• Regional Owner/Operator Enters New State

    A regional owner/operator looking to enter the state of Indiana acquired Smith Farms Manor, an independent living community in Auburn, about 30 miles south of the Michigan border. Built in 1998, the community features 51 units and is well maintained. It sits on an attractive four-acre campus down the street from Parkview DeKalb Hospital and off... Read More »
  • Skilled Nursing Portfolio Gets New Operator

    Evans Senior Investments secured a new lease for a skilled nursing portfolio in Tennessee on behalf of an institutional owner. The portfolio features four assets and was operating below 70% occupancy with margins under 10%. Despite that performance, ESI secured a lease $3 million above in-place cash flow, reflecting the operational upside that... Read More »
  • Seniors Housing and Care M&A Remains Elevated in Q1:26

    The number of publicly announced seniors housing and care acquisitions in the first quarter of 2026 reached 231 deals, based on new acquisition data from LevinPro LTC. This represents a 19.8% decrease from the 288 transactions disclosed in the fourth quarter of 2025, but a 25.5% increase from the 184 deals in Q1:25.   “It was always going... Read More »
  • Clarion Acquires Again in Colorado

    Two years after opening a 160-unit seniors housing community in Centennial, Colorado (Denver MSA), MorningStar Senior Living announced an expanding relationship with Clarion Partners, a leading real estate investment company and specialty investment manager of Franklin Templeton, in its acquisition of MorningStar at Holly Park. The community... Read More »
  • Brookdale’s Summer Test Ahead

    Brookdale Senior Living reported its March occupancy results, and it unfortunately took another step in the wrong direction. We will get a better read when peers report first-quarter results and when NIC MAP releases its next tranche of occupancy data, but at this point, it seems as though Brookdale will need a particularly strong performance... Read More »
Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

Acuity level can impact what is driving business value and real estate value in healthcare properties, something all lenders and investors should understand. The separating out of business value from real estate value in healthcare properties has always been a controversial issue. When lenders lend against the value of an LTAC or a skilled nursing facility, their security interest is really in the real estate, and not the business. But the real estate without that business, without that CON or license, can see its value drop quite suddenly. Should anyone care where the values lie if they are really looking at the full enterprise value? Absolutely. What happens if a facility is old, has... Read More »
Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

To Settle Or Not to Settle

Sometimes, when people search for problems at a senior living provider, it just gets absurd. I read this week a story in McKnight’s about a senior living provider who was sued and settled on a payment of a few hundred thousand dollars for the “crime” of not having sign language interpreters available. My reaction was, you’ve got to be kidding! No one had asked for sign language interpreters, but apparently someone went in “undercover” and found out they were not available. Imagine that. Obviously, I have nothing against the deaf, and my hearing is beginning to go, but to be coerced into forking over a few hundred thousand dollars for not having a service that was not asked for, well, this... Read More »
Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

The Big Deals Are Upon Us Again

Sabra Health Care REIT and Care Capital Properties announced their merger in a somewhat negative SNF market for REITs. When I wrote the lead story for the May issue of The SeniorCare Investor talking about the return of the “Big Deal” to the market, I hope you didn’t think I had any inside information. Just days after it was published, Sabra Health Care REIT and Care Capital Properties announced their merger. I had written that a REIT buying a smaller REIT could make sense, except that one of the problems with that type of deal is that you end up with a certain amount of unwanted assets. That said, the transaction makes a lot of sense for both REITs. Separately, their cost of capital was... Read More »
Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

New Senior Care M&A Data

Assisted living per-unit prices rise for the latest four quarters, while skilled nursing remains the same. It was a relatively slow first quarter with regard to publicly announced seniors housing and care acquisitions, other than some old large deals announced last year that finally closed in the quarter. On a rolling four quarters basis, the average price for assisted living jumped to $210,300 per unit for the period ended March 31, compared with $193,650 per unit for calendar year 2016. The average cap rate remained at 8.5% but with an obvious wide range. Meanwhile, independent living did the reverse, dropping to $208,900 per unit for the four quarters ended March 31 compared with... Read More »
Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

Kindred Healthcare For Sale, Or Not

Kindred Healthcare disclosed that at least one buyer was in early talks to buy the entire company. Don’t you just love rumors? Last week, Kindred Healthcare disclosed that they were well on their way to divesting their remaining skilled nursing facilities, as planned, mostly in groups of facilities to different buyers. But we have also heard there was someone interested in the entire portfolio. Kindred also revealed that someone was in early discussions to buy the entire company. The shares jumped 15%. Now, readers may remember that we have been saying for some time now that the stock was undervalued, and that the components were worth well above the current market cap. Others do not... Read More »
Real Estate vs. Business Value For Healthcare Properties

Independent Living Market Outperforms

First quarter data from NIC MAP shows IL occupancy again exceeding assisted living, but with less new development. What is it about the independent living community market that keeps occupancy more stable than assisted living, yet sees a much lower level of new development? In the latest NIC MAP data on the first quarter, the IL market outperformed the AL market again, even though IL occupancy did slip a bit sequentially and year over year. I have a hard time understanding why there is not more development in the IL side of the business. Yes, they are larger properties that require more capital and a longer fill time, but it just seems they can be more tailored to any market’s particular... Read More »