• Stride Bank’s Recent Activity

    We learned of a number of recent financings provided by Stride Bank for senior care facilities across the country. First, the bank refinanced multiple assets in New Mexico and West Texas. The relationship with this particular borrower began in June 2023 (through Clint Miller of Ziegler) when it was looking to execute a bridge-to-HUD strategy and... Read More »
  • Owner/Operator Acquires AL/MC Portfolio in Ohio

    A northeastern Ohio portfolio of assisted living/memory care communities sold out of receivership, with the help of Ryan Saul of Senior Living Investment Brokerage. Dubbed “The Lantern Group Portfolio,” the three communities feature a combined 220 units, split between 135 assisted living and 85 memory care units. Built in 1960, Lantern of Madison... Read More »
  • Spyglass Healthcare Secures Financing

    A growing skilled nursing owner/operator is priming itself for further growth with a new revolving credit facility structured by Grant Goodman of G Capital. Bay Area-based Spyglass Healthcare currently has six facilities in its Northern California portfolio, and it obtained the financing to fund working capital, future acquisitions and general... Read More »
  • Joint Venture Secures Refinancing

    Harrison Street and Dial Retirement Communities secured a refinance for their seniors housing property in Batavia, Illinois (Chicagoland). The Landings, which opened in Spring 2021, features 142 units of independent living, assisted living and memory care. It was very well occupied, at 96% with a waitlist. The borrowers wished to refinance the... Read More »
  • Change Coming To Life Care Centers of America

    What is happening at Life Care Centers of America is a great example of how not to establish a succession plan, especially when it involves one of the largest privately owned senior care companies in the country. The company was founded by Forest Preston nearly 75 years ago, and he remains the CEO and sole shareholder of a company that is... Read More »
The Current Lending Environment for Senior Care Properties

The Current Lending Environment for Senior Care Properties

The financing process has killed dozens (and hundreds) of deals in the last couple of years, and yet M&A activity is near record levels in the seniors housing and care industry. So deals are getting done, and not just with cash. Who has been lending and at what cost to the borrower? What hurdles have to be overcome? And when capital costs do lower, how can owners and operators best prepare to finance the oncoming wave of deals and demographics? Read More »
Sonida Senior Living On The Move

Sonida Senior Living On The Move

It has taken a while, and a lot had to be done to strengthen the balance sheet over the past two years, but Sonida Senior Living is now on a path of growth, and recent announcements have shown it.  On May 9, the company closed on its first acquisition of the year with the purchase of a 100-unit assisted living and memory care community in Macedonia, Ohio. Built in 2015, the community has still not recovered from the challenges of the pandemic and changes in operators. The purchase price was $10.7 million, or $107,000 per unit, which seems quite cheap relative to what it would cost to replace, not to mention the original construction cost. They also bought it at a 43% discount to the... Read More »
Brookdale Making Progress, but Is It Enough?

Brookdale Making Progress, but Is It Enough?

Brookdale Senior Living reported its best EBITDA performance in several years, nearly topping $100 million, RevPOR continues to grow (5.8% sequentially), and second quarter guidance for adjusted EBITDA is now between $93 million and $98 million. On the labor front, they had a solid 70% retention rate for Executive Directors for the trailing 12-month period. But…the company continues to struggle on the occupancy front.  Second quarter weighted average occupancy was just 77.9%, down 50 basis points from the fourth quarter but up 160 basis points year over year. On a consolidated basis, weighted average occupancy in April, 77.9%, was a hair higher than in August of last year, and... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: REITs and PE Will Be Attacked Again

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: REITs and PE Will Be Attacked Again

The Chapter 11 filing by Steward Health Care was not a surprise to anyone in the healthcare world. Its former PE owner, Cerberus Capital, will be attacked because they made a significant profit when they finally exited their 2010 investment 10 years later. No one wants to remember that they bought six failing hospitals in Massachusetts and rejuvenated them. Without that purchase, there was a good chance they would have been shuttered. Medical Properties Trust will be attacked because its leases ended up being too expensive, even though it helped Steward grow, took an equity interest in the company and provided new capital.  Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, and then COVID hit, and... Read More »
Here We Go Again With The Post

Here We Go Again With The Post

The Washington Post is on the attack again, publishing a story last Friday on the overuse of 911 calls when a resident falls in assisted living or independent living, and how some towns are starting to charge seniors housing communities a fee for each 911 visit of this sort. Apparently, in some towns these 911 “fall” calls have been rising. If we were living in a non-litigious world, perhaps the seniors housing communities would not feel as if they had to call. In some states, it is required if the resident can’t get up on their own. I used to live next door to a small independent living community that we called an unlicensed assisted living building because it had small units, mostly... Read More »
Brookdale Making Progress, but Is It Enough?

More Shareholder Activism

Fresh from its success in getting two people voted onto the Ventas Board of Directors, Land & Buildings is at it again, this time with National Health Investors. Like all the REITs, NHI’s managers and tenants had their share of problems during the pandemic. Who didn’t? Most of these issues are behind it, but the REIT could be in even stronger financial shape with just a few changes, which is what L&B wants to do. National Health Investors went public in 1991 and has had a long-term relationship with publicly traded National HealthCare Corporation (NHC), which leases several of its nursing homes from NHI. These 35 nursing facilities provide a solid foundation for NHI, and NHC has... Read More »