multiple Buyers Acquire Skilled Nursing Beds

    Under Ohio’s certificate of need regulations, skilled nursing beds can be transferred from counties deemed over-bedded to those experiencing a shortage. Taking advantage of this window, 12 separate sellers, motivated by downsizing, closures or strategic repositioning, transferred their beds with the help of Senwell Senior Investment Advisors. Ben... Read More »
“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

Some assisted living residents are getting restless. Why should they be any different from the rest of us? The Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion piece by a 94-year old resident of an assisted living community in New Jersey, where he wrote that he had mixed feelings about his “benevolent incarceration” during this pandemic. While he understands that the current restrictions are to keep him and the other residents safe, he raises some valid questions. At his community, no residents have tested positive for COVID-19, while three staff members have already recovered from it. Yet, the residents still can’t eat in the dining room, all meals are delivered to the apartments where... Read More »
“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

Assisted Living: Recession Resistant or Not?

Assisted living emerged from the Great Recession largely unscathed. Will history repeat itself 10 years later? Well, I just found out on Monday we are officially in a recession. Not that anyone needed to get the official notice, since we all know what 40 million recently unemployed means for the economy. But what does it mean for assisted living? In the “Great Recession” assisted living came out looking pretty good because of its need-driven characteristics. In the ensuing 10 years, average per-unit prices soared to record levels even as over-development caused some census issues. So, is this recession, or potential depression, going to be different? The elderly will continue to need care,... Read More »
“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

Seniors Housing M&A Market Comes to Life

Welltower’s recent announcement of two portfolio sales at low cap rates during the pandemic bodes well for the market. It has been a quiet past few weeks in the seniors housing M&A market. Last week was the first time we can remember when we have gone an entire week without one announced acquisition. That leaves us worried as to the liquidity in the market and what we may expect in the coming weeks. Well, we breathed a sigh of relief when Welltower announced two separate transactions for seniors housing portfolios completed by Newmark Knight Frank with a total value close to $800 million. When the MOBs are added in, the total comes to about $1.3 billion.  More details on these... Read More »
“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

The Bifurcating Seniors Housing Market

The seniors housing and care acquisition market is bifurcating in more ways than one. We have all long talked about how the various seniors housing and care acquisition markets have bifurcated over the years. There is the vast difference between “A” quality and “B” quality assisted living communities. There are the old independent living communities vs. the new ones built with AL and MC included. There are the 40-year old SNFs compared with the sparkling new transitional care facilities. But as a result of this coronavirus pandemic and the economic shutdown, there appears to be another bifurcation that has developed. This one is based on outlook.  There appears to be two... Read More »
“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

Can Federal Funds Come Without Strings?

Can the seniors housing sector expect to receive federal funds during the pandemic without some strings attached, like regulations? As the health care industry tries to deal with the rising costs of the coronavirus pandemic, the funds available may get tighter and tighter. So far, it has been hospitals and nursing facilities that have received much-needed federal aid. Nursing facilities have been given direct daily rate increases to deal with the rising costs of PPE and labor. The private-pay seniors housing sector, however, has been left out, so far. It has not been without a major effort to obtain federal funds to help with the sector’s own rising costs. Testing kits for all staff and... Read More »
“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

Bashing Our Senior Care

Getting tired of the media and politicians bashing the senior care sector. Is anyone else tired like I am. I don’t know whether it is the worry about the economy, being infected with COVID-19, having no social life, wondering when the next wave will hit. I could go on. But what I am really tired of is CNN’s relentless bashing, and the politicians who are piling on, looking for someone to blame, like they always do. But what really ticked me off was the April 29 letter that Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, sent to the leaders of a half dozen of the largest senior living providers. They had a laundry list of more than 50 questions they... Read More »