• Regional Owner/Operator Purchases Seniors Housing Portfolio

    A portfolio of three Class-B seniors housing communities in tertiary markets in Northern California found a new owner. The communities all featured assisted living, memory care and independent living services, with 205 total units and 242 licensed beds. They were originally developed in 2001 and 2002, and occupancy stood at 71%, 89% and 84%,... Read More »
  • Minnesota Community Secures HUD Refinance

    Sam Butler of the Fort Worth office of Colliers Mortgage closed a $24 million HUD loan for the refinance of The Pillars of Mankato in Mankato, Minnesota. Built in 2019, the community features 118 units across 146,138 square feet on 3.9 acres. There are 98 independent and assisted living units plus 20 memory care units.  According to LevinPro LTC,... Read More »
  • Solinity’s New Development

    Solinity has partnered with the Scott County Economic Development Authority to develop a 100-acre multigenerational, mixed-use community in Scott County, Virginia, called Riverside. The development will feature a range of housing options, including age-restricted housing, such as active adult, independent living, assisted living and memory care... Read More »
  • EF Senior Care Expands its Footprint

    EF Senior Care, an owner/operator based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, grew its long-term care portfolio this month, having acquired the operations of a senior care campus in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Built in 1895, Berkeley Retirement Home comprises 44 skilled nursing and independent living beds. Berkeley Retirement Home represents EF Senior Care’s... Read More »
  • Solera Grows through Acquisition of SageLife

    Solera Senior Living expanded its portfolio through the acquisition of SageLife. SageLife’s portfolio includes five high performing seniors housing communities in Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. This acquisition brings Solera’s growing portfolio to 14 properties spanning nine states, including a growing concentration in the... Read More »
When Small Is Better

When Small Is Better

It is difficult to be nimble when you are large, and with so many headwinds, let’s take a look at Bloom Senior Living, a small operator in the Midwest and Southeast, and how it is faring. At the height of the pandemic, as in March 2021, when everyone was suffering from their lowest occupancy levels, Bloom was no exception when it dipped to 66.7%. The difference is in what happened in the next 15 months. By August 2021, census had increased by 830 basis points at its five communities and jumped another 500 basis points by the end of the year. As of May 1, 2022, census stood at 85%, a more than 1800-basis point increase since the bottom of the market. We have not seen that kind of... Read More »
Sonida Reports Healthy Occupancy Bump in Q1 

Sonida Reports Healthy Occupancy Bump in Q1 

Sonida Senior Living (formerly Capital Senior Living) came out with its first quarter earnings, just a month after it provided its delayed fourth quarter results. At that time, Sonida had reported some progress after it raised $154.8 million through a major recapitalization in late 2021, including reporting sequential occupancy growth from 82.0% in January to 82.2% in February and 82.6% in March. That equated to a 60-basis point increase for a quarter that always declines.  Now, looking at the weighted average occupancy for its same-store portfolio, the first quarter of 2022 came in at 82.3%, which represents a 100-basis point increase from the previous quarter and is 680 basis points... Read More »
Welltower Posts Good Quarter

Welltower Posts Good Quarter

Everyone tries to put a good face on their performance, whether it has been average or well above average. But Shankh Mitra, CEO of Welltower, was practically exuberant on the REIT’s recent performance and its future growth and prospects. It certainly helped that same-community NOI in its SHOP portfolio grew by 18.4% year over year. Half of that growth came in the second quarter 2021, but the other half (9.7%) came in the first quarter this year. Increasing census and the ability to now charge higher rates really drove the increases.   Welltower’s seniors housing operated portfolio (SHOP) census beat the first quarter blues as many others have, with the U.S. portfolio posting a... Read More »
When Small Is Better

Ventas SHOP Poised for Growth

Ventas is one of the largest owners of seniors housing communities, so it is a REIT always worthwhile to watch. It owns 544 communities with 61,794 units in its SHOP portfolio, plus another 267 communities with 20,149 units that it owns and leases to operators.   We usually focus on the larger SHOP portfolio, mostly because there is much more detailed information on it. And this portfolio includes both the 463 U.S. communities and the 81 in Canada. This is important because the Canadian portfolio has a much higher average occupancy rate, 93.2% compared with 77.6% in the U.S., even though the U.S. is seeing more significant improvements. But how do you really improve on 93.2%? The... Read More »
Brookdale Improves, But More Is Needed

Brookdale Improves, But More Is Needed

As you know, we never expect much in the first quarter for seniors housing operators, because historically it is always the toughest quarter from a census perspective. And Brookdale Senior Living is like an aircraft carrier: it is so big that it can take forever to change direction, and mishaps can take even longer to correct across their industry-leading 678 communities. Their first quarter results showed some progress, but also showed that they have a long road ahead to increase census and control labor costs. Digging out from weighted average occupancy of 69.4% in the first two months of 2021 is no easy task. And Brookdale should have a target of at least 85% across the portfolio, at a... Read More »
AlerisLife Starts Operations Review…Again

AlerisLife Starts Operations Review…Again

The shareholders of AlerisLife Inc., formerly known as Five Star Senior Living, just can’t catch a break. They completed a major review of their corporate structure and operations over the past few years, which resulted in cutting the company in half in terms of the number of properties operated and shifting from leases to management contracts. That seemed to work for a while, but the pandemic interrupted the progress. Now, just before the first quarter earnings results were released, the company announced that its CEO, Katie Potter, resigned effective April 30 (a Saturday, no less). Given the timing, we assume she was asked to resign. Jeff Leer, who has been EVP, CFO and Treasurer since... Read More »