• Investment Firm Acquires in Missouri

    Investment firm Lapis Advisers purchased a seniors housing asset out of state receivership in Kansas City, Missouri. The CCRC was distressed, having struggled with COVID-related challenges as well as a limited access to capital in recent years.  Kingswood Senior Living features 185 independent living (65 of which are large duplex cottages),... Read More »
  • Global Investment Firm Sells Community with Strong Momentum

    A global real estate investment firm sold an independent living community in Iowa, engaging Blueprint’s Kory Buzin, Dillon Rudy and Steve Thomes to get the deal done. Built in 2002, the four-story community features 121 units, mostly with two-bedroom options. It appears to be The Arbordale in Urbandale, which was acquired in 2020 by Omaha,... Read More »
  • Large Operator Adds Turnaround Campus to Portfolio

    A senior care campus in Ohio found a new owner with the help of Kiser Group. Set on 26 acres in a rural market east of Cleveland, the property features 76 skilled nursing beds, five assisted living units and three independent living units. It was originally built in 1950 but expanded through multiple additions between 1965 and 2001.  At the... Read More »
  • Texas Skilled Nursing Portfolio Sells

    A portfolio of skilled nursing facilities traded hands in Texas before the end of the year. There are two assets in the Lubbock area and two in Central Texas that are located northwest of Austin. They comprise more than 430 beds, with between 100 to 120 beds at each of the four facilities. Three of the buildings were constructed in the 1970s, and... Read More »
  • CIBC Bank’s Recent Activity

    CIBC Bank USA closed an impressive array of transactions in the last several months, totaling more than $800 million in credit facilities across the country. The largest transaction was an $85 million (with earn-outs) debt package for a senior care portfolio in the Northeast. The debt included a senior term loan and a mezzanine loan to refinance... Read More »
Celebrating 30 Years

Celebrating 30 Years

The American Seniors Housing Association has been supporting the senior living industry for 30 years now, with David Schless at the helm throughout. I fondly remember going to my first annual meeting of the American Seniors Housing Association, back when it was part of the National Multifamily Housing Council. Let’s just say it was quite smaller than it is today, and I have to say, a bit more intimate. If you attended one of those early meetings, you may remember my question to Murry Gunty of Lazard Freres, when in the 1990s he was in the middle of patching together a company that seemed very disorganized, as I outlined his various, unconnected acquisitions. I asked, “So Murry, what’s the... Read More »
Celebrating 30 Years

Can Skilled Nursing Be Reformed?

The American Health Care Association and Leading Age have proposed a reform agenda for skilled nursing. As usual, the problem is Medicaid. The American Health Care Association and Leading Age have proposed a policy “agenda” to address some of the problems that exist in skilled nursing facilities today, which were obviously highlighted by the impact of the pandemic.  As part of the reforms, they want enhanced infection control practices, 24-hour RNs, 30-day minimum supply of PPE, better recruiting and retention of staff, improved oversight systems, and a shift to all private rooms. There is little here to disagree with, except that they expect Medicaid to pick up most of the $15... Read More »
Celebrating 30 Years

Financial Relief For Seniors Housing

Federal financial relief may be coming to assisted living and memory care providers, but will it be enough? The folks at ASHA, Argentum and NCAL have been working overtime to obtain some federal financial relief for their private pay members to deal with the burdens associated with COVID-19.  It’s supposed to be coming soon, but will it be enough? For now, the formula will be based on how it worked for Medicaid providers, which is 2% of 2019 revenues. For an 80-unit assisted living/memory care community with an average $5,000 monthly rate, that might come in at close to $80,000. If you have 50 communities, that is $4 million. Now we’re talking. For a more modest community with 50 units in... Read More »
Celebrating 30 Years

ASHA and Stifel Nicolaus Meetings

What we heard about industry trends 3,000 miles from home. After spending three days at the American Seniors Housing Association meeting and the Stifel Nicolaus “2020 Seniors Housing & Healthcare Real Estate Conference, other than jet lag, there were a few takeaways. First off, on a few panels stand-alone memory care communities came up, and not in a good way. Because they tend to be small, a few resident deaths can have an outsized impact, the former over-development has still left a bad taste, and stand-alone anything is viewed by many as too risky. Speakers believed cap rates were at least 100 basis points higher than for assisted living.  One thing we did hear is that... Read More »

Being Large In Seniors Housing

Size isn’t all its cracked up to be, and it does matter whether you own or operate the real estate. We always hear that size matters, but it can also work against you. While no one has claimed to be able to define the optimal size of a seniors housing company, I have yet to hear anyway say that they would be comfortable running a company with more than 500 properties. Most would say that 250 would be tops, with many of them even much smaller. I am talking about owning and operating, with the emphasis on operating. For REITs, I don’t know if there is a real number where their efficiencies get maxed out. They are not hiring the staff and serving the food. And they are not trying to... Read More »