• 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 »
60 Seconds with Ben Swett: Competition For Deals in an Active M&A Market

60 Seconds with Ben Swett: Competition For Deals in an Active M&A Market

We’re not sure we have ever seen a month like this when it seemed that institutional buyers were racing to see who could announce the biggest deal. First was Welltower’s acquisition of 22 Pathway to Living communities, then came Harrison Street’s $1.2 billion purchase of 24 Oakmont communities, then Atria Senior Living acquired Holiday Retirement and Welltower jumped back in again, acquiring Holiday’s owned portfolio of 86 properties. Next, we had the Griffin American REITs 3 and 4 merging, and finally, at least of this filming, Ventas will pay $2.3 billion to purchase New Senior Investment Group. It has been a dizzying display of strength from these institutional buyers, and we are... Read More »
60 Seconds with Ben Swett: M&A Hits a High in 2021

60 Seconds with Ben Swett: M&A Hits a High in 2021

When it rains, it pours in senior care M&A. First, we noticed a significant uptick in deal activity this month, with over 30 transactions announced since June 1st. Not December’s level of activity, but we’ll take it. Then, Harrison Street announced the largest purchase in the industry in two years, spending $1.2 billion on 24 Oakmont communities. But yesterday, when we were still digesting the sale of former SNF giant Kindred Healthcare to LifePoint, Welltower made the biggest splash of all, buying Holiday Retirement’s owned portfolio of 86 independent living properties for $1.58 billion. Not only that, but Atria Senior Living will acquire the operating business of Holiday for an... Read More »
Dissecting the Holiday Retirement Deal

Dissecting the Holiday Retirement Deal

Welltower announced the acquisition of Holiday Retirement’s owned portfolio of 86 independent living communities for $1.58 billion, or just about $152,000 per unit. Simultaneously, Atria Senior Living said that it was acquiring Holiday’s operating business for an undisclosed price. Either of these announcements would normally be major news, but they also come on the heels of Harrison Street’s $1.2 billion purchase of 24 properties operated by Oakmont Senior Living and a very busy June (so far) with more than 30 individual transactions already made public. Perhaps the tide has turned for investment activity in seniors housing and care.  The Welltower deal also represents yet another... Read More »
60 Seconds with Ben Swett: M&A Hits a High in 2021

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 »
A Holiday with Atria

A Holiday with Atria

Last week, as part of its earnings release, New Senior Investment Group announced that Atria Senior Living would be taking over management of 21 independent living communities managed by Holiday Retirement Corporation. From a diversification perspective, this makes great sense for New Senior because Holiday had been managing 98 of New Senior’s 103 properties. In the REIT world, that kind of tenant concentration is a no-no.   Like most owners across the country, including Atria, the New Senior portfolio has seen its occupancy drop by 690 basis points in the past year. This is much better than the average for assisted living and skilled nursing, but as we... Read More »