• Sabra Health Care REIT Picks Up the Transaction Pace

    Sabra Health Care REIT is ramping up its senior care M&A activity and its SHOP exposure, set to exceed the $1 billion in investments it spent in 2025. The REIT completed several transactions during the first quarter, with investments closed year to date totaling $206.1 million, with an estimated initial cash yield of 8.0%. The pipeline... Read More »
  • Clarion Partners Continues Growing

    Clarion Partners is continuing on its acquisition streak, adding Legacy House of Avondale to its portfolio. The 169-unit Class-A assisted living/memory care community is in the Phoenix, Arizona MSA, with a strong operational footing. Clarion Partners further expanded its relationship with MorningStar Senior Living through the deal, partnering... Read More »
  • Blueprint Handles Virginia Deal

    A publicly traded company engaged Blueprint to sell a value-add independent living community in a growing submarket of Richmond, Virginia. Built in 1987, the 122-unit community could benefit from investments in the physical plant. It was also not stabilized.  A competitive market generated multiple bids in multiple rounds and improved... Read More »
  • Public REIT Acquires Full-Continuum Communities

    A pair of full-continuum seniors housing communities that sit approximately 10 miles apart traded in Northwest Arkansas. Village on the Park Bentonville in Bentonville and Village on the Park Rogers in Rogers offer a total of 208 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. Each community also offers contiguous land for further... Read More »
  • VIUM Capital Leads HUD LEAN Mid-Year Rankings

    HUD’s fiscal year 2026 hit the halfway point on March 31, and so far VIUM Capital is leading the way in closed 232 loans and by total loan volume with 41 transactions and $598.0 million in volume, respectively. That represents 22% of the program’s closed loans in the first half of the fiscal year and 19% of the total volume. And 32 of VIUM’s HUD... Read More »
Capital One goes to Princeton

Capital One goes to Princeton

Working with HUD, Joshua Rosen of Capital One originated a $5.9 million refinance for a 95-bed skilled nursing facility in Princeton, Indiana. Originally built in 1968, with an addition in 1974, the facility features 45 semi-private units and five private rooms, and was operated by a local hospital. It was certified by Medicare and Medicaid, which led Rosen to work with HUD on Medicaid’s Upper Payment Limit program. Available in only a few states, the program is a federal limit on fee-for-service reimbursement of Medicaid providers. This incentivizes the owner to have a local hospital serve as operator, thereby increasing Medicaid payments, which can be taken into consideration during the... Read More »
Triumph in Tucson

Triumph in Tucson

Making its second-ever acquisition in Arizona, Chicago Pacific Founders added a 140-unit independent living community in Tucson to its growing portfolio of now eight properties located across the country. Almost a year prior to this deal, CPF had entered into the Arizona market with its $7.2 million purchase of a 79-unit assisted/independent living community in Sun City. Also, just over the border in Nevada, CPF acquired a 72-unit assisted living community in Pahrump for an estimated $7.5 million. The newest property is located in a residential and retail area in southwest Tucson, and is close to several major medical centers. CPF plans to make investments in the community, and its... Read More »
Memory care miniaturized

Memory care miniaturized

Four memory care communities with a combined 38 units in Montgomery County, Maryland recently sold to an in-state owner/operator for $4.3 million, or $113,158 per unit. All built between 15 and 30 years ago, the communities feature all private rooms and are 100% private pay. Occupancy was also usually full, with a waiting list. One building was actually larger than the other three, but they still combined for just 25,000 square feet. The transaction featured a 14.8% cap rate. Bob Gaines of Colliers International represented the private owner/operator seller in the transaction. Read More »

Age before beauty

There was a complete flip-flop in the percentage of skilled nursing facilities sold by age, with the oldest category (greater than 40 years old) increasing to 52% of the properties sold in 2015, compared with just 22% in 2014 (according to the 21st Senior Care Acquisition Report, released last month). Several of these properties, however, sold for more than $100,000 per bed, indicating their location or profitability overcame the issue of their old age. But, if we saw a massive increase in the number of sales of 40-year old SNFs (or older), then what drove the market to its all-time record high average price of $85,900 per bed? It was an increase in the number of facilities sold that were... Read More »

