• Standalone Memory Care Community Sells in San Antonio

    Soon after selling a standalone memory care community in Katy, Texas, Blueprint sold another one in San Antonio, Texas, that was built in 2013. The Landing at Stone Oak was originally marketed in late 2023, but the process came to a halt when ownership chose to continue improving operations rather than transact. The operational turnaround was not... Read More »
  • Investor Acquires Full AL/MC Community

    A local private investment group divested its stabilized seniors housing community, Village at Oakwood Assisted Living. Originally built in 2010 with use of multiple layers of tax credits, the building comprises 90 assisted living and memory care units. The high-quality physical plant sits in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was 100% occupied at the... Read More »
  • Joint Venture Expands Its Portfolio

    Foundry Commercial and Fortress Investment Group acquired two seniors housing communities in Central Florida with a combined 180 assisted living and 72 memory care units (a total of 260 beds). This is the joint venture’s second transaction, marking the third and fourth communities added to the joint portfolio. The undisclosed seller was... Read More »
  • California SNF Gets New Operator

    Evans Senior Investments helped the owner of a 120-bed skilled nursing facility find a new operator. The new management company, which has a strong regional footprint, will pay $3.75 million in annual rent to the investor owner, Don Gormly. The facility is Anberry Transitional Care in Merced, California, and was built in 2016 with 120 beds. There... Read More »
  • CCRC Secures Funding for Expansion

    Ziegler announced the closing of Friendship Village of Kalamazoo’s $103.585 million Series 2026A, B-1, B-2, and B-3 bonds issued through the Economic Development Corporation of the City of Kalamazoo. Lifecare, Inc., doing business as Friendship Village Kalamazoo, is on approximately 72 acres within Kalamazoo, Michigan. The 364-unit CCRC comprises... Read More »
Employee Raises at No Cost?

Employee Raises at No Cost?

One academic believes it won’t cost nursing homes a dime to raise wages. Okay, here I go again about The New York Times. This time, it is not about a reporter, but a contributing academic who is an economics professor at Northwestern University, Seema Jayachandran. Last weekend she wrote about how higher hourly wages can increase productivity, which can translate into higher-quality service. She based her conclusions on two studies looking at department stores and nursing homes. I will talk about the latter one.  The study she cites suggests that if every county increased its minimum wage by 10%, there could be 15,000 fewer deaths in nursing homes each year. While I am sure an extra... Read More »
How Design Can Help Seniors Housing Communities Deal with COVID-19

How Design Can Help Seniors Housing Communities Deal with COVID-19

COVID-19 will result in broad and far-reaching changes in the way seniors housing communities operate going forward. Some will address more short-term issues, and others will likely be here to stay for some time. In addition to changing their operations, providers will also look at how design can make caring for seniors in this post-pandemic world a safer and better experience. We asked Frank Rees of architecture, interior design and planning firm, Rees Associates, how he would approach design changes for both future and current communities. After consultation with many clients and friends in the industry, here are his thoughts:  As we think about how design can help communities protect... Read More »
Can COVID-19 Kill The CCRC Market?

Can COVID-19 Kill The CCRC Market?

We are fond of bringing up the fact that far too many people have put the CCRC (LPC) market prematurely in its grave. It especially happens when there is a recession, like 10 years ago, and now. We are hearing rumblings again even as suburban housing prices are rising as city dwellers are heading for the COVID-free hills.  We are not even four full months into this pandemic, and a much shorter time since the economy has officially been declared to be in a recession, so there are still far too many unknowns as to what may happen. But CCRCs entered this recession in probably the strongest financial position they have been in since 2007. As a result, they may weather the storm better... Read More »
New Nursing Home Commission

New Nursing Home Commission

Watch out. When the government creates a new commission on quality in nursing facilities, it can only mean higher costs, but without increased reimbursement. The members of the new Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes was named last week, and the provider side of the business was not very well represented, especially on the for-profit side.   While Neil Pruitt, CEO of Georgia-based PruittHealth, was named to the commission, no other CEO of a for-profit company was named. The closest was the SVP of Clinical Operations & Innovations of Kentucky-based Signature Healthcare.  Of the 25 members, 11 were from academic institutions, government... Read More »
Ventas Slashes Dividend

Ventas Slashes Dividend

In an expected development, Ventas slashed its dividend today. What was unexpected was the size of the cut. The July dividend was reduced from the previous per-share amount of $0.7925 to $0.45 per share, a drop of 43%. This will be saving Ventas $130 million of cash each quarter, or $520 million a year if they keep it at this lower level. Management stated a few months ago that if they lowered the second quarter dividend they would revisit it as operations improved. Don’t expect a large increase any time soon.   Management indicated that its Seniors Housing Operating Portfolio (SHOP) was showing positive momentum with move-ins and leads improving, but that... Read More »
Employee Raises at No Cost?

“Benevolent Incarceration” in Assisted Living

Some assisted living residents are getting restless. Why should they be any different from the rest of us? The Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion piece by a 94-year old resident of an assisted living community in New Jersey, where he wrote that he had mixed feelings about his “benevolent incarceration” during this pandemic. While he understands that the current restrictions are to keep him and the other residents safe, he raises some valid questions. At his community, no residents have tested positive for COVID-19, while three staff members have already recovered from it. Yet, the residents still can’t eat in the dining room, all meals are delivered to the apartments where... Read More »