


Record Sale Price
Brookdale Senior Living has agreed to sell its trophy community in New York City at a record price to Ventas, but will keep the management. Anyone who heard former Brookdale Senior Living CEO Mark Schulte address the ASHA annual meeting in the aftermath of 9/11 will never forget it. He talked about their newest project in lower Manhattan. There was nary a dry eye in the room. The community, called The Hallmark at Battery Park at the time, was still in fill-up, covered in inches of dust and debris, and had to be evacuated. The industry at other communities pulled together, took in as many Brookdale residents as possible, not knowing how long they would stay, not knowing how they would get... Read More »
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease. No one can argue with that. And if we live long enough, without a cure, many of us will also succumb to Alzheimer’s. They say health care is local, but Alzheimer’s is global. It does not spare any race, income level or geography. While I would like to say it is only a disease that afflicts older people, many of us have known people in their 40’s, 50’s or 60’s who have suffered from early-onset Alzheimer’s. It is a disease that does not discriminate. That is why at Levin Associates we have dedicated our 70th anniversary to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. It started with The Longest Day on June 21 with various activities in our office that raised awareness... Read More »
Brookdale vs. Land & Buildings
Jonathan Litt of activist investor Land & Buildings has sent yet another letter to Brookdale Senior Living shareholders, still calling for a sale of the real estate. It appears that Brookdale Senior Living is at the early stages of righting its ship. And, activist investor Jonathan Litt of Land & Buildings has been complimenting management for its actions in the past year. But he still is not happy. Who could blame him with Brookdale’s share price still in the toilet at under $8.00 per share. He continues to believe the market is not recognizing the inherent value in Brookdale’s owned real estate, to which we continue to say, that is not how the market should value an operating... Read More »
Genesis Healthcare Close to Bottom?
As a result of divesting a few dozen of its skilled nursing facilities, as well as negotiating rent reductions on others, Genesis Healthcare posted a decent second quarter. At least, decent for them given the past performance. It ended the quarter with 385 SNFs and 23 ALFs, but with 88% of them still leased. While we applaud management for shrinking the size of the company, we still believe they have a long way to go to really get a handle on what is going on locally. With the existing leases, they may not get there. Investors liked the results, pushing the share price up by 10% over two days, with most of that coming the day of the earnings announcement. Management is positive about the... Read More »