The Growing Memory Care Market

Memory care is a growing need, and it has been the focus of a lot of new development. But it can be risky as well. Last week I talked about the first quarter occupancy and new construction stats, but today let’s focus on memory care. This has been an area of heightened investment interest because there are fewer memory care units in the market then AL and IL and, unfortunately, the need for memory care will only increase, and may increase at a faster pace than traditional assisted living. Some providers are even seeing an increase in the “young” population with memory care or other dementia-related issues, and I am talking about under 70 years old and not just retired NFL players. It is a... Read More »
The thaw in Canada

The thaw in Canada

The Canadian senior care M&A market seems to have thawed this Spring, with a hefty acquisition. Sienna Senior Living paid CAD$255 million ($201.7 million) acquisition of eight retirement/senior care communities in British Columbia. Known as the Baltic properties (though certainly not a Monopoly reference due to their quality), the portfolio includes two private pay independent living communities and six senior care communities that include both long-term care and assisted living. Plus, Sienna purchased a 50% interest in Pacific Seniors Management General Partnership, the current manager of the Baltic properties, as well as options to acquire up to 100% of two newly built seniors... Read More »
Welltower in NYC?

Welltower in NYC?

Welltower, in partnership with real estate investment firm (and newbie to seniors housing), Hines, has acquired a site to develop an assisted living/memory care community in Midtown Manhattan. The original owners of the two adjacent properties that make up the one site brought in Eastern Consolidated to represent them in the sale, for which the terms were not disclosed. Design and development plans have been started, but no scheduled start date has been announced. So, it looks like Omega Healthcare Investors and Maplewood Senior Living will have some competition for their Manhattan senior living development, which is located on the Upper East Side and comprises 20 stories of 214... Read More »
Regional seniors housing prices stick with tradition

Regional seniors housing prices stick with tradition

Last week, we wrote of a big shake-up in the regional average prices per bed for skilled nursing facilities, with the North Central region supplanting the Western and Northeast regions for the top spot, in terms of average price paid according to the recently published 21st Senior Care Acquisition Report. The seniors housing (including independent and assisted living) side, however, largely followed tradition. Once again, the Northeast region topped the charts (for the sixth year in a row) with an average price per unit of $201,100, despite it dropping 29% from the previous year’s average if $281,700 per unit. That is not surprising given the region’s high land values and construction... Read More »
Senior living hits the slopes

Senior living hits the slopes

Three years after opening on a piece of land that was a former ski slope in North Andover, Massachusetts, a 133-unit senior living community is refinancing its debt with the help of Richard Thomas of Grandbridge Real Estate Capital. Built by Shelter Development at a cost of approximately $20 million, the community is operated by Brightview Senior Living and features 65 independent living units, 41 supportive living units and 27 memory care units. It is located on 33 acres, of which 25 have remained open space and the original ski slopes have been preserved. Mr. Thomas originated a $30.25 million floating-rate first mortgage loan through Fannie Mae’s DUS Structured Adjustable Rate Mortgage... Read More »
Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday

Twenty years ago, a well-operating 59-bed skilled nursing facility sold for $2.25 million, or about $41,000 per bed. With an occupancy of 95%, a 42% private pay census and a 15% operating margin, things were looking up for the 25-year old facility. However, in recent years, operations began to suffer with low occupancy and negative-to-breakeven cash flow as recent as early 2014. But the most recent owner/operator turned it around, stabilizing occupancy to around 90% and improving cash flow. Quality mix is currently in the mid-teens. Now, a regional owner/operator based in southeast Florida looking to expand its presence on Florida’s west coast is purchasing the facility, paying $4.9... Read More »
Where to buy (or sell) SNFs

Where to buy (or sell) SNFs

Traditionally, the Northeast and West regions have commanded the highest average prices per bed for skilled nursing facilities because of their high real estate values and generally higher daily rates. However, the North Central region surprised us with the highest average price per bed, up from $68,400 per bed in 2014 to $100,200 per bed in 2015. This was largely driven by a few high-priced portfolio sales as well as newly built properties that always command high prices, no matter their zip code. Next came the Northeast, which increased from $88,200 per bed in 2014 to $94,100 per bed in 2015. As for the three remaining regions, there was a sharp drop-off, most significantly for the West... Read More »