• 60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Record M&A Year, Again

    You may start to get tired of hearing us talk about all the records being set, but we will never tire of it. As of November 11, we have passed last year’s record of total acquisitions in the seniors housing and care sector, now standing at over 720 deals, according to LevinPro LTC. And we thought last year was an amazing year! The good news is... Read More »
  • Regional Owner/Operator Acquires in North Carolina

    A skilled nursing facility with 130 beds recently sold in North Carolina. It was 53% occupied and not stabilized at the time of sale. According to LevinPro LTC, the purchase price was one of the highest per-bed prices we have seen in the state, at $21 million, or $161,500 per bed. The seller, a North Carolina-based owner/developer that had owned... Read More »
  • Tennessee Community Trades in Receivership Sale

    Blueprint recently announced a few closings involving a prominent lender and special services seller. The first was in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was handled by Kyle Hallion, Kory Buzin and Steve Thomes. Buzin and Thomes facilitated the second deal, selling Knollwood Point in Mobile, Alabama. The pair also sold The Pointe at Kirby Gate in... Read More »
  • Northeast-Based Owner/Operator Expands in Georgia

    Daniel Geraghty, Bradley Clousing and Nick Cacciabando of Senior Living Investment Brokerage were engaged in the sale of a skilled nursing facility with 100 beds in College Park, Georgia. At the time of sale, the facility was operating at a loss. The seller was a national owner of long-term care and seniors housing assets across the country, and... Read More »
  • Provident Bank Funds Portfolio Refinance and Recapitalization

    Tom Cassidy of Provident Bank’s Healthcare Lending team provided funding to a regional owner/operator in the Southeast. The new client, a family business, secured a $29.84 million portfolio refinance and recapitalization of four stabilized seniors housing communities in Florida. The well-performing portfolio totals more than 250 units across a... Read More »
National Health Investors Secures Big Bank Financing

National Health Investors Secures Big Bank Financing

Utilizing its bank relationships, National Health Investors boosted its liquidity with a $100 million term loan provided by a syndicate of eight banks. The one-year loan came with an interest rate of 30-day LIBOR + 1.85%, with a 0.50% floor. NHI also has the right to extend the maturity date by another year.   Wells Fargo Bank acted as the administrative agent, while KeyBank, Bank of Montreal and Regions Bank acted as the syndication agents. The documentation agents were Bank of America, Capital One and Goldman Sachs Bank, which arranged the eight-bank syndicate including Pinnacle National Bank. Total commitments... Read More »
Seniors Housing Occupancy Slides Further, But Slower

Seniors Housing Occupancy Slides Further, But Slower

Well, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone, but occupancy levels for stabilized independent living and assisted living continued their drop in the month of May, according to NIC MAP. Across the country’s 31 largest metropolitan areas, assisted living properties first fell by 170 basis points from 87.8% in March (the first full month of the COVID-19 pandemic) to 86.1% in April. The sector occupancy fell by a lesser degree in May, by 90 basis points to 85.2%. So, in total, that is a 360-basis point drop for assisted living since the pandemic began.   The independent living sector has so far fared better than assisted living, but it also has the benefit of being in a stronger position going... Read More »
National Health Investors: What Pandemic?

National Health Investors: What Pandemic?

It seems that National Health Investors is doing just fine during this pandemic, as are its operators, apparently. The Tennessee-based REIT reported that it has collected 99.7% of its contractual rent in April, 100% in May, and so far, 99.4% in June. That should make shareholders feel pretty good right now.  On the occupancy front, excluding communities that have been open less than 24 months, it was not quite as rosy but nothing they can’t handle. For 41 same-community properties operated by Bickford Senior Living, occupancy has dropped 240 basis points, from 86.6% in March to 84.2% in May. The first quarter averaged 87.3%.   Senior Living... Read More »
REIT Sale/Leasebacks Are Not Dead

REIT Sale/Leasebacks Are Not Dead

It is very easy to say that sale/leaseback structures with REITs are dead, especially if your leases are dead in the water. But then you have to ask, why are they dead in the water, and why did you enter into long-term leases in the first place? You could have always financed your properties with debt at 70% to 80% loan-to-value, but the odds are you wanted to recapture some of your equity for growth (or your retirement), and there is always a price you pay for essentially leveraging your property 100%.   The real benefit of a sale/leaseback, in addition to the cash you take out, is that everything above the lease payment is yours. The REIT gets its fixed lease return,... Read More »
Brookdale Buys Eight NHI-Owned Communities

Brookdale Buys Eight NHI-Owned Communities

Brookdale Senior Living exercised its purchase option on eight assisted living communities that it operated on behalf of the owner, National Health Investors. The transaction was hinted at in NHI’s third quarter earnings report, which noted the properties as being held for sale. And Eric Mendelsohn, President and CEO, confirmed in the Q3 earnings call that the purchase price would start at a base of $37 million, with a fair market value component as high as $5 million which NHI and Brookdale would split 50-50. In the end, Brookdale paid $39.26 million, or $116,845 per unit. The eight communities, which were located in three states and totaled 336 units, contributed 2019 GAAP revenue of... Read More »