• Regional Owner/Operator Enters New State

    A regional owner/operator looking to enter the state of Indiana acquired Smith Farms Manor, an independent living community in Auburn, about 30 miles south of the Michigan border. Built in 1998, the community features 51 units and is well maintained. It sits on an attractive four-acre campus down the street from Parkview DeKalb Hospital and off... Read More »
  • Skilled Nursing Portfolio Gets New Operator

    Evans Senior Investments secured a new lease for a skilled nursing portfolio in Tennessee on behalf of an institutional owner. The portfolio features four assets and was operating below 70% occupancy with margins under 10%. Despite that performance, ESI secured a lease $3 million above in-place cash flow, reflecting the operational upside that... Read More »
  • Seniors Housing and Care M&A Remains Elevated in Q1:26

    The number of publicly announced seniors housing and care acquisitions in the first quarter of 2026 reached 231 deals, based on new acquisition data from LevinPro LTC. This represents a 19.8% decrease from the 288 transactions disclosed in the fourth quarter of 2025, but a 25.5% increase from the 184 deals in Q1:25.   “It was always going... Read More »
  • Clarion Acquires Again in Colorado

    Two years after opening a 160-unit seniors housing community in Centennial, Colorado (Denver MSA), MorningStar Senior Living announced an expanding relationship with Clarion Partners, a leading real estate investment company and specialty investment manager of Franklin Templeton, in its acquisition of MorningStar at Holly Park. The community... Read More »
  • Brookdale’s Summer Test Ahead

    Brookdale Senior Living reported its March occupancy results, and it unfortunately took another step in the wrong direction. We will get a better read when peers report first-quarter results and when NIC MAP releases its next tranche of occupancy data, but at this point, it seems as though Brookdale will need a particularly strong performance... Read More »

Ventas SNF spin-off gets in the game

Just a couple of weeks after Care Capital Properties officially was spun out from Ventas and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the newly formed post-acute/skilled nursing facility REIT announced its first acquisition, and it was a big one. With eight skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living community and 1,174 beds in the Shreveport, Louisiana market, the portfolio featured an average occupancy of 88% and a 47% quality mix. Also included in the portfolio was a rehab therapy company, four hospice agencies and an interest in an affiliated pharmacy provider. CCP will triple-net lease the portfolio to pursuant to a 15-year master lease containing annual rent escalations... Read More »

CareTrust bucks the trend

Since its formation in June 2014 when it was spun out from The Ensign Group as a publicly traded REIT, CareTrust REIT has largely taken part in small one- to three-property acquisitions with prices as small as $6.6 million but never larger than $18 million. Then the REIT surprised us (and others we presume) by announcing a $175 million acquisition of 14 senior care properties, valued at $139,110 per bed/unit. The portfolio, owned and operated by Liberty Nursing Centers, includes 1,102 operating skilled nursing beds and 156 assisted living and independent living units throughout the state of Ohio. Stepping in to operate these facilities will be Indiana-based Pristine Senior Living, which... Read More »

The meaning of a move

So why does a successful CEO of a healthcare REIT leave to become the chief investment officer of a larger REIT? Since Justin Hutchens arrived at National Health Investors (NHI) in 2009, the REIT has posted positive returns in every year from 2010 on, including three years with total returns between 28.1% and 34.5%. And in 2010 it was the number one performing healthcare REIT. While we could joke that he yearned to return to the West Coast, the real reason had to be what his new employer, HCP, Inc., had to offer. He will be in charge of all the seniors housing and care portfolio, which is the majority of HCP and alone dwarfs the total NHI portfolio. Bottom line, it is a much bigger playing... Read More »