• Grace Management Adds Five Ventas Communities

    Grace Management expanded its relationship with Ventas, adding five seniors housing communities owned by the REIT to its operating portfolio. The communities were previously managed under a triple-net lease structure. They include Brookdale Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, Brookdale Northbrook in Northbrook, Illinois, Brookdale Springs Mesa... Read More »
  • Seller Boosts Census Ahead of Sale to JV

    Senwell Senior Investment Advisors sold Rose Hill Retirement Community, a 66-unit, 87-bed assisted living community in Marion, North Carolina. Originally built as a hospital, Rose Hill has been transformed by the seller over the past two decades into a senior care community. After a previous attempt to sell the community was unsuccessful,... Read More »
  • Joint Venture Buys Orange County Community

    A high-end seniors housing community in Orange County sold with the help of CBRE National Senior Housing. Aron Will and John Sweeny represented the joint venture seller in the deal, while Will and Matthew Kuronen arranged acquisition financing from a national bank. The loan came with a four-year term, a full term of interest only and a floating... Read More »
  • Developer Secures Construction Financing

    JLL Capital Markets arranged a $47 million construction financing for The Arbella at Blue Hills, a 164-unit, active adult community to be developed in Bloomfield, Connecticut. JLL worked on behalf of the developer, The United Group of Companies, Inc. (United Group) to secure the construction loan through Liberty Bank of Middletown, Connecticut.... Read More »
  • Midwest-Based Operator Refinances AL/MC Communities

    MONTICELLOAM, LLC, along with firm affiliates, provided a $28.5 million senior bridge financing for two Midwest seniors housing communities. The financing was originated by Karina Davydov, Senior Managing Director, Originations. The sponsor, a Midwest-based operator with a portfolio of over 40 seniors housing and healthcare properties and a... Read More »

Investor Sentiment at the NIC Conference

Last week’s 60 Seconds with Steve video greeted everyone attending the NIC Conference in San Diego and asked what the sentiment might be during the conference. In years past, you could tell we were in a bull market with all the deal making going on in public, the exuberance of the crowds and the general noise level. Although the stated attendance was approximately 1,500, it did seem a little smaller than that, without the usual crowds in the lobby bar for one last nightcap and another round of industry gossip. The overall sentiment was one of caution, and this was especially true in the skilled nursing side of the business (see today’s 60 Seconds video). As we all know, the American Health... Read More »
Assisted Living Occupancy Woes….Again

Assisted Living Occupancy Woes….Again

According to NIC data, assisted living occupancy dropped in the fourth quarter, which was not a good way to end the year. I don’t like to start the new year off with an “I told you so,” but I will. Fourth quarter occupancy trends were just released by NIC, and let’s just say they were disappointing. Surprising? No, but disappointing? Yes. The fourth quarter is usually looked upon as a solid quarter, with occupancy increases that are necessary to fend off declines in census from what can be bad flu seasons in the first quarter. Until recently, some providers were denying that the jump in development was impacting their census. But privately, we knew there was a different story, even with... Read More »

NIC’s Third Quarter Numbers

NIC has come out with its third quarter occupancy, construction, asking rates and absorption stats, and we have to admit, we were disappointed with the numbers, especially on occupancy. Assisted living occupancy was basically flat with the second quarter amid hopes that there might be some acceleration. Independent living rose by just 10 basis points from the second quarter and was flat with a year ago. Asking rents were at their highest in years, but the numbers do not factor in the discounting which remains prevalent in many markets. Now, with Hurricane Matthew about to hit the southeast coast, and communities in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas already beginning to evacuate residents... Read More »
Leaving with Grace

Leaving with Grace

While attending the NIC conference in Washington, D.C. last week, I learned that Gene and Mari Jo Grace of Grace Management are retiring after nearly 33 years in the seniors housing and care business. I have known them for most of that 33 years, and I feel like the industry is losing not only two very top-notch professionals, but two friends. The respect they command, and the friendship they have shown to so many over the years is unparalleled, not to mention the depth of their industry knowledge and history. They have seen it all. Two years ago, they sold their company to Chicago Pacific Founders (CPF) but continued on in their roles. In those two years, with the help of John Rijos and... Read More »

The affordability factor

One issue that we haven’t heard a lot in the sessions at the last couple of NICs is affordability. Much of what is currently being constructed today is a high-end assisted living/memory care product that is all private pay. And on the skilled nursing/transitional care side, developers like Mainstreet are looking to take on majority Medicare or private pay patients into their luxury rehab resorts. But what about that segment of the population that cannot afford most of the seniors housing and care options out there? And what about those luxury communities that simply can’t draw a large enough census of people who both want to leave their homes and can pay for it? These, among other... Read More »