• Community First Solutions Acquires Again in Ohio

    Ziegler was engaged by Marquee Capital, the real estate company affiliated with Marcus Investments, LLC, the Marcus’ family office, in the sale of its seniors housing community in Mason, Ohio. Built in 2020, BrightStar Senior Living of Mason sits on 3.2 acres with 41 assisted living and memory care units. The community was well occupied at 90%,... Read More »
  • Joint Venture Acquires Nashville Active Adult Community

    An active adult community in Germantown, Tennessee, found a new owner thanks to the team at Newmark. Built in 2020, Avenida Watermarq is a 161-unit, Class-A active adult community in an affluent suburb of Nashville. There are one- and two-bedroom options averaging 919 square feet per unit. Occupancy was 87%. Inspired Real Estate Partners and GEM... Read More »
  • Institutional Owner Divests Ohio Facility

    Evans Senior Investments arranged the sale of a skilled nursing facility in Ohio on behalf of an institutional owner looking to exit the market. The facility comprises 88 beds and 20 independent living units, which served as a referral source for the nursing home. The buyer was a regional owner/operator that is actively expanding in Ohio. This is... Read More »
  • Strawberry Fields Completes Missouri SNF Portfolio Acquisition

    Strawberry Fields REIT, Inc. announced that it completed the acquisition of nine skilled nursing facilities comprising 686 beds in Missouri for $59 million, or $86,000 per bed. The REIT completed the acquisition using cash on hand and the issuance of approximately $2.0 million in OP Units of Strawberry Fields REIT LP to the seller. Eight of the... Read More »
  • Macquarie Asset Management Launches Health Wave Partners

    Macquarie Asset Management, which has over 35 years of experience in the real estate sector and a current network of 15 specialist operator investments globally, announced the launch of Health Wave Partners, a seniors housing platform aimed at targeting investments in modern seniors housing assets alongside established operators. The platform... Read More »

Ventas Provides Census Update

Ventas has the second largest SHOP portfolio among the healthcare REITs, so it is always a decent barometer for what is actually happening in the seniors housing market. The REIT’s portfolio has performed exceptionally well since the bottom of the market in mid-March 2021, as have most of the providers across the country. The easing of restrictions as well as the vaccine combined for a robust turnaround that we all knew would come at some point. However, we all knew (well, some of us) that the unprecedented net gains in the second and third quarters last year were not sustainable, as much as we would have liked them to be. Call it the pent-up demand or anything else, with portfolios... Read More »
SCOTUS and POTUS

SCOTUS and POTUS

We have to assume that during the remaining three years of President Biden’s term, there will be more battles between POTUS and SCOTUS. But it is getting increasingly difficult to determine who is winning. Take the recent SCOTUS decision upholding the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid payments. We all want healthcare workers to be safe, as well as the patients that they serve. But the timeline given for these healthcare workers to be 80%, then 90%, then 100% vaccinated, or else they lose their jobs, well, is it really going to do anyone any good if the staff at hospitals and nursing homes gets reduced further? The simple answer is, no.... Read More »
Brookdale: Time for a Reverse Split?

Brookdale: Time for a Reverse Split?

Perhaps it is because of the new Omicron variant spreading like wildfire, perhaps occupancy growth has stalled, or perhaps investors are just losing patience for a recovery that would boost the share price. Whatever the reasons, Brookdale Senior Living’s share price has dropped by 30% since mid-November, and it is now below $5.00 per share for the first time since last February. And, the 52-week high was $8.95 per share. Many investors do not like stocks that are below $10 per share, with some funds even prohibited from owning them. A $4 stock, or lower, implies current weakness or poor future performance expectations. To remedy this perception, some companies complete a reverse stock... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Census Gains Stalled

Sonida Senior Living Census Gains Stalled

After the March to September outsized occupancy gains (but to July for some companies), it does seem that census growth is stalling before the Holiday season and the dreaded first quarter.  Sonida Senior Living, the rebranded name for the former Capital Senior Living, just announced its most recent monthly occupancy statistics, and while “average” occupancy held “steady” in November at 81.2%, one would hope for a bit more growth as we enter the winter months. In addition, it appears to be at the lowest occupancy level since July, a four-month time period where average occupancy has not really moved.    End-of-month occupancy slipped by 60 basis points in November to 81.7%, which is also... Read More »
CareTrust REIT CEO Greg Stapley Steps Down

CareTrust REIT CEO Greg Stapley Steps Down

Amid rumors that CareTrust REIT was looking to make some changes, which may have included a sale or merger of the company into another REIT, the company announced that the CEO, Greg Stapley, will be stepping down at the end of the year, and sometime next year he will commence a three-year, full-time volunteer assignment with The Church of Latter-Day Saints with his wife.  CareTrust was spun out from The Ensign Group in 2014 and Greg has been the only CEO since then. He will become the Executive Chairman at CareTrust.  Taking over will be David Sedgewick, who has been President and COO and will now add the CEO title. He was with Ensign from 2001... Read More »

Residents of Washington State Getting Bamboozled

In just five short weeks, the residents of Washington State will begin paying a new payroll tax to fund a “long-term care” benefit, called the WA Cares Fund. It is the first state-wide mandated LTC tax, and we have previously voiced our concerns about it. But it will be a reality for residents soon.  Years ago, we went very public against the Class Act that was part of the Affordable Care Act, basically calling it a financial fraud that was never going to pay out for anyone. Even the authors of the ACA finally admitted it would not work, and eventually withdrew it. Like in Washington State, the federal program was well-intentioned (well, sort of) to try to fund some long-term care... Read More »