• 60 Seconds with Swett: Senior Care’s PR Problem

    Recently, we have seen stories circulating about the connection between REIT ownership and the way skilled nursing facilities provide care, stemming from a study written by the nonprofit journalism outlet KFF Health News. We’ve seen this before, headlines like “real estate investors profit while patients suffer,” usually with graphic cases of... Read More »
  • Blueprint Sets Pricing Record in New York State

    Blueprint advised a repeat private equity client in a record-setting sale of two standalone memory care communities in high barrier-to-entry submarkets in New York State. Combining for 104 units, these assets were purpose-built in the late 1990s and were stabilized at the time of the deal. Not only that, they were generating cash flow in excess... Read More »
  • CareTrust Keeps Its Foot on the Gas

    CareTrust REIT has deployed nearly $1 billion in closed transactions so far this year, after closing around $1.8 billion in investment activity in 2025, and its pipeline includes $450 million of near-term, actionable opportunities, excluding larger portfolio transactions. The REIT announced that it closed a few separate transactions in mid-April,... Read More »
  • VIUM Capital Announces Slew of HUD Closings

    VIUM Capital closed four HUD 232/223(f) financings in March totaling more than $63 million across a mix of skilled nursing and seniors housing communities. Two of the financings involved skilled nursing facilities in Oklahoma totaling 176 beds. The assets were originally acquired as part of a larger portfolio and refinanced following a... Read More »
  • Lument Secures HUD Express Lane Transaction

    Lument closed a refinance through HUD’s Express Lane for a 120-unit seniors housing community in Lincoln, Nebraska. Built in 2017, Pemberly Place Senior Living features 132 licensed beds and offers independent living, assisted living and memory care services. It also has an on-site medical clinic to offer a range of other healthcare services. The... Read More »
Assisted Living Occupancy Woes….Again

Assisted Living Occupancy Woes….Again

According to NIC data, assisted living occupancy dropped in the fourth quarter, which was not a good way to end the year. I don’t like to start the new year off with an “I told you so,” but I will. Fourth quarter occupancy trends were just released by NIC, and let’s just say they were disappointing. Surprising? No, but disappointing? Yes. The fourth quarter is usually looked upon as a solid quarter, with occupancy increases that are necessary to fend off declines in census from what can be bad flu seasons in the first quarter. Until recently, some providers were denying that the jump in development was impacting their census. But privately, we knew there was a different story, even with... Read More »
Recap with MidCap

Recap with MidCap

A few years after acquiring an independent living community in Payson, Arizona (located in the middle of the Tonto National Forest), Compass Senior Living is refinancing the property, with the help of MidCap Financial. Originally built in 2006 by a not-for-profit operator, this 50-unit community was eventually sold to Compass in 2014. Since then, occupancy and operating margin have improved, and the property’s value, thus, increased. The $4.5 million floating rate loan came with a three-year term and not only refinanced existing debt, but also recaptured equity that was originally committed to the 2014 acquisition. Read More »
Growth by Northwest

Growth by Northwest

Cascadia Healthcare grew leaps and bounds in just one transaction announcement: its acquisition of three skilled nursing facilities in Idaho (2) and Montana. Since its start in 2015, Cascadia had been in operation at one location (a SNF in Boise, Idaho), and has been in the process of developing two transitional care facilities in Boise and Nampa, Idaho, which are expected to open later this year. Now, the company is adding a 117-bed facility in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, a 60-bed facility in Orofino, Idaho and a 101-bed facility in Libby, Montana, marking its entry into Big Sky Country. Cascadia entered into a triple-net lease agreement with the real estate owner to assume operations of the... Read More »

Big Changes for Transforming Age

The newly transformed Transforming Age, formerly Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest, is branching out of the West Coast for the first time in its 60-year history. Based in Bellevue, Washington and already with three communities in the Seattle area, the not-for-profit just announced it is acquiring eight (yes, eight) senior living communities in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, at a price of approximately $138 million, according to local media. Built from 1969 to 2008, the communities range in size from 84 units to 181 units, and feature independent living, assisted living and memory care services. This represents a big jump in operational size for Transforming Age, so here’s... Read More »

