News
SILVER TSUNAMI
April 28, 2011
| As we learned this morning at Bisnow's Senior Housing Summitat the Westin Buckhead, the Great Recession ain't got nothing on our seniors. And that's helped buffer that sector from being engulfed by the recession. (Cause we knew they weren't going to outrun it.) | |||
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| With Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae financing available for senior living projects, Arcapita's Laine Kenan says that the sector has been largely ?recession resistant? with assisted living rentals and memory care facility rentals being the ?sweet spot? for financing. | |||
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| Laine (third from left) was one of seven illustrious speakers in the senior housing industry, including (perched above) Health Care REIT's Steve Blazejewsk, Arnall Golden Gregory's Hedy Rubinger, Grandbridge Real Estate Capital SVP Richard Thomas, Isakson Living's Andy Isakson, Carlyle Senior Housing founder Scott Stewart, and (not shown, but he was a super moderator) Reznick capital markets director Michael Hartman. | |||
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| More than 250 of you enjoyed our first event gathering the area's top players in this burgeoning sector. | |||
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| Scott says that senior housing is ?the most compelling? CRE sector today to invest in, especially with the ?Silver Tsunami? finally hitting— the retirement of the Baby Boomer crowd, which is turning age 65 at the rate of one every three seconds. As investors, ?We all look for a scenario where demand outstrips supply. And I think we're in no better spot,? Scott says. | |||
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| While there are no physical barriers to entry in Atlanta, Georgia's certificate of need process is a ?huge barrier, especially in terms ofskilled nursing,? Hedy says. She even goes so far as to call the CON process ?tantamount to a moratorium? for new projects: ?The value of your product increases if there is a CON attached to it.? | |||
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| Steve says the big REITs in the industry—Health Care REIT, Ventas, and HCP—are hungry for senior living acquisitions, especially among assisted living facilities, but there needs to be acritical mass with the operator of at least 10 properties owned and operated for it to be a buy-out target. And he cautions that the Baby Boomer impact on senior housing could be 20 years away, given the average assisted living resident is 80 years old. |
