• Strawberry Fields REIT’s 2025 Growth

    Strawberry Fields REIT reported its 2025 operating results, noting that it was the best year since its inception more than 10 year ago. The company posted significant increases in FFO and AFFO, and it completed more than $110 million in several new acquisitions. Its portfolio now includes 131 skilled nursing facilities, 10 assisted living... Read More »
  • Owner/Operator Exits SNF Sector

    An independent owner/operator exited the skilled nursing sector through its divestment of Sunrise Country Manor, which has 80 beds in Milford, Nebraska, and features a mix of private and semi-private units. It maintained an 83% occupancy rate at the time of the sale. A regional operator looking to expand its footprint in Nebraska acquired the... Read More »
  • Assisted Living Providers Join Forces 

    Majestic Residences recently expanded its footprint, adding 17 assisted living communities and six in active development, through its acquisition of Avendelle Senior Living. Avendelle will be integrated into the Majestic Residences platform, with Avendelle’s corporate team retained. The combined organization will operate under the Majestic... Read More »
  • Investor Secures Financing and Acquires Class-A Community

    BWE’s Seniors Housing Capital Markets Team sold and financed The Capstone at Station Camp, which sits in the Nashville, Tennessee MSA. Built in 2021, the Class-A assisted living and memory care community comprises 100 units in Gallatin. It is operated by TerraBella Senior Living.  BWE represented the seller, Hunt Midwest. The buyer was a... Read More »
  • Multiple SNFs Sell in Separate Transactions

    A large skilled nursing company sold its 181-bed skilled nursing facility to a private investment firm based in New York, exiting South Carolina in the process. The buyer had an existing skilled nursing footprint, and will be leasing this facility to a regional operator. The building was older, built in the 1980s, and was around 80% occupied at... Read More »
Stock Buybacks vs. Dry Powder

Stock Buybacks vs. Dry Powder

Should REITs be using excess cash to buy back their shares at cheap prices, or wait and go bargain hunting for cheap properties? Good morning. I am in day nine of my 14-day self-quarantine, and have yet to go stir crazy. Apparently, in Connecticut, liquor stores are exempt from the shut-down. Hmmm. While we hear anecdotally that occupancy levels in seniors housing remain relatively unchanged, I do not see how that will remain so in the coming weeks and months. Companies and owners, such as REITs, are just beginning to report confirmed cases of COVID-19, along with the unfortunate deaths. While expected, we still continue to hope they can keep it to a minimum. One thing I am a little... Read More »
Stock Buybacks vs. Dry Powder

Surviving The Coronavirus

What a difference five days, and 3,200 miles can make, not to mention panic selling in our sector. Well, we certainly are living in interesting times. And not fun times.  I decided to stay with my plans and went to Scotland for a bachelor party last weekend. No kidding. It was fun and was a great bonding experience with my future son-in-law. I hope he feels the same way. The return was hassle free, but it was a different country I returned to from what I left on Thursday night.  School, restaurant, store and theater closings, to mention a few, plus shelter in place orders, added to the panic. And talk about panic. Senior care and healthcare REIT stocks were pummeled more than any other... Read More »
Stock Buybacks vs. Dry Powder

Monday’s Massacre

Providers got hurt in Monday’s stock market massacre, but healthcare REITs across the board suffered. We all know that Monday’s massacre in the stock market affected almost all companies. In our sector, the focus has been on providers, since they take care of the highest-risk people as this coronavirus/Covid-19 epidemic spreads. The unprecedented 2,013-point drop in the Dow was bad enough, and providers plunged as well. But so did the healthcare REITs that own their properties. Most of the REITs in our universe dropped by double digits, compared with 7.8% with the Dow and 7.6% with the S&P 500. Diversified Healthcare Trust plunged the most, falling 17.7% on Monday. It was... Read More »
When in Need of Renovations

When in Need of Renovations

How often have you heard that the vast majority of skilled nursing facilities need substantial renovations in order to compete? Now, we are hearing it about all those assisted living communities built in the 1990s, and even the early 2000s. All of the new development in the past six or seven years has really caused owners and operators to take a hard look at their real estate and decide what to do. What needs to be done to compete and how much will it cost? One of the nice things about going to a NIC conference is meeting new companies and people. One of the companies we met with, South Coast Improvement Company, specializes in renovating senior living buildings while the residents are... Read More »
Stock Buybacks vs. Dry Powder

NIC San Diego and The Coronavirus

Despite several cancellations we have heard of, we will be at NIC in San Diego to see you and talk deals. Good morning NIC attendees, at least those of you who decided to brave the coronavirus, which is here, in San Diego. I shouldn’t make light of it, as this virus is a killer, and if it is not contained, could do significant harm to the entire senior living industry. Perhaps in a way worse than even the worst flu season, but on steroids. Unfortunately, we have heard over the past several days of people canceling their trip to NIC, and entire companies telling their employees not to travel by air for business, even if they already had meetings set up at a conference such as NIC. Well, I... Read More »
60 Seconds With Steve: Best Time to Borrow is Now

60 Seconds With Steve: Best Time to Borrow is Now

In 60 Seconds With Steve, he discusses that even with tumbling stocks, the best time to borrow would be right now. I guess the markets are finally taking the coronavirus seriously. The worst may yet to come, at least for the virus. Monday’s more than 1,000-point plunge in the Dow shocked a lot of people, but we need some perspective. That drop is just over 3%, not that much of a plunge when you put it into a historical perspective. On October 19, 1987, after just one year in the senior living business, I checked into a hotel in Pennsylvania for a state conference. I turned the TV on and saw the merely 508-point drop in the Dow on the screen. But that was a 22.6% plunge. Think of that:... Read More »