• Joint Venture Acquires Four AL/MC Communities

    Following an active year of M&A with five separate deals totaling 21 properties, Stacked Stone Ventures has kicked off its 2026 growth with a portfolio acquisition in the Southeast. In a joint venture with Praxis Capital and an undisclosed family office, Stacked Stone, which was founded by Kent Eikanas, bought four assisted living/memory care... Read More »
  • Another Publicly Traded REIT Joins the M&A Mix

    Another well-capitalized institutional player is stepping into the seniors housing fray, adding fuel to an already aggressive bidding environment. And based on its initial acquisitions, with one closed at more than $1 million per unit, the target seems to be high-quality assets. Prices are rising fast in that segment, and as the buyer pool... Read More »
  • Distressed AL/MC Community Gets New Owner

    Scott Frazier, Kory Buzin and Steve Thomes of Blueprint advised a special servicer in the seniors housing sector on the sale of Spanish Vines, a well-maintained assisted living/memory care community. It sits in a densely populated Pocket-Greenhaven neighborhood of southwest Sacramento, California. The 88-unit community was generating negative... Read More »
  • Underperforming Community Sells and Secures Financing

    A buyer recently acquired an underperforming seniors housing community in Charleston, South Carolina, and Blueprint Capital Markets secured the debt financing. Blueprint also represented the undisclosed seller in its divestment. The asset comprises 84 units of assisted living and memory care. There is room for occupancy growth and expense cuts,... Read More »
  • Standalone MC Communities Secure Acquisition Financing

    Berkadia recently announced three financings on behalf of three different sponsors. In one of the closings, Steve Muth and Ed Williams arranged $25.8 million in acquisition financing for Peregrine Senior Living at Clifton Park and Peregrine Senior Living at Orchard Park. The bridge financing was provided through Berkadia’s Proprietary Lending... Read More »
Second Quarter Occupancy Results

Second Quarter Occupancy Results

NIC MAP just released its second-quarter occupancy trends results, and unfortunately, it was not what the industry had hoped for. For the overall seniors housing industry, average occupancy remained flat at 78.7% from the first quarter to the second quarter.   Given the reports of bottoming out by March for several of the large operators and the REITs with large operating portfolios, and strong census increases in April and May, we were a bit surprised that the quarter-to-quarter change was stagnant. We figured maybe at least a 50-basis point increase or higher. The one thing this tells us is that the early spring momentum did not carry over into June. Or possibly it was the... Read More »
Seniors Housing Rates: Actual vs. Asking

Seniors Housing Rates: Actual vs. Asking

For years, NIC MAP has been presenting quarterly changes in seniors housing asking rates, but it is now trying to get beyond that and get the actual rental rates. That will add a lot more needed transparency. As many of you know, NIC is working hard to develop its database of actual rents in seniors housing as opposed to the “asking” rents that have been used in their NIC Map numbers for years. This is very important because not until the market sees the actual rents communities are getting will we have a better understanding of the extent of price discounting in various markets.  We have been a little vocal about the asking rent number because when times are tough, like they... Read More »

NIC MAP Q3 Occupancy Results Fall Short Of Expectations

In more normal times, whatever that may be, the third quarter is supposed to be a good one for occupancy increases, perhaps the best quarter of the year. Not so in the past three years, however. NIC MAP has reported yet another slow month for seniors housing occupancy, which does not bode well for the rest of the year or for early 2018. The modest (10 basis points) increase in assisted living occupancy, combined with the modest decrease (-10 basis points) for independent living, does not bode well for the fourth quarter, when recent weather-related events will surely have a negative impact. Following that will be the first quarter flu season problems, which in 2017 lasted well into the... Read More »
Independent Living Market Outperforms

Independent Living Market Outperforms

First quarter data from NIC MAP shows IL occupancy again exceeding assisted living, but with less new development. What is it about the independent living community market that keeps occupancy more stable than assisted living, yet sees a much lower level of new development? In the latest NIC MAP data on the first quarter, the IL market outperformed the AL market again, even though IL occupancy did slip a bit sequentially and year over year. I have a hard time understanding why there is not more development in the IL side of the business. Yes, they are larger properties that require more capital and a longer fill time, but it just seems they can be more tailored to any market’s particular... Read More »

Seniors Housing Occupancy Continues Its Decline

As many people expected, seniors housing occupancy levels declined in the first quarter this year, with assisted living posting larger declines than independent living. According to the recently released NIC MAP data, primarily assisted living communities in the 31 primary markets posted a sequential drop in occupancy of 50 basis points to 87.2%, and a year-over-year drop of 100 basis points. Even though these numbers were sort of expected, there was some hope that the sector was starting to turn things around in the quarter. Not yet. It was a little surprising that half the year-over-year drop came in one quarter, however. On the independent living side, occupancy in the top 31 markets... Read More »