• 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 »
Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

There has been a push for providing amnesty to senior care providers for COVID-19 lawsuits, and it makes sense . As you know, there has been a big push for states, or the federal government, to offer amnesty to senior care providers from lawsuits related to COVID-19 deaths, other than for cases of egregious neglect. Families and trial attorneys don’t want to hear anything of it. The reality is, suing hundreds of providers will accomplish very little other than lining the pockets of some lawyers and providing some financial comfort to family members.  The reality is that it will not be easy to prove “neglect.” As horrible as some of the stories in skilled nursing facilities have been as... Read More »
Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

Deal Flow Stalls…For Now

Seniors housing and care acquisitions came to a standstill, waiting for any positive news. So, I can’t remember the last time we went a full week without one seniors housing and care acquisition announcement. Perhaps in the depths of The Great Recession, but that was more than 10 years ago. Last week, there was nada, zippo, and it seemed to carry over into the start of this week. If you were not approaching the finish line by the end of March, for most deals, they just never crossed. There are a lot of disappointed sellers and brokers, but we have to assume the deals have just been put on hold until some degree of normalcy returns. But it may be a new normal, and lenders and buyers may... Read More »
Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

Where Occupancy May Be By July

The coronavirus was much worse then expected, as was its impact on senior care providers. I have to admit I was wrong, but just the third time in 34 years. In late February, I referred to the coronavirus as the flu on steroids, and that the senior care industry was prepared to deal with it. I was wrong on both accounts. It was much worse than anything on steroids, and many providers were not prepared for this one. I am not sure anyone could have adequately prepared for a deadly disease that can be quickly spread by asymptomatic staff and visitors.  Some people think they have escaped the worst part of the coronavirus, and they may be right. But this is not going to be a short-term problem.... Read More »
Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

Are Nursing Home Residents Really “Sitting Ducks”?

Nursing home residents live there because they are frail and often with major illnesses. As a result, they are more prone to infections than others, with worse outcomes. But don’t call them sitting ducks. We all know that The New York Times has had an issue with the entire skilled nursing sector for many years. They just like to pick on it, and when there is a major problem, they pounce. Much like they did last year with the record HUD loan loss, and now this year with the pandemic. But what really irritated me was the recent front-page headline which included, “Residents Are Sitting Ducks.” Now, this phrase did come from someone they interviewed, but the only thing the reader will... Read More »
Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

Getting Personal With COVID-19

When COVID-19 hits close to home. So, here we are in week three of shelter in place. Actually, week four for me. Two weeks ago, I was about the only one wearing a mask in one of my two trips to the grocery store. Now most everyone is, which makes sense. On one of the trips, I was actually told by someone that I was not supposed to be wearing one because I was asymptomatic. My how things have changed. I live in a small town of 20,000, and we have had 82 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths. That’s a 12% death rate, and it has been at that rate for the past week and a half, with about one death a day. I assume that 12% rate will come down as more tests are given, but it does seem out of... Read More »
Amnesty For Senior Care Providers

Capital Senior Living Finally Reports

After a two-week delay, Capital Senior Living reports fourth quarter results, and a little of first quarter. After delaying its fourth quarter earnings release by two weeks, Capital Senior Living finally produced the results. And they were not as bad as we expected. Phew. To be honest, I was thinking it could be so bad that bankruptcy would be floated as an option. Not this quarter. The bottom line is that the fourth quarter was not good, with same-community year-over-year occupancy declining by 290 basis points to 81.4%, and the operating margin falling by 600 basis points to 29%. Both are very large drops in a 12-month time frame. And both are worse than their peer group. The good news... Read More »