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NIC Panel Discusses the Way Forward for Operators Feeling Financially Squeezed

by Jeff Shaw

SAN DIEGO — The one-two punch of the COVID-19 pandemic followed by a period of high inflation and soaring interest rates has had a negative impact on the performance of seniors housing, but the effects vary by subsector. The need to boost revenues is the primary issue in private-pay senior living, while a labor shortage remains the biggest drag on skilled nursing, say industry experts. Due to uncertainty over how these issues will be resolved, cap rates are rising to reflect the risk to investors. Operating margins for stable seniors …

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Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures Plans Symposium

by Jeff Shaw

ITHACA, N.Y. — To celebrate its first symposium since 2016, Cornell’s Institute for Healthy Futures is convening industry leaders and academics from across health, hospitality and design to collaborate on ways these combined disciplines can improve quality of life. Held on the Cornell campus in Ithaca from May 11 to 13, the event will include lectures and panels led by economists, senior living and hospitality entrepreneurs, and healthcare practitioners and designers. Beth Mace, chief economist at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC), and Rohit Verma, founding …

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Don’t Expect ‘Pivot’ by The Fed on Interest Rates Until Late This Year, Says NIC’s Mace

by Jeff Shaw

SAN DIEGO — After eight consecutive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve since March 2022, borrowers and lenders are wondering when the central bank will reverse its tight monetary policy stance. Don’t hold your breath. “There had been an anticipation that the Fed would pivot, so to speak, by June. I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Beth Mace, chief economist and director of capital markets outreach for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). “When I say pivot, I mean when the Fed is …

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FeaturesNewsOperationsTechnology

Operators Say Storytelling is the Key to Selling

by Jeff Shaw

LOS ANGELES — Participants in the “Best-in-Class Operators” panel at France Media’s InterFace Seniors Housing West conference, held Feb. 2 at the Omni Los Angeles, had one task, albeit a large one: provide the blueprint for operational success in a challenging market. Though there were various strategies thrown out to combat the whack-a-mole challenges currently plaguing operators, panelists noted that the goal of seniors housing remains the same in any market: to increase occupancy and rents, which is done by providing a product people not only need, but also want. …

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DevelopmentFeaturesNews

Seniors Housing Developers Stay Active, Creative

by Jeff Shaw

LOS ANGELES — The advice offered by the Development Outlook panel at InterFace Conference Group’s Seniors Housing West, held Feb. 2 at the Omni Los Angeles, mirrors the advice many would give to their senior residents. Namely, “stay active and stay creative.” But these verbs take on a slightly different meaning when you’re talking about the smartest plays for seniors housing developers in a time when everything is changing. “The smarter operators and developers have been developing a pipeline,” said panelist Paul Mullin, principal at Flatiron Development Group. “The key is momentum. …

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Rising Costs Keep Operators Up at Night

by Jeff Shaw

LOS ANGELES — Seniors housing has been an ever-changing industry since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. “I look back a few years ago and we were seeing curveballs coming at us I never thought we would be pitched,” said David Eskenazy, CEO, Cogir Management USA. “Now the smoke is clearing a little bit and we can look inside the organizations and see how we can run our businesses in this new environment. I think we’re going to get used to what this new environment is going to look like.” …

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InterFace Panel: Land Prices, Borrowing Costs Push Owners to Renovate Rather Than Build New

by Jeff Shaw

PHILADELPHIA — New construction of seniors housing communities has been noticeably slow in recent years, at first due to the COVID-19 pandemic stopping projects in their tracks, and then by high interest rates and land costs. Fewer than 11,000 units were added within the NIC MAP 31 Primary Markets last year, the weakest inventory growth since 2014, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). Construction starts were relatively weak at 3,013 units in the fourth quarter, continuing the slower pace seen in the third quarter. …

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JLL Survey: Investor Interest in Seniors Housing Increases as Pandemic Concerns Ease

by Jeff Shaw

CHICAGO — Despite pricing uncertainties limiting capital markets activity, interest in seniors housing remains strong as investors seek higher yields from alternative asset classes, according to JLL’s Valuation Advisory group’s sixth annual Seniors Housing Investor Survey and Outlook. Of the investors surveyed by the Chicago-based valuation group, 44 percent indicated they would increase their exposure to seniors housing in 2023, and 44 percent said they would make no change to their current investments. Only 12 percent of investors surveyed responded that they would decrease their exposure in 2023. Investors are …

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CEO Panel: Tough Economic Times Call for Return to Basics

by Jeff Shaw

PHILADELPHIA — As the dust settles from the COVID-19 pandemic, and complications such as inflation and higher interest rates continue to hurt the economy, now is the time for seniors housing owners and operators to focus on their fundamentals. “We have to get back to business. That’s really our focus in 2023,” said Wendy Nowokunski, president of owner-operator Northbridge Cos. “Not that we ever lost sight of it, nor will we lose sight of the fact that our associates are our most important investment, but we really need to make …

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KARE CEO: ‘Culture’ Doesn’t Mean What Operators Think

by Jeff Shaw

PHILADELPHIA — It is common to hear operators proudly profess that it’s their culture that allows them to be top employers in the seniors housing industry, helping to face the massive labor shortage within the sector. However, “culture” can be a nebulous word, and employee surveys show that what employees say makes for a good culture is far different from what the employers believe, according to Charles Turner, CEO of shift-filling software platform KARE. Turner, a former president of two operators in previous positions, didn’t pull punches regarding the overuse …

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