• Grace Management Adds Five Ventas Communities

    Grace Management expanded its relationship with Ventas, adding five seniors housing communities owned by the REIT to its operating portfolio. The communities were previously managed under a triple-net lease structure. They include Brookdale Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, Brookdale Northbrook in Northbrook, Illinois, Brookdale Springs Mesa... Read More »
  • Seller Boosts Census Ahead of Sale to JV

    Senwell Senior Investment Advisors sold Rose Hill Retirement Community, a 66-unit, 87-bed assisted living community in Marion, North Carolina. Originally built as a hospital, Rose Hill has been transformed by the seller over the past two decades into a senior care community. After a previous attempt to sell the community was unsuccessful,... Read More »
  • Joint Venture Buys Orange County Community

    A high-end seniors housing community in Orange County sold with the help of CBRE National Senior Housing. Aron Will and John Sweeny represented the joint venture seller in the deal, while Will and Matthew Kuronen arranged acquisition financing from a national bank. The loan came with a four-year term, a full term of interest only and a floating... Read More »
  • Developer Secures Construction Financing

    JLL Capital Markets arranged a $47 million construction financing for The Arbella at Blue Hills, a 164-unit, active adult community to be developed in Bloomfield, Connecticut. JLL worked on behalf of the developer, The United Group of Companies, Inc. (United Group) to secure the construction loan through Liberty Bank of Middletown, Connecticut.... Read More »
  • Midwest-Based Operator Refinances AL/MC Communities

    MONTICELLOAM, LLC, along with firm affiliates, provided a $28.5 million senior bridge financing for two Midwest seniors housing communities. The financing was originated by Karina Davydov, Senior Managing Director, Originations. The sponsor, a Midwest-based operator with a portfolio of over 40 seniors housing and healthcare properties and a... Read More »

Impact of higher acuity patients in skilled nursing

With skilled nursing facilities on average selling for a record price per bed of $76,600 in 2014, surely the quality of the facilities sold was higher than in previous years. Probably the best measure of quality (and consequently the best explanation for the record-high prices) is the trend in average net operating income per bed. Since 2011, this figure has risen steadily, going from $6,500 per bed in 2011 to $8,950 per bed in 2014, which is a new record and 33% higher than the last peak in the skilled nursing market in 2007. Why this increased cash flow? For one, the industry is taking on higher acuity patients, with higher daily rates, and while the margins may not be expanding, the... Read More »

High-quality IL properties drive prices

In 2014, we saw record-high average prices paid for seniors housing communities (which includes both assisted living and independent living). One observation was that those records were largely driven by a higher number of quality, well-run (and thus, high-priced) independent living communities coming onto the market, presumably by owners who wondered if there will ever be a better time to sell. One tell-tale sign of the high-quality independent living sales driving up average prices was the average net-operating income per unit when compared to that of purely assisted living. Based on 2014 sales, the average net-operating income per unit for independent living communities was $17,100,... Read More »

Show me the money

There is probably no better measure of a seniors housing property’s quality than how much it pulls in per unit. When it comes down to it, amenities are nice, modern features are important, but cash is king. As acuity is rising in the seniors housing market, communities are taking in more cash per unit (even if the margin may be declining). And a newer, high-quality property can obviously charge more in rent than a 40-year old property. Both of these factors led to a significant rise in the average NOI per unit in 2014 (according to the Senior Care Acquisition Report), going from $12,000 in 2013 to $14,300 per unit in 2014 for assisted/independent living, a 19% increase. That is also higher... Read More »

What’s the portfolio premium?

Historically, buyers will often pay up for a portfolio (which we have defined as three or more properties in a single transaction) as opposed to a single facility. The “portfolio premium” has to do with both quality and the number of properties. Of course, not every buyer will pay more for a facility just because it is part of a portfolio, nor is the quality always inferior at a single facility. Still, according the 20th edition of the Senior Care Acquisition Report, in 2014, assisted living portfolios were valued on average at $206,000 per unit (compared to $153,900 per unit in 2013), while other sales averaged $172,700 per unit (144,000 per unit in 2013). That represents a premium of... Read More »

Where’s the beef?

There’s a lot of talk of hot, new technologies in the senior care industries that are poised to revolutionize delivery of care and drastically improve the lives of residents. But which of these innovations will be a flash in the pan, and which will show results? One serious issue that many seniors in assisted living face is the loss of strength and balance from a relatively sedentary life. One company, HUR, has developed computerized SmartCard exercise machines to help combat that loss of strength. Studies have shown that progressive resistance and balance training can significantly reduce the number of falls, and by increasing resistance by quarter-pound increments, the HUR machines make... Read More »

What’s the memory care premium?

What is the premium paid for memory care in today’s seniors housing acquisition market? We have noticed in the last two cycles that at the beginning of the bull markets, traditional assisted living is typically priced higher than communities with a memory care component, then the reverse is true as the bull market strengthens or hits its peak. And given the extraordinarily high values we saw in 2014, we may have already been to the mountaintop. Accordingly, buyers paid a significant premium for assisted living with a memory care component, with $215,100 per unit compared with $138,500 for traditional AL in 2014 (according to the 2015 Senior Care Acquisition Report). What is interesting is... Read More »