


Brookdale’s December 2024 Occupancy Drops
As we are now in full swing of the flu (and COVID) season, it is normal to expect that occupancy levels nationwide would decline slightly even though the seniors housing industry continues on its operational upswing. This is exactly what happened at Brookdale Senior Living. Consolidated weighted average occupancy in December declined sequentially by 20 basis points to 79.3%. This compares with 79.2% in September. In slightly better news, occupancy at the end of December was 80.5%, up 10 basis points from November, but still down 30 basis points from October and matching September’s level. However, Brookdale has now posted five straight months of month-end census above 80%, and barring any... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: First off, Happy New Year Everyone.
I suspect many of you think I am going to talk about the record setting M&A year in 2024 for long-term care, but I believe Ben has fully covered that and will continue to do so in the coming weeks as the stats are finalized. Plus, he now knows more than I do on the topic. No. I am going to talk about a book I just read, called The Big 100 by William Kole. All we have heard about for years, even decades, is the growth in the 80+ and 85+ population and what it will do for the seniors housing industry. This book is about the 100+ population, called centenarians, and super-centenarians, those who have attained 110 years and older. The centenarian group is the fastest growing age cohort,... Read More »
Brookdale and Ventas, a Win-Win
Just weeks after Brookdale Senior Living walked away from its lease renewal with Ventas covering some 120 communities, the two companies came to an agreement that appears to be a win-win for both. Brookdale will continue to lease 65 communities which average about 62 units each and represent 40% of the units in the original master lease. The initial cash rent on these will increase by 38% and will now be $64 million with 3% annual escalators. But for 2025, Brookdale will pay the contractual rent of $48 million on these. For the remainder, 44 communities will go into the Ventas SHOP portfolio with new operators, to be determined later. Annualized NOI for these after a 5% management... Read More »
Who Wins in Class Action Staffing Litigation
The American Seniors Housing Association and Hanson Bridgett just came out with an “Industry Brief” on the settlement of a class action lawsuit called Heredia v. Sunrise Senior Living. The settlement was approved on December 3, but the lawsuit had been winding its way through the courts since 2017. Apparently, for these kinds of staffing lawsuits this is the longest time period recorded. The basis of the class action lawsuit was allegations of understaffing, with staffing levels unrelated to the care needs of residents, as well as allegations that representations by owners/operators to residents and prospective residents that sufficient staffing was in place were misleading. While we have... Read More »