As the year winds down, senior housing acquisitions are still taking place at a fast clip.
Examples of this can be found all across the country but especially in the West where a string
of high-profile acquisitions have recently taken place.
In Abilene, Texas, the Covenant Group and Sagora Senior Living have joined forces to
purchase the retirement community University Place. The two companies will invest a
substantial amount of resources in the community as Sagora Senior Living will redesign the
community’s interior and start multiple community programs as well. This purchase adds 124
independent living units to the companies’ portfolios and helps extend their footprint in the fast
growing western region of the United States.
Also in Texas, Senior Living Investment Brokerage, Inc. recently announced that it has sold a
54,000 square-foot skilled nursing facility (SNF) to an undisclosed buyer in Oklahoma for $4.5
million. The SNF is located on 5 acres of land in Lufkin, Texas, has over 145 beds and is
called The Grace Care Center of Lufkin. The buyer has enlisted an operator from Fort Worth,
Texas to manage the facility and it will have a fair amount of work to do as occupancy has
hovered around 65% for the past few years. Despite the low occupancy figures, the buyer is
still excited about the facility as evidenced by its plans spend over $1 million on capital
improvement for the property. It believes that with a skilled manager and some quality
improvements, occupancy will increase markedly and increases in revenues and profits will
quickly follow.
Meanwhile, over in the Northwest, Summit Healthcare REIT, Inc. has purchased a 55 bed
skilled nursing facility in Myrtle Point, Oregon for roughly $4.2 million. Summit Healthcare will
lease the facility to Dakavia Management Corporation and Dakavia will operate it as well. This
arrangement should work well since Dakavia has more than two decades of experience in
senior housing and already operates five of Summit’s other properties.
Lastly, multiple records were just set in Utah with the recent sale of a senior housing
community in Layton. Specifically, after a thorough selection process, Evans Senior
Investments sold its Legacy Village of Layton community to an undisclosed buyer for $68
million. The $68 million purchase price is the highest ever for a senior housing community in
Utah and at $276,423 per unit, the per unit price also set a record in the state as well. With 108
independent living units, 24 memory care units, 74 assisted living units and 40 skilled nursing
and rehab units, Legacy Village is one of the larger communities in the area and its revenue
potential is significant because of this. In order to take advantage of the facility’s size and
maximize profits, the buyer has enlisted a regional operator to manage the property and it is
confident that it has skills and expertise that are necessary to run the community effectively
and efficiently.
These acquisitions reflect the strong demand for senior housing assets and this should
continue for some time because of the industry’s favorable demographics and today’s low
interest rate environment. Accordingly, providers and investors who are seeking capital to
purchase senior living properties should contact the Chicago-based financing firm Cambridge
Realty Capital to learn more about the different financing options that it offers for acquisitions,
sale/leasebacks, joint ventures and other purposes as well.
