


Bad Flu Season, But That’s Not The Story
It is a horrific flu season, but it may be unfairly blamed for current seniors housing woes. So, we have all been hearing about this horrible flu season, especially with the unusual number of children’s deaths, including in my home town. But what I fear is that it will be blamed for more than its fair share of census problems in the senior care market. Granted, when the worst flu season in nearly a decade hits, it is bound to impact senior care communities, where the residents are much more frail than the population as a whole. But for some reason, this flu season is impacting seniors housing communities, and companies, in very different ways. Believe it or not, some have seen little to no... Read More »
Private Equity Firm Buys High-Medicaid Assisted Living Community
Despite having a nearly two-thirds Medicaid census, an assisted living community in Bellingham, Washington still maintained a healthy profit margin and sold to a California-based private equity firm. Built 40 years ago, the 66-unit community features mostly studio units, with 10 one-bedroom units, and was 93% occupied. Private pay residents only made up 30% of the total census, and yet, the community posted a 27% EBITDAR margin on approximately $2.22 million of revenues. That’s impressive from the previous independent owner/operator, who sold the community for $7.025 million, or about $106,400 per unit, with an 8.5% cap rate. There is still room for improvement for the incoming private... Read More »
Trust In Arbor Realty Trust
It was revealed that Arbor Realty Trust funded the recent acquisition of a 440-bed skilled nursing facility in Syracuse, New York. Alexander Kaushansky of Arbor worked on behalf of the borrower, VestraCare, to arrange a $41.6 million bridge loan, with Evan Goldenberg of EBEX Holdings and Ari Dobkin of Meridian Capital Group also assisting in the financing. The facility had a history of operational challenges, but since being acquired in 2015 by a partnership between a New-Jersey based skilled nursing operator and an Illinois lawyer, occupancy had improved from 64% to 89% in just a year. Now, VestraCare, which is controlled by Long Island-based Edward Farbenblum, is taking over at a cost of... Read More »
Wingate Healthcare Gets Financing From Gemino Healthcare Finance
Gemino Healthcare Finance, a specialty finance company and portfolio company of Solar Senior Capital Ltd. that is focused on providing senior secured loans to healthcare service providers, recently funded a $6 million senior secured credit facility on behalf of an affiliate of New England senior living operator, Wingate Healthcare. Family-owned for nearly 30 years, Wingate operates over 35 senior living communities mostly in Massachusetts (where it is based) but also in New York and Rhode Island. The company used the loan proceeds to pay off existing debt and for working capital purposes, gaining additional liquidity as it continues to grow. Read More »
Will New Records Be Set in 2018?
On Thursday, February 15, our Editor Steve Monroe moderated a 90-minute webinar titled “Will New Records Be Set? The Numbers, the Deals, the Stats on all Seniors Housing and Care M&A,” with a panel of experts to discuss the 2017 seniors housing and care M&A market, with pricing statistics from our upcoming Senior Care Acquisition Report, to be published next month. There were a few records set in 2017 (for details on those records, check out either the webinar or the Report), but with labor, occupancy, overdevelopment and interest rate headwinds facing the seniors housing and care industry, would that robust M&A market continue into 2018? That’s what our panel of experts,... Read More »
Evans Senior Investments Sells Southern Illinois Portfolio
Evans Senior Investments is on a tear in 2018, having just closed a portfolio sale in southern Illinois on behalf of the independent owner/operator seller after already closing three other deals earlier this month. The “Legacy Place” portfolio consists of four assisted living/memory care communities and 200 total units (149 AL and 51 MC) spread out across southern Illinois. Each community was purpose-built in the last eight years and operated well, with a combined 95% occupancy, 100% private pay census and 34.3% EBITDAR margin on approximately $7.72 million of trailing revenues, portfolio-wide. A regional owner/operator stepped in as the buyer, paying $32.63 million, or about $163,000 per... Read More »
Partnership Purchases Signature HealthCARE-Operated Skilled Nursing Facility
A Signature HealthCARE-operated property was divested by a publicly traded REIT owner, amid rumors that Signature has recently had issues making payments to its REIT landlords. Located outside of Tampa, Florida, the 120-bed skilled nursing facility was built in 1983, renovated in 2009 and was well maintained. It was ideally located, a few blocks from a major hospital, but census issues and escalating liability insurance costs affected operations. Trent Gherardini, Michael Segal and Ben Firestone of Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors represented the seller and led a bidding process that yielded 13 qualified offers. A partnership between a high-net-worth investor and an experienced... Read More »
Marcus & Millichap’s Latest Team Effort
A 60-unit assisted living community traded in Pensacola, Florida, with Marcus & Millichap involved on both sides of the transaction. Brooks Mindord (out of the Miami office) and Rob Reis (based in San Francisco) represented the limited liability company seller, while Rod Llanos (in the Houston office) secured and represented the buyer, a private investment group from Texas. The target, which is licensed for 85 beds, was over 90% occupied as of January 2018 and operated at a 28% margin on approximately $1.8 million of revenues. It sold for $7.0 million, or about $117,000 per unit, with a cap rate of 7.1%. Read More »
Assisted Living Prices Hit Record
Despite multiple headwinds, assisted living prices hit record levels in 2017, while skilled nursing facility prices slumped for the first time in six years. There is an interesting phenomenon going on right now in the seniors housing and care acquisition market. Both the skilled nursing sector and the private pay seniors housing side of the business are facing multiple headwinds. Yet, one side is seeing prices decline while the other keeps on going up, setting some new records on the way. Last year, after five straight years of rising prices, the average price per bed for skilled nursing facilities plunged by 18% to $81,350. Your first question might be, what took so long? The average cap... Read More »