• 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 »

A RED refinance

RED Capital Group worked with Kensington Senior Living to refinance its 75-unit assisted living/memory care in the high-barrier to entry market of Los Angeles County. The community opened in 2014 and leased up not long after that. RED originally arranged a balance sheet construction loan, which was paid off with the current $29 million Fannie Mae refinance. Read More »

HHC’s bridge to success

Since its launch in the Fall of 2015, Housing & Healthcare Finance’s (HHC) bridge lending program has brought in a lot of business so far in the last year, with the lender brokering 13 transactions and over $250 million in loan volume. Included in those closings were mostly skilled nursing facilities, except for a 183-unit CCRC in Cincinnati, Ohio, a SNF/assisted living community in Sacramento, and a SNF/ALF portfolio in Arkansas. The largest transaction totaled $60 million, while the smallest was approximately $4.2 million. Apart from brokering these transactions, HHC also provides bridge loans through its partner, Congressional Bank. The program is led by Isaac Haas and Neil Gamss,... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Disappoints Again

Brookdale Senior Living Disappoints Again

Brookdale Senior Living’s stock price plunged 20% on disappointing third quarter news….and forecasts. My, my, my. Brookdale Senior Living just doesn’t seem to be able to get a break. Despite having a 40 basis point increase in same-community occupancy from the second quarter, which beat the market as a whole, problems continue. They are seeing new properties having a big impact on their secondary market properties, they revised downward full year 2016 forecasts, former employees are soliciting staff and customer leads, and Dan Decker has decided to become even more involved, becoming Executive Chairman as opposed to Chairman of the Board. On top of all of this, they are forming... Read More »

Blackstone and Brookdale

The beginning of November brought with it a lot of big news. Sorting through the mess that was the Brookdale Senior Living earnings announcement, which caused quite the buzz in the industry, we also noted the year’s second-largest transaction was announced. Private equity firm Blackstone Real Estate Partners is acquiring 64 Brookdale-operated seniors housing properties from HCP, Inc. for $1.125 billion, or about $188,500 per unit. That was for 100% of the ownership, but Brookdale will pay Blackstone $170 million for a 15% ownership interest in the joint venture, in addition to operating the portfolio on behalf of the joint venture. Occupancy across the portfolio averaged 85%, and the... Read More »
Purchase by way of Punzel

Purchase by way of Punzel

A regional owner/operator already with seven senior living communities located throughout California recently added another one to its portfolio. Sacramento-based Ray Stone Inc. bought a 102-unit independent living community in Redding, California, which was owned by a local operator. Despite being built 30 years ago, the community was 96% occupied and operated at a 46% margin on approximately $3.13 million in revenues. The purchase price came to $18.35 million, or $179,900 per unit, with a 7.8% cap rate. Kevin Randles and Aron Will of CBRE originated a fixed-rate loan through its Fannie Mae DUS multifamily loan origination program to finance the acquisition. Jason Punzel of Senior Living... Read More »
Cambridge Realty Capital’s crazy end to October

Cambridge Realty Capital’s crazy end to October

The team at Cambridge Realty Capital got to work this October, announcing eight transactions in the span of a few days. The largest of them featured a $26.92 million HUD loan closed for a 320-bed skilled nursing facility in Melville, New York. All but one of the remaining six transactions featured a HUD loan, ranging from $2.2 million to $18.3 million, for skilled nursing facilities, ranging in size from 78 to 170 beds. Cambridge also arranged a $3.0 million HUD loan for a 65-bed assisted living community in Boiling Springs, South Carolina. All told, nearly $80 million in financing was closed in the last few days of October. Well done to the Cambridge team. Read More »

HCP boosts seniors housing holdings

Just as HCP, Inc. is about to spin off its large skilled nursing portfolio into a new REIT, it has closed a smaller, but large in today’s M&A market, acquisition of a portfolio of seven assisted living and memory care communities with 526 units in Maryland and Virginia. The price was $186.25 million, which comes in at $354,400 per unit, much higher than the average price per unit of $198,000 for the past four quarters, but near the levels we have been seeing for some good portfolios of late. The properties were built between 1993 and 2013, and talking to other buyers it appears that occupancy was not quite stabilized, so there should be room for improvement for the new operator, Senior... Read More »

CFG’s transaction trifecta

Capital Funding Group showed off its variety of services in its latest grouping of closings, totaling $25 million in financing. Gary Sever led the way in the largest transaction, closing a $17.6 million HUD construction loan for a to-be-built assisted living/memory care community in Cary, North Carolina. The building is expected to open in May 2017 with 40 AL and 40 MC units. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Stein originated a $5 million cash flow loan for a Texas skilled nursing operator. And finally, Chip Woelper arranged a $2.5 million working capital line of credit for a 141-bed skilled nursing/rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles. Well done to the CFG team. Read More »

Clearer skies ahead

The long road to recovery continues for an independent/assisted living community in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Built in 1998/2000 and non-performing since the Great Recession, the community saw trailing-12 months occupancy around 73%, but that had improved to 90% by the time of the sale, and was climbing. However, the operating margin could definitely be improved from 11% on approximately $1.37 million of revenues. There are 40 units of assisted living in one building, and 12 IL units in a second building on the 11-acre site. A not-for-profit group is the seller, which may explain the higher expenses. A joint venture between a private REIT and a regional operator based in Mississippi was the... Read More »

Two dually-certified SNFs sell

A pair of skilled nursing facilities with 235 dually-certified beds in Texas changed hands this month, with the help of Chris Hyldahl and Gideon Orion of Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors. The facilities combined for a total purchase price of $10 million, or $42,553 per bed, and they differed slightly in quality. The facility in North Central Texas was built in 1969 and was just 74% occupied, while the other facility, located in East Texas, was built in 1982 and had stronger occupancy, at 91%. Both had a quality mix of around 14%. So there will be some work to improve census and quality mix for the regional owner/operator buyer, which purchased the facilities from a national... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Disappoints Again

Values in the Seniors Housing and Care M&A Market Jump

For the four quarters ended September 30, average prices in the independent living market have increased, as have assisted living prices and skilled nursing prices. The seniors housing and care M&A market has seen less activity this year than in recent years, but that doesn’t mean buyers are not paying up for the assets they want. The best example is in the independent living market, where the average price paid in the four quarters ended September 30 was $234,000 per unit, or 21% higher than in calendar year 2015. The average cap rate remained steady at 7.0%. Assisted living prices have risen as well, jumping a smaller 5% for the past four quarters compared with 2015 to an average... Read More »