The Alley Way

Matthew Alley of Senior Living Investment Brokerage was certainly busy over New Years, closing a couple of rural SNF transactions. First, he and Ryan Saul sold a 99-bed facility in Clinton, Iowa (about 40 miles northeast of Davenport) for $2.1 million, or $21,212 per bed. Built in 1950, but with updates in the 2000s, the facility was just 72% occupied and losing money. The national real estate owner leased it to a national operator, but that was set to expire on January 1, 2017. Despite closing the transaction in December, the buyer, a regional owner/operator with other facilities in the state, took over operations on January 1. Then, Mr. Alley went down to Synder, Texas to sell a 99-bed... Read More »
Pay up in Pennsylvania

Pay up in Pennsylvania

Good and hard work is usually rewarded in this industry, and the single-asset private owner of an historically five-star rated skilled nursing facility in Lansdale, Pennsylvania is certainly retiring in style with the facility’s sale. Though the purchase price was undisclosed, we hear it sold for one of the highest prices per bed for a single-facility in Pennsylvania. Built in 1980 on just under six acres, the property was very well maintained and featured seven private rooms, 51 semi-private rooms and 24 three-bed wards. And in addition to a 96% occupancy, it also had strong cash flow. That operational success, combined with amenities like a business office, conference room, country... Read More »

Transaction trifecta

Mike Garbers and Cody Tremper of Greystone Real Estate Advisors finished out the year strong with three closings, including U.S. Memory Care’s sale of four MC communities in Texas to a private investor, and a publicly traded REIT’s divestment of a 298-unit independent living community operated by Brookdale Senior Living in Southfield, Michigan. Tremper and Garbers’ final transaction of 2016 also involved Brookdale, as the company sold two of its Carolina seniors housing communities for $33 million. The Hendersonville, North Carolina community was built in 1985 and 1993 with an independent living building and a separate memory care facility. There was also a 30-year old property in... Read More »
Assisted Living Occupancy Woes….Again

Changes already for 2017

Welltower has a management shuffle, and The Ensign Group expands its real estate ownership. Well, first of all, Happy New Year. I am not sure if it is going to be all that happy, bumpy yes, happy, it will depend on your perspective. For the first act of the new Congress to upend their own ethics rules, and then to rescind what they just passed, well, one would think they have more important things to do. Perhaps they are waiting until January 20. Meanwhile, we are heading into a year of uncertainty as well, with the full impact of rising interest rates not felt yet, even though financing activity seemed to take a breather in December. The only big news was that at year-end The Ensign Group... Read More »
Ensign Expands

Ensign Expands

The Ensign Group acquired the underlying real estate of a portfolio of 15 Wisconsin assisted living communities nearly a year and a half after taking over the operations under a lease. Formerly owned by Harmony Living Center, LLC, these communities feature a total of 687 units and a combined occupancy of 83%. Ensign financed the purchase with cash from its revolver, and Ziegler handled the transaction, which did not come with a disclosed price. This move reflects a desire of Ensign to own a larger share of its operating portfolio, especially after it spun off many of its real estate assets into CareTrust REIT in 2014. Now, Ensign owns the underlying real estate in 50 of its 209 operations.... Read More »

HHC’s Fitting Finale

Housing & Healthcare Finance (HHC) finished the year with over $25 million in two more HUD transactions. First, for a portfolio of five Texas skilled nursing facilities all built between 1960 and 1985 and owned by an experienced operator, HHC closed five loans totaling $21.2 million. The financing, with interest rates in the low 3s, will help fund needed repairs across the portfolio. And then, HHC arranged $5.6 million, also with an interest rate in the low 3s, for a 94-bed skilled nursing/memory care facility in California. Built in 1964, the facility was also owned by an experienced operator. Read More »
A Flowering Relationship

A Flowering Relationship

Capitol Seniors Housing (CSH) is expanding its assets in Texas through a new operating relationship with Civitas Senior Living, which has lately been known for its development activity in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin markets. While we have not been alone in voicing concerns about overbuilding in these markets, the target property for CSH (developed by Civitas in the DFW MSA) clearly has not felt the effects. Located in Flower Mound, the community was just built in 2015 with 58 assisted living and 34 memory care units, and is already nearly fully occupied with a strong cash flow on top of that. CSH paid $26 million, or $282,600 per unit, for the property. Based on trailing-three month... Read More »