• Berkadia Secures Large Portfolio Refinance

    Berkadia closed $627.2 million in agency financing for Project Raven. Project Raven is a 35-asset seniors housing portfolio with 4,395 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. The portfolio spans 15 states. Austin Sacco, Steve Muth, Garrett Sacco and Alec Rosenfeld handled the financing on behalf of an institutional borrower.... Read More »
  • What Does Brookdale’s Proxy Fight Cost?

    It seems that hardly a day goes by without yet another SEC filing by Brookdale Senior Living detailing why its slate of Board candidates is far better for shareholders than the slate submitted by activist investor Ortelius Advisors. But how much are they spending on this? It would be nice to know, and we are sure shareholders would rather have... Read More »
  • Do We Hear $30 Per Hour as the New Minimum Wage?

    We know we have the People’s Republic of California, and after New York’s Democratic Party primary, we may have the People’s Republic of New York City by November. The surprise winner of the primary was 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani. He is a self-professed Socialist, and more. In addition to free bussing, freezes on apartment rents, higher taxes on... Read More »
  • BMO and TCG Refinance Florida CCRC

    BMO’s Healthcare Real Estate Finance group acted as sole lender on a real estate term loan refinancing for La Posada, a Class-A, 333-unit CCRC in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Originally opened in 2014 and with a major renovation and addition completed in 2018, the campus offers independent living (245 units), assisted living (30 units), memory... Read More »
  • The Lenders Roundtable: A Capital Markets Update

    On Thursday, June 26th, Managing Editor of The SeniorCare Investor Ben Swett sat down with a group of expert panelists to dive into the evolving financing process of M&A deals. Panelists included Dave Boitano, EVP & CIO of LTC Properties, Cary Tremper, President & CEO of Tremper Capital Group, and Patrick Gilbreath, Sr. Relationship... Read More »
Retirement Unlimited President Gone 

Retirement Unlimited President Gone 

Last week, Retirement Unlimited Inc. (RUI), announced that its President, Doris-Ellie Sullivan, had stepped down “to pursue other opportunities.” That is usually a signal that the person did not leave without getting pushed out. Given what we heard about the poor performance of the company since its acquisition of Brandywine Living, we have to believe that it finally caught up to her. In late 2023, RUI purchased the Brandywine Living management company, which nearly doubled the number of communities operated by RUI to more than 70. Welltower (NYSE: WELL) owned the real estate of the Brandywine portfolio. Brandywine operated very high-end assisted living communities in top markets in New... Read More »
Brookdale Reports Highest Occupancy Since March 2021

Brookdale Reports Highest Occupancy Since March 2021

While we would hope that seniors housing companies are reporting their highest occupancy levels since the bottom of the COVID market in March 2021, Brookdale Senior Living did it in pretty good fashion. Brookdale finally topped 80% in month-end occupancy for August, reaching 80.4%, or a 50 basis-point increase over July. It also represented a 110-basis point increase from a year ago. Weighted average occupancy reached 78.9% in August, a 30-basis point sequential increase and a 130-basis point increase year over year. We would expect solid census increases in the traditionally strong third quarter, so this was not a surprise. But they will have to maintain these improvements through the... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Rates Tumble on Eve of NIC

60 Seconds with Swett: Rates Tumble on Eve of NIC

Two years ago at the NIC Fall Conference, the spike in interest rates, with the 10-Year Treasury rate heading above 3.5%, seemed to spook many investors, as deals started disintegrating left and right. That did not help to lift the mood of everyone there. Then, last year, on the eve of NIC, rates were again spiking, this time above 4.5% and heading to 5.0%. The Fed may have stopped its rate increases, but the costs of borrowing were not on the decline. At least there was a belief that the worst had passed, or at least we were in the middle of the worst. Again, did not lift the spirit of the thousands of NIC attendees, and thank you for the open bars.  Now, we are approaching another... Read More »
Mid-Year Update: Senior Care M&A Valuations (Sponsored by HealthTrust)

Mid-Year Update: Senior Care M&A Valuations (Sponsored by HealthTrust)

The SeniorCare Investor presented the latest M&A and valuation statistics derived from its proprietary database, updated for the last four-quarter period, in its latest webinar, Mid-Year Update: Senior Care M&A Valuations. Panelists Colleen Blumenthal, MAI Chief Operating Officer of HealthTrust, Joel Mendes, Managing Director, JLL, Seniors Housing Capital Markets, and Josh Simpson, Managing Director of Meridian Capital Group, discussed current trends in the market, potential pitfalls to avoid in the dealmaking process and 2025 M&A strategies with moderator Ben Swett, Managing Editor of The SeniorCare Investor. Read More »
Sonida Announces Nine-Figure Acquisition

Sonida Announces Nine-Figure Acquisition

On the heels of its second quarter earnings announcement, Sonida Senior Living revealed it’s making a new nine-figure acquisition in the Southeast. The deal involves eight assisted living/memory care communities owned by Batson-Cook Construction (a development/construction company based in Georgia) and Principal Senior Living Group, and operated under Principal’s Benton House brand. They total 555 units, split between 383 assisted living and 172 memory care units, and averaged five years old, as opposed to the 19-years-old average for properties in the surrounding 10 miles of each asset. Five of the assets are located in Florida (Jacksonville, Orlando and Daytona Beach MSAs), while three... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Delivers

Sonida Senior Living Delivers

As one of the last companies in our sector to report second quarter earnings results, the wait was worth it. Sonida Senior Living continues to deliver results that top its peers and puts them in an increasingly better position to grow. Where do we start? Perhaps the most impressive stat was the sequential increase in same-community NOI margin. The second quarter’s margin jumped by 360 basis points in one quarter, to 28.2%, and this was on just a 30-basis point increase in occupancy to 86.2%. It jumped by 440 basis points year over year. That occupancy level is above the national average, and way above what Brookdale Senior Living has reported, and above the SHOP census of both Welltower... Read More »