• Public REIT Divests to Owner/Operator

    Blueprint facilitated the sale of a Massachusetts skilled nursing facility on behalf of a public REIT in the senior care sector. The REIT determined that the facility was a strong candidate for sale due to its location. Plus, the former operator was switching focus to other assets in its mutual portfolio.  Purpose-built in 1982 with... Read More »
  • Development Company Acquires Through Membership Buyout

    A Missouri-based real estate developer engaged Blueprint to facilitate its membership buyout of a joint venture partner. Brooks Blackmon, Ben Firestone and Lauren Nagle handled the transaction. Four years ago, the firm was brought on to raise capital, ultimately sourcing an institutional capital partner to develop a private pay seniors housing... Read More »
  • 60 Seconds with Swett: Previewing Our Capital Markets Conversation

    We know that the capital markets have made the biggest impact on M&A activity and property valuations in the last several years, changing the size of possible deals, the makeup of the properties sold and the buyers that could actually buy. Now that the capital markets have substantially improved and are getting better, barring a sudden and... Read More »
  • Seller Exits Seniors Industry with Divestment to REIT

    A single-asset seniors housing owner is exiting the industry with the sale of their property in Murrieta, California. Built in 2016 and 2018, Renaissance Village Murrieta has 142 units of assisted living and memory care in three stories. It was operating just below 70% occupancy, so there is plenty of room for a new owner to improve performance... Read More »
  • Deal Closes Following Buyer Withdrawals

    After a long process that saw multiple buyers pull out from the deal, the sale of Sarah Neuman Skilled Nursing Facility in Mamaroneck, New York, has closed with the help of Mark Myers at Kiser Group. Owned by a religious not-for-profit organization, The New Jewish Home, the facility features 301 beds and was losing money. Myers had previously... Read More »
Who Wins in Class Action Staffing Litigation

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 »
60 Seconds with Swett: Cap Rates Coming Down?

60 Seconds with Swett: Cap Rates Coming Down?

Cap rate data has been difficult to measure in the last couple of years, due to a fast-changing capital costs environment, a relatively fast-changing operating environment and, frankly, a relative absence of true “cap rate deals” where the buyer was valuing the trailing set of financials, without any funny business. Now, we are seeing more “cap rate deals” and look forward to providing our industry averages, broken out by property type, quality, age and performance in our next Senior Care Acquisition Report.  Anecdotally, what we are hearing is that cap rates are compressing slightly, but in the grand scheme of things, are staying relatively high relative to the record (and some may say... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Occupancy Sends Mixed Signals

Brookdale Senior Living Occupancy Sends Mixed Signals

Perhaps when Brookdale Senior Living can better focus on a smaller number of properties when its lease for 120 communities with Ventas ends at the end of next year, they will be able to push occupancy on the remaining portfolio. The company’s size will shrink by nearly 20% if the full lease termination goes through as disclosed last week, and we have to imagine that the Ventas properties require a lot of management time. Meanwhile, the company reported November’s occupancy, and while there was some good news, census levels still disappointed us at this point in the recovery from the pandemic. Investors, however, differed from our assessment, sending the share price up by 7.5% before ending... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Occupancy Sends Mixed Signals

Brookdale vs. Ventas

They took it to the wire, but Brookdale Senior Living decided not to renew its leases with Ventas covering 120 communities in a Master Lease that expires December 31, 2025. The deadline was November 30, and they let it pass. Ventas will still collect $113.6 million in lease payments next year, and all parties have previously stated that the properties have been covering the lease payments in full. Even though it was an all or nothing renewal option, we were hoping that the two sides would come to an agreement to perhaps split up the portfolio. The problem is that both sides would have wanted to keep the better performing properties. Now, Brookdale no longer has the right to extend the... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Occupancy Sends Mixed Signals

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 purported to be worth close to $1.2 billion. But he really has not run it for years. I sat down with Forest about 15 years ago, when he agreed to do a long interview with me about his entire life and career. I could tell something was off, and he had a “minder” constantly by his side. But he was agreeable to do this with me, and seemed to look forward to... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Keeps Pushing Census

Sonida Senior Living Keeps Pushing Census

We have been impressed by Sonida Senior Living management’s ability to get out of its census, cash flow and balance sheet difficulties over the past year. After some acquisitions this year, the company now operates 93 senior living communities, most of them owned.  In the third quarter, same-community occupancy for 61 communities increased by 210 basis points year over year to 87.0%. That is well ahead of many other operators, as well as higher than the NIC MAP census averages. They are well on their way to hitting the elusive goal of 90% occupancy. Speaking of 90% occupancy, management believes that when they reach it for their same-community portfolio, the NOI margin for these... Read More »