• 2nd Quarter Investor Call: The Great Debates of Senior Care

    On Thursday, July 17, Managing Editor of The SeniorCare Investor Ben Swett hosted SCI’s latest webinar, dubbed The Great Debates of Senior Care, with panelists ​​Dan Revie of Ziegler, Scott Hougham of Sage, and Michael Feinstein of Focus Healthcare Partners. Issues such as the chances of having a unit shortfall, whether cap rates are too low, the... Read More »
  • Ventas Acquires in Washington State

    Ventas expanded its portfolio through a recent acquisition of a seniors housing community in Washington State. Built in 2003, MorningStar at Silver Lake is in Everett, Washington, with 113 independent living and 35 assisted living units. The in-place operator will continue to manage the community going forward. MorningStar Senior Living has been... Read More »
  • Chicago Pacific Founders Acquires Class-A Communities

    Berkadia handled the sale and financing of two Class-A independent living, assisted living, and memory care communities: Grand Living at Citrus Hills and Grand Living at Bridgewater. The pair of seniors housing communities have a combined total of 337 units, and are located in Hernando, Florida, and Coralville, Iowa, respectively. Managing... Read More »
  • Blueprint Closes Lease-to-Purchase Transaction

    A large New York-based seniors housing owner engaged Blueprint to explore the sale of an 80-unit assisted living/memory care community in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Kory Buzin and Steve Thomes handled the transaction. Ownership acquired the asset several years prior while in distress and brought on Viva Senior Living as manager to execute a... Read More »
  • BHI Provides Bridge Loan

    BHI, the U.S. branch of Bank Hapoalim B.M., provided $49 million in bridge-to-HUD financing for a portfolio of three seniors housing communities in the suburbs of Detroit. The portfolio consists of Hampton Manor of Dundee, Hampton Manor of Trenton and Hampton Manor of Hamburg. Together, the communities total 221 units, with 171 assisted living... Read More »
Senior Care Campus Sells Near Philadelphia

Senior Care Campus Sells Near Philadelphia

A not-for-profit, faith-based operator of senior care services in the Philadelphia area sold its flagship senior care campus in North Wales, Pennsylvania. That seller, Abramson Senior Care, has over 150 years of experience caring for the Jewish elderly in the area and opened this community in 2001 on 78 acres. The campus includes 324 private skilled nursing beds, 46 personal care (assisted living) units and two independent living units. Well-maintained, it also received over $5 million in renovations since 2008 and carries a five-star rating from CMS.  Abramson Senior Care made the decision to sell the campus but still wanted to see a continuation of its mission and religious programming,... Read More »
Ensign Acquires Former Omega Healthcare Investors SNF

Ensign Acquires Former Omega Healthcare Investors SNF

The Ensign Group acquired a skilled nursing facility in Amarillo, Texas, picking up both the real estate and operations in the deal. Featuring 82 beds, the facility was formerly owned by Omega Healthcare Investors, which acquired it in a portfolio deal in June 2010. It was part of the 57-facility portfolio operated by Daybreak Venture, LLC that OHI was in the process of divesting after Daybreak paid less than $1 million in rent in the third and fourth quarters of 2019. This Amarillo location was just 45% occupied at the time of the sale.  Ensign paid an undisclosed sum for the property and will rename it The Medical Lodge of Amarillo. Its subsidiary Keystone Care LLC will take over... Read More »
M&T Realty Finances Avanath Acquisition

M&T Realty Finances Avanath Acquisition

Avanath Capital Management bought an affordable senior apartment complex in Sterling, Virginia (Washington, D.C. MSA) with the help of a loan provided by M&T Realty Capital Corporation. Developed in 2001 with low-income housing tax credits, this community has 150 units and was owned by a private local investor. It offers one- and two-bedroom unit options, and there are amenities such as a fitness center, billiards table, beauty salon and entertainment room, among others.  Greysteel represented the seller in the transaction, which resulted in a $27.25 million, or $181,000 per unit, purchase price. M&T’s Matthew Hodson arranged a $17.1 million Fannie Mae Multifamily Affordable... Read More »
Ziegler Closes Large Bank/Bond Financing

Ziegler Closes Large Bank/Bond Financing

Ziegler closed a huge financing package for HumanGood California Obligated Group to take out outstanding debt, advance refund other previous bond series and fund various campus improvements across the 14 CCRCs owned and operated by the Obligated Group in California. Altogether, the bank capital totaled $125 million.   There were $15.48 million in Series 2020A revenue and refunding bonds that refinanced an existing tax-exempt bank placement and came with a commitment period of 16 years, matching the previous placement. The Obligated Group received a variable rate based on 79% of one-month LIBOR plus a bank spread and also entered into an interest rate cap with a strike price of... Read More »
Is The Election Over Yet?

