• 60 Seconds with Swett: Welltower Is on a Roll

    Welltower came out with its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, and surprise, surprise, it was yet another great quarter, and its share price jumped 3.5% immediately upon the news. It was the tenth consecutive quarter in which same store SHOP NOI growth exceeded 20%, at 21.7% in the first quarter. Guidance for same store NOI growth also rose by... Read More »
  • DHC Closes Freddie Mac Financing

    Diversified Healthcare Trust closed a nine-figure Freddie Mac financing secured by seven seniors housing communities in five states. Totaling 1,184 units, the assets are managed by Five Star Senior Living, the operating division of AlerisLife Inc.  The $109 million loan comes with a 10-year term and a 6.22% fixed interest rate, with interest... Read More »
  • CFG Provides Interim Financing

    Last month, Capital Funding Group closed a $53.4 million bridge-to-HUD loan, providing interim financing to facilitate the refinancing of a maturing loan supporting two skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living community in Victorville, California. CFG intends to refinance the loan into permanent, long-term debt through HUD. Patrick... Read More »
  • Greystone Provides Bridge Financing to Oxford Capital Group

    Greystone provided $41 million in bridge financing to Oxford Capital Group for the acquisition of six assisted living communities totaling 372 beds in Minnesota. The financing was originated by Christopher Clare with assistance from David Young, Ryan Harkins, Ben Rubin, Parker Nielsen and Liam Gallagher. Greystone’s $41 million interest-only,... Read More »
  • Multifamily Investor Enters Seniors Housing

    Chad Wegner of Senior Care Realty facilitated the sale of a RCAC in Northeast Wisconsin on behalf of a long-term operator. The RCAC had been family owned/operated since inception, and the seller decided to pass the torch and enter retirement. Purpose built in 2014 and expanded in 2017, this well-maintained community features 19 individual... Read More »
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s

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 »
Oregon Operator Refinances Bond Debt

Oregon Operator Refinances Bond Debt

The long-term owner of an assisted living/memory care community in Oregon went to MidCap Financial to help recapture equity for its other development projects and to fund property improvements. Caring Places, an operator of 11 communities in Washington and Oregon, secured a $4.65 million floating-rate loan, with a three-year term, to refinance bond debt on its 66-unit community in Forest Grove (Portland MSA). Featuring 44 assisted living and 22 memory care units, the property was originally developed by Caring Places in 1991. That long-term vision will continue, as Caring Places looks to eventually refinance this first mortgage through HUD. Read More »
Cushman & Wakefield Sells CCRC Portfolio

Cushman & Wakefield Sells CCRC Portfolio

It is amazing what patience, capital, expertise and desire can do to change things around for a few bankrupt entrance-fee CCRCs. We are referring to Sedgebrook in Lincolnshire, Illinois and Monarch Landing in Naperville, Illinois that fell into bankruptcy in 2010 and were sold in an auction process for a combined total of about $39.25 million. They had been built by the former Erickson Retirement Communities, which itself filed for bankruptcy protection after problems with too much debt and too many new units to fill during the Great Recession, although these two CCRCs were outside the corporate bankruptcy. Monarch Landing was supposed to be built with 1,498 IL units, 84 AL units and 132... Read More »
In-Place Operator Steps In As Buyer

In-Place Operator Steps In As Buyer

A successful bidding process for a portfolio of four assisted living/memory care communities ultimately yielded a familiar buyer: the portfolio’s existing operator. Located in Oregon and Washington, the 152-unit portfolio was owned by a partnership among four seniors housing industry veterans, who were looking to retire from the business. Averaging over 20 years old, the properties included two well-performing locations and two that would be considered value-add. They actually are part of a larger portfolio disposition by the partner owners, as a 65-unit AL/IL community in Wenatchee, Washington already sold earlier this year. Two others are in escrow and are scheduled to close in the... Read More »
California Retirement Community Sells

California Retirement Community Sells

The acquisition market is alive and well, at least it is in California, where demand for properties remains quite strong. The 158-unit, 96,700 square foot community has about 15 memory care units with all the remaining units licensed for both assisted living and independent living. Located just south of San Francisco, the community was built in 1986 and has not received the capex that it should have over the years. Occupancy suffered, at about 55%, despite having below market monthly rates. It was self-managed by a group of multifamily investors, so one could consider it to be somewhat of an orphan property. Because of the low occupancy, it was operating close to break even on estimated... Read More »
New Seniors Housing Investor In The Old Dominion

New Seniors Housing Investor In The Old Dominion

There’s a new entrant in the seniors housing industry by the name of Bonaventure Realty Group. Coming from the multifamily space, like many new seniors housing investors these days, Arlington, Virginia-based Bonaventure plans to open its first independent living community further south in the town of Henrico (Richmond MSA). Featuring 148 one- and two-bedroom units, the community (called Aspire at Carriage Hill) will host a number of amenities, including an indoor pool, salon and spa, fitness center, patio, gazebo and outdoor dining with a fire pit, among others. Amenities from the adjacent gated 55+ apartment complex will also be available to residents. The total cost is estimated to be... Read More »
Brookdale vs. Land & Buildings

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 »
Struggling SNFs Sell in the Rust Belt

Struggling SNFs Sell in the Rust Belt

Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors sold two skilled nursing facilities in the Rust Belt that had experienced some operational struggles. First, things were looking up for a 160-bed facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After landing on the SFF list in 2014, which brought on a new third-party operator, the facility began to turn its operations (and cash flow) around by mid-2017. Built in 1965, it was renovated in 2011 to offer more private rooms and was situated only blocks from one of the largest full-service hospitals in the Milwaukee MSA. Its publicly-traded REIT owner determined the facility to be non-core and sold it to a Chicago-based investor for an undisclosed price. The buyer’s... Read More »
Ziegler Arranges Austin Acquisition

Ziegler Arranges Austin Acquisition

Ziegler’s Investment Banking Senior Living team served as exclusive advisor to Brazos Presbyterian Homes, Inc. in its purchase of an entrance-fee CCRC in Austin, Texas. Featuring 173 independent living units, 41 IL villas, 20 assisted living units, 16 memory care units and 60 skilled nursing beds on about 55 acres, the community had previously been sponsored by The Ex-Students’ Association of the University of Texas, known as the Texas Exes. In a blind competitive national search to find the best candidate for affiliation, not-for-profit Brazos Presbyterian emerged as the winner, adding to its two existing communities in Houston. After signing a letter of intent in October 2017, Brazos... Read More »
Hunt Real Estate Capital Becomes Fannie Mae Seniors Housing Lender

Hunt Real Estate Capital Becomes Fannie Mae Seniors Housing Lender

Hunt Real Estate Capital has undergone quite the transformation this year. After bringing in RED Capital Group’s Kathryn Burton Gray this past March to lead its seniors housing and healthcare lending group, along with RED alumni James Scribner, Jason Smeck and Brady Johnson, Hunt then changed its name from Hunt Mortgage Group to Hunt Real Estate Capital at the end of July. Now, the new group has fulfilled one of its goals and was just approved as a Fannie Mae Seniors Housing Lender. Now, bring on the transactions. Read More »
Genesis Healthcare Close to Bottom?

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 »