From The Magazine

By Matt Valley A convergence of forces led to a dramatic surge in deal volume for lenders in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 232 healthcare mortgage insurance program in fiscal year (FY) 2025. Rising occupancies and improving financial performance at skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, a drop in long-term interest rates and the successful rollout of HUD’s Express Lane initiative in mid-2025 all played a factor. The final tally shows lenders in the program closed $5.96 billion in loans for the 12-month period that ended …

By Jane Adler The latest senior living design trends are forward-looking, aimed at attracting the up-and-coming generation of older consumers. These future residents don’t identify with the stereotypes of “old age.” They’re active and focused on staying healthy.  They mostly prefer more modern designs and open interiors that flow into one another so people can connect. They expect spaces that are welcoming and authentic, not unlike those they enjoyed in their former homes.  In response, architects and interior designers are reimagining senior living spaces around the themes of hospitality, wellness …

By Hayden Spiess Charter Senior Living’s emblem features the helm of a ship. Keven J. Bennema, co-founder and CEO of the seniors housing owner and operator, is more accustomed to the steering wheel of an RV.  Since 2021, Bennema and his wife and co-founder Kim Bennema have embarked on an annual RV tour of Charter’s portfolio of communities located throughout the eastern United States, with a large concentration of properties in the Midwest, Kentucky and Tennessee. This year marked the fourth iteration of this voyage for the Naperville, Illinois-based company. …

By Beth Mattson-Teig The big selling point of continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) is the full spectrum of senior living options offered on a single campus. And in an era when healthcare costs are rising faster than the overall inflation rate, operators are offering more options to residents to pay for that continuum of care.  Fee structures are evolving along with the resort-style services and amenities offered at today’s senior living communities that range from fine dining and juice bars to travel clubs and golf simulators. Operators that are working to …

By Hayden Spiess When Stealers Wheel lamented being “stuck in the middle with you” in its 1972 song of the same name, the band was assuredly not intending to sing from the perspective of a senior searching for a place of residence. Nevertheless, the lyric could today very aptly be applied to the predicament that many potential seniors housing residents face.  According to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), the number of middle-income seniors in the United States is projected to almost double by 2029, totaling …

By Hayden Spiess Working in seniors housing is more than just a job, says Michael Pittore. Rather, “it’s something that is part of your DNA.” This is true of no one more so than Pittore and Forrest Westin. The two executives, who recently took over leadership of Agemark Senior Living as co-CEOs, are actually the sons of the company’s founders and original leaders.  In the mid-1980s, real estate developers Richard Westin and Jesse Pittore met in San Francisco. Then, in 1985, the pair partnered on their first seniors housing project …

By Beth Mattson-Teig Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have their foot firmly on the gas when it comes to acquiring seniors housing assets, and they’re taking full advantage of the opportunity to buy at below replacement cost.  The appetite to grow portfolios, particularly on the private pay side of independent living, assisted living and memory care, comes as no surprise given the combined tailwinds of growing consumer demand and a slowdown in new supply.  While the aging population has led to accelerating demand, the high cost of development has forced …