It has been more than three years since COVID-19 lockdowns wreaked havoc on skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care facilities. Among other consequences, falling admissions and occupancies required many operators to seek or extend short-term loans to survive until brighter days. The good news is that, to a certain extent, those days have arrived: Rebounding occupancies are inching closer to pre-pandemic levels, higher Medicaid reimbursements are flowing to net operating income, and labor costs are stabilizing, says Michael Gehl, chief investment officer for FHA lending for NewPoint Real Estate …
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BALTIMORE — M&T Realty Capital Corp., a Baltimore-based subsidiary of M&T Bank has closed a total of $434.7 million in loans during the first six months of 2023. The loans are for senior living properties, health and rehabilitation centers and retirement communities in the South, Southwest and Northwest. M&T financed 18 properties in eight states across the entire acuity spectrum from standalone independent living to skilled nursing. Loans and amounts include the following: The M&T seniors housing team includes Matt Pipitone, Nick Gent and Matt Henning. Details on the properties …
Owners and operators considering an exit strategy today face a challenging economic environment. Higher interest rates have slammed capital markets. Valuations are in flux. Transactions have slowed. And the pool of potential buyers has dwindled. As an alternative to an outright sale to a third-party, an often-overlooked option is an exit to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). These plans allow business owners to sell all or part of the company’s stock to employees, allowing owners to diversify wealth away from the business while limiting their future liability. Ultimately, …
Your Caregiver Team Includes the Building Itself
While seniors housing operators grapple with occupancy issues, labor challenges and margin squeeze, the building’s role within the industry is sometimes overlooked. But innovative building design and new technologies can help improve staff efficiency, optimize resident care and increase revenue. “The senior living industry is evolving,” says Gaurie Rodman, vice president of real estate strategy and development at Direct Supply, a provider of equipment and services to the senior living and healthcare industries. “Buildings are taking on a role beyond shelter.” New building designs are being created through an efficiency …
Seniors housing owners that stabilized their properties after the pandemic are now faced with a new challenge: a spike in interest rates and a disrupted lending environment. The challenge arrives at a time when many borrowers need capital for maturing loans to escape variable-rate debt or to finance growth. The good news is that loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) remain available and are giving eligible borrowers an attractive solution, say Lee Delaveris and John Randolph, seniors housing and healthcare specialists at KeyBank Real Estate Capital. Available in …
Five Tips on How to Leverage Data and Analytics
State-of-the-art software tools can improve operational efficiency, enhance resident outcomes and boost the bottom line. What can you utilize that has a positive impact on both residents and business results? Data and analytics. With real-time information on performance, senior care executives and clinicians can identify and overcome roadblocks to success. New improvements in the use of data and analytics are helping to guide decision-making. Data mining can boost staff efficiency and profitability. At the same time, data entry is becoming faster and easier. Software tools with the latest graphics make …
The Feb. 15 webinar “Meeting the Critical Need for Affordable Seniors Housing” focused on challenges and strategies for addressing resident needs while keeping costs down in the affordable seniors housing segment. This endeavor is no easy task in an environment where labor and staffing prices, construction costs and interest rates make calculations unwieldy. Three expert panelists discussed helpful programs, essential tax credits and successful case studies to light the way to affordable seniors housing. “We know that there’s a wave of 73 million baby boomers reaching an age where …
Steps to Help Small Seniors Housing Owners Prepare for a Sale
The seniors housing market has had its fair share of well-documented struggles, including plunging occupancies during COVID-19 and continuing labor challenges. Like the rest of the commercial real estate market, the sector is now confronting higher interest rates and recession. Despite those headwinds, investor demand for seniors housing assets remains strong, says Dawn Davis, an advisor specializing in seniors housing and skilled nursing with NAI Greywolf in Milwaukee. But sellers are only now grudgingly coming to terms with the fact that, because capital has become more expensive, the price buyers …
The health of seniors housing occupancy continues to recover, albeit slowly, amid challenges that refuse to relent. Rather than a one-two punch, the sector has absorbed a one-two-three combination: Occupancy-reducing COVID landed the first blow, labor shortages and inflating operational expenses delivered the second, and rising interest rates scored with the third, declares Charlie Shoop, a senior vice president with KeyBank’s healthcare group. A slumping economy may add a kick to the teeth for good measure. “There is a lot of noise in seniors housing financials right now, and few …
It could be argued that the last 30 months have presented the seniors housing and skilled nursing industries with their most adverse operating environment ever. Heading into 2023, at least some difficulties appear to be abating. Seniors housing occupancy rates continue to improve, reaching 81.4 percent in June this year, which was an improvement of 90 basis points over the March figure, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC). That was also 340 basis points higher than the time series low of 78 percent recorded …