• Newmark Closes Class-A Deal in Denver

    A new seniors housing community traded in the Denver, Colorado MSA, with the help of the team at Newmark. Developed in 2017, MorningStar at RidgeGate is located in the suburb of Lone Tree within the Ridgegate master plan that features retail, cultural amenities and a 284-bed hospital nearby. The property comprises five stories over subterranean... Read More »
  • Public REIT Purchases Texas Class-A Seniors Housing

    Blueprint was engaged in the divestment of a Class-A seniors housing community in San Antonio, Texas. Built in two phases in 2011 and 2017, Franklin Park TPC Parkway comprises 269 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. Following the completion of a six-year freeway expansion project that affected leasing, access to the... Read More »
  • Eads Sells Its 24th & 25th Missouri Community

    Patrick Byrne of Eads Investment Brokerage facilitated the divestment of two seniors housing communities in Missouri. This marks the 24th and 25th communities sold in Missouri for Eads. The Moberly community (which we believe to be Mark Twain Assisted Living) comprises 35 assisted living/independent living units and sold for $2.57 million, or... Read More »
  • 60 Seconds with Swett: CMS Raises the Minimum Staffing Mandate

    On Monday, CMS came out with its final minimum staffing standards for nursing homes, but the eventual outcome is anything but final. Despite the outcry from nursing home providers from the previous proposed mandate of three hours per resident per day, asking simple questions like how can we pay for this and where will this newly needed staff come... Read More »
  • 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... Read More »
Sabra Health Care REIT Sees Occupancy Increases

Sabra Health Care REIT Sees Occupancy Increases

Sabra Health Care REIT is still working through some portfolio issues, like every other REIT, and it will take until at least next year to wind through them. But from an occupancy perspective, at least with its largest segments, things are looking up. And the transition of 20 additional skilled nursing facilities to The Ensign Group is now complete, bringing the total operated by Ensign to 31 buildings representing 8.5% of annualized NOI. This is important because not only is Ensign one of the strongest SNF operators in the country, but its EBITDARM coverage with Sabra is 1.69x. Also not too shabby from a financial perspective is Avamere Family of Companies, which now leases 29 SNFs from... Read More »
Brookdale Fourth Quarter Delights Investors

Brookdale Fourth Quarter Delights Investors

We were hoping that maybe, just maybe, Brookdale Senior Living would post a “breakout” fourth quarter earnings report. They didn’t. But the alternative, a negative surprise, did not happen either. Phew. We have to hand it to CEO Cindy Baier, who always sounds so confident, positive, mission-directed and knowledgeable, whether on stage or on an earnings call. You almost want to hug her after she presents. Perhaps that is why the Board continues to support her. The problem is that shareholders have not bought into her and the company’s performance, which is demonstrated in the share price, which remains in the doldrums. However, shareholders may be beginning to buy into the message, or at... Read More »
Brookdale Fourth Quarter Delights Investors

LTC Properties Reports

LTC Properties reported fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings, and other than the large new joint venture (previously announced), the big news was that tenant Anthem repaid $1.5 million of temporary rent reduction and paid $900,000 of monthly rent in the fourth quarter. As a result, Anthem has now paid the full rent for 2022, which is a bit of a relief. The REIT is still not out of the woods as other tenants are still recovering slowly, but at least they can see through to the clearing. However, coverage ratios still need to increase. Assisted living EBITDARM and EBITDAR coverage was 1.02x and 0.80x, respectively, in the third quarter (lease information lags by a quarter), but was... Read More »
2022 M&A Results and Valuation Statistics

Welltower’s SHOP Communities Perform

Following fourth quarter earnings from Ventas, Welltower also posted solid gains in its SHOP portfolio, both sequentially and year over year. On a same-community basis, Welltower’s 654 communities posted a 20-basis point sequential increase in occupancy and a 200-basis point increase year-over-year to 79.1%. Now, while we are sure management would like to see the final year-end numbers higher, and getting over 80% (if not 85%) is crucial, the slowdown in the fourth quarter does not bode well for the first quarter this year. At least this year’s flu season has not been as bad as previously forecast by the media. The same-community net operating income increased 6.3% sequentially, but at a... Read More »
Ensign Shines Bright, Again And Again

Ensign Shines Bright, Again And Again

Oops, they did it again. Late last week, The Ensign Group reported its fourth quarter and full-year earnings for 2022, and the company continues to outshine its competitors. While we realize the entire senior care business is on the rebound from the depths of the pandemic, some like Ensign seem to be beating the odds. The company achieved record operating results for the fourth quarter and for the full year, and it has had eight consecutive quarters of occupancy increases. Same-facility occupancy was at 77.8% in the fourth quarter, not far behind its pre-COVID level of 80.1%. To their credit, they do take over a lot of nursing homes with underperforming operations and relatively low... Read More »