


Record Sale Price
Brookdale Senior Living has agreed to sell its trophy community in New York City at a record price to Ventas, but will keep the management. Anyone who heard former Brookdale Senior Living CEO Mark Schulte address the ASHA annual meeting in the aftermath of 9/11 will never forget it. He talked about their newest project in lower Manhattan. There was nary a dry eye in the room. The community, called The Hallmark at Battery Park at the time, was still in fill-up, covered in inches of dust and debris, and had to be evacuated. The industry at other communities pulled together, took in as many Brookdale residents as possible, not knowing how long they would stay, not knowing how they would get... Read More »
Should Cap Rates Go Lower?
Two major REIT CEOs can see seniors cap rates moving below multifamily for the first time. The Big Two REITs have reported their second earnings, and while occupancy and labor costs certainly remain an issue for their operating partners, there was one funny comment that came out of the calls. Well, funny if you get your kicks from these sorts of things the way I do. Apparently, Welltower CEO Tom DeRosa and Ventas CEO Debbie Cafaro see eye to eye on at least one thing. As one analyst joked, they both apparently agree that seniors housing cap rates should be lower than multifamily, and I think they were even talking about assisted living. The reason? Because demand will do nothing but grow,... Read More »
Elmcroft Senior Living Portfolio Completes Transition
Ventas has officially transitioned management of its Elmcroft portfolio to newly-formed Eclipse Senior Living. It is now official. The operations of the Elmcroft Senior Living portfolio of 76 properties, with the real estate owned by Ventas, has officially been transferred to Kai Hsiao’s new company, Eclipse Senior Living. Ventas has acquitted a 34% interest in Eclipse, with the remaining 64% being held by Eclipse management, which now includes Shamim Wu, Kai’s former colleague at Holiday Retirement Corporation. She recently did a 10-month stint as president and COO of Silverado. This will be an interesting test, since the Elmcroft portfolio was obviously having some financial problems... Read More »