• 60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts

    There will be significant political interest in what happens to Medicaid funding as Republicans work to pass a budget and tax bill with their very slim majority. Touching entitlements remains politically risky, and the party is divided on whether any Medicaid cuts would be acceptable heading into an election cycle. At this stage, per-capita caps... Read More »
  • Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend

    We are at the end of the first quarter 2025 earning roll call, and Sonida Senior Living posted another solid quarter. Weighted average occupancy for its same-community portfolio (56 communities) increased by 100 basis points year over year to 86.8%, which is at the top end of many of its competitors. In addition, same-community RevPOR increased... Read More »
  • Regional Owner/Operator Purchases Turnaround SNF

    Evans Senior Investments was engaged by a regional owner in a partnership with the University of Michigan Health-West Hospital to facilitate the sale of a skilled nursing facility in Wyoming, Michigan. Opened nearly 10 years ago, Healthbridge Post Acute comprises 65 beds and was experiencing operational challenges, including an annual net... Read More »
  • Family Owner Divests CCRC to Not-For-Profit

    Senwell Senior Investment Advisors sold a family-owned/operated CCRC in Maumee, Ohio, to a not-for-profit organization. The community had been in the seller’s family for 75 years, but they are divesting to enter retirement. Established in 1949, Elizabeth Scott Community spans 51 acres and offers independent living, assisted living, memory care... Read More »
  • HUD-Backed Seniors Housing Community Opens on Long Island

    A HUD-financed seniors housing project has celebrated its grand opening in Bay Shore, New York. Netherbay at Bay Shore is a state-of-the-art assisted living/memory care community located at the historic Gulden family’s summer homestead on Long Island. It features 72 units and is operated by Meridian Senior Living. Greystone’s Lisa Fischman had... Read More »
Blueprint’s Recent Activity

Blueprint’s Recent Activity

We have said it before: the senior care M&A market has been an enigma. The difficult capital markets environment combined with operational distress in the industry has reduced buyer demand, increased lender scrutiny of deals and lowered values to a level that discourages potential sellers from entering the market. Headaches involving sourcing debt, soaring insurance costs and skittish (some would say fickle) buyers/lenders have made each transaction that much more difficult to complete. Despite all of this, M&A activity is, at first glance, still at historically high levels. In the third quarter of 2023, 115 deals were publicly announced. That is down from the 140 transactions made... Read More »
60 Seconds with Monroe: Finding A Solution For LTC Funding

60 Seconds with Monroe: Finding A Solution For LTC Funding

My friend Stephen Moses, president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform, has been a consistent and persistent advocate for reforming the Medicaid system and getting Americans out of the Medicaid-dependency mindset. He just published, with the Paragon Health Institute, the follow-on to his paper “Long-Term Care: The Problem.” Available now is “Long-Term Care: The Solution.” While I was hoping for something completely new and creative, I can’t disagree with his recommendations, which include 1) stop the ability to purchase Medicaid-exempt assets, 2) eliminate the home equity exemption, 3) ban Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, 4) disallow Medicaid compliant annuities, and 5) increase the... Read More »
Brookdale Occupancy Continues to Grow

Brookdale Occupancy Continues to Grow

As we have mentioned time and again, the seniors housing industry needs Brookdale Senior Living to succeed. While census continues to increase, the pace needs to increase as well before we head into the flu season this winter, which usually sees a drop in census. Many providers were spared this seasonal decline in census last year, as the industry’s recovery was stronger than the flu season. But Brookdale lost 90 basis points of census in the first quarter this year. September’s weighted average occupancy increased 60 basis points from August, to 78.2%. Month-end occupancy in September increased by 40 basis points from August, to 79.7%, inching closer to that psychological 80% level. But... Read More »
Breathing Room Gets Bigger for Sonida Senior Living

Breathing Room Gets Bigger for Sonida Senior Living

Three months ago, Sonida Senior Living announced a comprehensive loan forbearance agreement with Fannie Mae covering 37 mortgaged communities. Part two occurred last week, which was the signing of loan modifications for these loans. It appears that the terms from three months ago remained in place. All maturities under the 37 loans have been extended to December 2026 or later. Principal payments have been deferred for three years or waived until maturity, resulting in $33 million in deferred payments. A near-term interest rate reduction for all 37 loans will result in $6.1 million in cash interest rate savings from June 2023 to May 2024. As part of the agreement, Sonida paid down $5... Read More »
Colliers Secures Construction Loan For Michigan Senior Care Campus

Colliers Secures Construction Loan For Michigan Senior Care Campus

Christopher Fenton, Catherine Eby, Nick Skarich and Kevin McMahon of Colliers Mortgage closed a $19.4 million construction loan for the development of an independent/assisted living and skilled nursing campus in Hudsonville, Michigan. Expected to open in spring 2024, the 107-unit community will feature a combination of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.  Amenities will include a bistro, lounge and large community spaces. The loan comes with a 48-month term with one 12-month extension option. Read More »
BWE Adds Seniors Housing Investment Sales Group

BWE Adds Seniors Housing Investment Sales Group

There’s a new seniors housing and care investment sales group in town. BWE Investment Sales, LLC (BWEIS), the investment sales organization that works closely with BWE, a national commercial and multifamily mortgage banking company, announced today the launched its new seniors housing platform, dubbed BWEIS Seniors. It will be headed by Charles Bissell, most recently a Managing Director with JLL’s Capital Markets Group and a veteran seniors housing leader with over 30 years of experience in the industry. The BWEIS Seniors team will partner with the BWE seniors housing debt and structured finance team to offer a full suite of capital markets solutions to their best-in-class clients across... Read More »