Welltower Posts Good Quarter
Everyone tries to put a good face on their performance, whether it has been average or well above average. But Shankh Mitra, CEO of Welltower, was practically exuberant on the REIT’s recent performance and its future growth and prospects. It certainly helped that same-community NOI in its SHOP portfolio grew by 18.4% year over year. Half of that growth came in the second quarter 2021, but the other half (9.7%) came in the first quarter this year. Increasing census and the ability to now charge higher rates really drove the increases. Welltower’s seniors housing operated portfolio (SHOP) census beat the first quarter blues as many others have, with the U.S. portfolio posting a... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Best Senior Living List Is Revealed
U.S. News & World Report came out with its first ever “Best Senior Living” list on Tuesday, creating new designations of Best Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care and CCRCs. U.S. News and its survey provider, Dr. Jacquelyn Kung’s Activated Insights, administered satisfaction surveys at 3,045 communities throughout the country between March 2021 and February 2022, evaluating four basic categories: community & activity, food & dining, caregiving, and management & staff. Also, family responses were taken into account for assisted living scores, and memory care community scores were derived solely from family surveys. Residents tended to respond more positively than... Read More »
Former Mainstreet Facility Getting New Life
The former Mainstreet “transitional care” facilities that were developed with much fanfare continue to sell as vacant (but beautiful) assets. Amy Sitzman and Giancarlo Riso of Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors just sold another one in Temple, Texas to a buyer with alternative plans for the property. Built in 2019 with 70 private units, the facility never operated, so that made an easier conversion project. The high-quality building featured plenty of common area and modern finishes. A competitive market process saw Blueprint identify an experienced Texas-based real estate investor as the buyer who structured a lease with a national healthcare system based in Southern California to... Read More »
CFG Closes Bridge Loan for Arizona Acquisition
Capital Funding Group announced the closing of $17.2 million in bridge debt for the acquisition of two skilled nursing facilities in Arizona. The experienced borrower previously operated these facilities, and through this transaction they were able to purchase the real estate at a pre-negotiated price that was set when they originally took over operations. Totaling 232 beds, the facilities were built in 1982 and 1983. Capital Funding Group Vice President Tommy Dillon originated the transaction, which covered 100% of the costs due to the current market value of the facilities surpassing the agreed-upon purchase price. The deal follows an impressive first quarter with over $840 million in... Read More »
JLL Refinances California Active Adult Community
JLL Capital Markets closed the refinancing of a 172-unit, garden-style active adult community in Chatsworth, California. The borrower was Universe Holdings, and they received $30.315 million in fixed-rate funds through Freddie Mac for 10 years. Nantucket Creek was built just over 35 years ago and has one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from 623 feet to 1,100 feet. The community has a clubhouse, fitness center and many other amenities, and at closing the occupancy was about 97%. That strong census may be why a 35-year-old building was able to get financing for $176,000 per unit. The JLL team representing the borrower included Charles Halladay, Jonah Aelyon and Elie... Read More »
Ventas SHOP Poised for Growth
Ventas is one of the largest owners of seniors housing communities, so it is a REIT always worthwhile to watch. It owns 544 communities with 61,794 units in its SHOP portfolio, plus another 267 communities with 20,149 units that it owns and leases to operators. We usually focus on the larger SHOP portfolio, mostly because there is much more detailed information on it. And this portfolio includes both the 463 U.S. communities and the 81 in Canada. This is important because the Canadian portfolio has a much higher average occupancy rate, 93.2% compared with 77.6% in the U.S., even though the U.S. is seeing more significant improvements. But how do you really improve on 93.2%? The... Read More »
Brookdale Improves, But More Is Needed
As you know, we never expect much in the first quarter for seniors housing operators, because historically it is always the toughest quarter from a census perspective. And Brookdale Senior Living is like an aircraft carrier: it is so big that it can take forever to change direction, and mishaps can take even longer to correct across their industry-leading 678 communities. Their first quarter results showed some progress, but also showed that they have a long road ahead to increase census and control labor costs. Digging out from weighted average occupancy of 69.4% in the first two months of 2021 is no easy task. And Brookdale should have a target of at least 85% across the portfolio, at a... Read More »
AlerisLife Starts Operations Review…Again
The shareholders of AlerisLife Inc., formerly known as Five Star Senior Living, just can’t catch a break. They completed a major review of their corporate structure and operations over the past few years, which resulted in cutting the company in half in terms of the number of properties operated and shifting from leases to management contracts. That seemed to work for a while, but the pandemic interrupted the progress. Now, just before the first quarter earnings results were released, the company announced that its CEO, Katie Potter, resigned effective April 30 (a Saturday, no less). Given the timing, we assume she was asked to resign. Jeff Leer, who has been EVP, CFO and Treasurer since... Read More »
Blueprint Sells NJ Community Out of Receivership
So, how do you sell an underperforming, over-leveraged community that is in receivership and was originally built in 1965. That is a tough one, but it did help that Priority Life Care was the court-appointed receiver and manager effective about the end of 2020. This is what Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate was dealing with when it was hired to sell a 164-unit community in Pennsauken, New Jersey called Ivystone Senior Living. Apparently, the owners refinanced existing HUD debt in the year before the pandemic hit, taking out some excess cash. What was not known (or forgotten) was that in order to participate in a relatively lucrative Medicaid program for the “independent living” units, the... Read More »
Kansas Senior Care Facilities Trade Hands
Nick Cacciabando and Jeff Binder of Senior Living Investment Brokerage closed a couple of Kansas deals in early May. First was the sale of two senior care facilities plus the leasehold interest of a third facility in southeast Kansas. A regional investment group consisting of three investors experienced in the industry had owned the real estate of two properties and leased the third facility from the eventual buyer, a Kansas-based operator with a large presence in the state. The acquired facilities included Assisted Living at Windsor Place in Coffeyville with 32 units (licensed for 36 assisted living beds) and Windsor Place of Iola with 45 dually licensed skilled nursing beds. They were... Read More »Schedule a demo
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