


Chartwell Retirement Residences Sees Census Soar
Canada-based Chartwell Retirement Residences has been seeing a resurgence of occupancy growth that seems to be above and beyond the normal third quarter increases that we have come to expect. The third quarter saw census increase by 210 basis points from the June average of 80.1%, but it grew by another 100 basis points in October to 83.2%. They expect to add another 100 basis points over the next two months. Not too shabby. If they keep it up, they may reach the 95% occupancy levels of Ventas’s Canadian operators. Leasing activity in 2023 to date is 18% higher than the company’s pre-pandemic levels. Occupancy is now 600 basis points above its recent low of 77.2% in April 2022. With... Read More »
Is This The Time To Start A REIT?
As we know, healthcare REITs suffered during the pandemic, with share prices hitting lows in March 2020. It was a long battle to regain previous values and even longer to sort out the various tenant problems. Balance sheets have been cleaned up, tenants and properties have been replaced, but there are still many legacy problems. Is now a good time to start a REIT with a clean slate? Well, 1031 Crowdfunding thinks so. It has just launched Covenant Senior Housing REIT, which out of the gate has three assisted living/memory care properties with a value of $51.25 million. The communities are located in Oregon and California with an average 89.0% occupancy. They plan to buy cash-flowing... Read More »
CareTrust REIT Steadies For The Future
While it may not have been CareTrust REIT’s best quarter, there do not seem to be many problems with its tenants. The REIT collected 97.5% of contractual rent, up from 96.7% in the previous quarter. It helps when The Ensign Group is your major tenant. Lease coverage ratios are important when most of your business is triple net leases. For CareTrust, it is the envy of the industry. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2023 (REITs and their leases are always three months behind in reporting), CareTrust’s top 10 tenants had a combined EBITDARM coverage ratio of 2.87x, up from 2.71x for the previous 12-month period. And this excludes any use of HHS Relief Funds. Within this group, Ensign was tops... Read More »
Sabra: The Manager Really Does Matter
There were a lot of moving parts during 2023 at Sabra Health Care REIT with regard to its former Enlivant portfolio, owned in a joint venture with private equity firm TPG. After defaulting on its Fannie Mae debt and basically handing the keys over to Fannie for a majority of its Enlivant assets, Sabra still owned 11 Enlivant-managed communities outside of its TPG joint venture. These properties were transitioned to Inspirit Senior Living on July 6. In just three months, census in the portfolio increased by more than 230 basis points. We can’t wait to see where it will be this time next year. This has been a common theme of sorts: a new manager is brought in for underperforming... Read More »