Is The Election Over Yet?

No matter who wins, there will be violence and we still have not dealt with Social Security and Medicare. Pathetic. Unfortunately, I am writing this just after I voted today, but before we will know the outcome for the White House and the Senate. I think it is a safe bet that the House will remain where it is, more or less. It was the first time I have ever had to wait in line, 30 minutes. I have now voted in 12 presidential elections, and I am sad to say that I voted for the winner in just four of them, with one still unknown. Not a good track record, or am I out of step with the rest of the country? Perhaps, but I don’t like to think so. But in those 12 elections, this is the first time... Read More »
The “Post-COVID” Assisted Living M&A Market Takes Shape

The “Post-COVID” Assisted Living M&A Market Takes Shape

It is safe to say the senior care M&A market in 2020 is quite different from that of 2019, in terms of the number of acquisitions closed, the values for senior care properties and perhaps most importantly, the types of properties actually put up for sale. Value-add and distressed communities have so far dominated the market since the onset of COVID-19, as owners of newer, stabilized communities are largely sitting on the sidelines to wait for a seller’s market again. Who knows when that will happen?  Assisted living communities have been hit hard across the board, census-wise and with cash flow too. As a result, we have seen the sales of many struggling communities, which brought... Read More »
A Novel Idea: Bonus Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities

A Novel Idea: Bonus Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities

We were heartened to hear that 10,631 nursing facilities will be receiving a total of $333 million from HHS based on improving COVID-19 metrics. While it sounds like a lot, it comes to just over $31,000 per facility. The good news is that this is just the first of five potential payments for good performance. The performance was for just one month, from August to September, whereby these 10,631 facilities had 1,200 fewer COVID- related deaths month over month.  Apparently, this is all part of HHS’s goal to use a little more of the carrot and less of the stick when dealing with the nursing home industry. About 77% of the eligible facilities received the funds. It would be... Read More »
Ziegler Finances Spokane CCRC Expansion

Ziegler Finances Spokane CCRC Expansion

Ziegler has been quite busy arranging bond financings for not-for-profit clients, and the team has done it again for two CCRCs in Spokane, Washington. The borrower, Rockwood Retirement Communities (affiliated with Spokane United Methodist Homes), owns and operates Rockwood South Hill and Rockwood at Whitworth, which have a combined 600 residents.   The Whitworth community is set to expand its assisted living and memory care offering, with Phase I including the demolition of a portion of The Manor building to be replaced by 48 new assisted living units and 24 new memory care units. Then, in Phase II, ownership will replace the rest of The Manor, the healthcare center, two duplexes and two... Read More »
Recent Senior Care Deals, Week Ending October 30, 2020

Recent Senior Care Deals, Week Ending October 30, 2020

The month of October was busier than normal, or at least the post-pandemic normal. Check out our recent senior care M&A deal chart. Long-Term Care AcquirerTargetPrice The Ensign GroupThe Medical Lodge of AmarilloN/A Regional owner/operatorArbor Court & The Willows$2.85 million Not disclosed3 senior living communities$46 million Not disclosedSt John's Manor$1.3... Read More »
Welltower Is First To Report Third Quarter Results

Welltower Is First To Report Third Quarter Results

As expected, Welltower reported a 150-basis point decline in occupancy in its 557-community seniors housing operating portfolio (SHOP) to 78.4%. The good news is that this is a much smaller decline compared with the second quarter’s drop of 490 basis points. Through October 23, occupancy declined by another 30 basis points since the end of September, and management expects the full fourth quarter drop to be between 75 and 125 basis points.   The slowing decrease is positive, and while they did not forecast 2021 occupancy, as an industry, census has never increased in the first quarter, so even with the slowing trend line, occupancy for this large portfolio is expected... Read More »
The Ensign Group Reports Encouraging Results

The Ensign Group Reports Encouraging Results

The Ensign Group came out with its third quarter earnings, and contrary to many in the industry, the company reported rising revenues, net income and skilled mix. That news, plus the announcement that the company returned another $23 million of relief funds (on top of the previous $109 million announced last quarter), sent shares up by 6.3% to $60.19 per share, which is close to a near-term high of $61.98 per share achieved on October 14. By returning those provider relief funds, and reporting strong operating results, Ensign saw its market cap increase by over $130 million, so it seems like the move may have paid off.  Combined same store and transitioning occupancy did decline by 2.4%... Read More »