Movers & Shakers: Brookdale Loses CMO, Berkadia’s New Investment Sales Platform

Leader Tapped for Berkadia’s New Investment Sales Platform

Berkadia is launching an investment sales platform within its Seniors Housing and Healthcare Group, and has named Senior Director Jason Krug to lead. Krug is based out of the Detroit office of Berkadia, which is a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corporation, and offers a variety of real estate services, including integrated mortgage banking, investment sales, and servicing.

Krug has been in investment sales since 2007 and joined Berkadia in 2013, and he will be responsible for expanding the senior housing investment sales platform nationally. He holds a master of science in finance and an MBA, and is credited with nearly $1 billion closed sales.

“I think it’s undeniable we’re in a healthy market, [with] a lot of private and institutional capital looking for yield,” Krug told Senior Housing News. “For anything from small PE funds to pension funds to international equity, senior housing is an asset class that continues to be desirable as we have the aging population.”

Senior housing is much more than a niche market, and Berkadia has recognized the need to extend its investment sales capabilities into this arena in a more intentional way for some time, Krug added. It is now doing so with this launch.

As far as goals go, there is no hard target for the investment sales side right now, as the focus will be on coming alongside the debt team to extend on what they’ve done well, Krug said. It’s a note that was sounded by others at Berkadia as well.

“In the first half of 2016, this group surpassed its year-over-year normalized debt-related production figures by 73 percent,” said Keith Misner, Berkadia’s national head of investment sales, in a press release. “Now we’re adding Jason—who has set records for Michigan-related investment sales—to create a specialty group powerhouse that will offer advisory services along all phases of our clients’ assets’ lifecycle.”

Former Brookdale Chief Medical Officer Joins Ascension

Nonprofit provider Ascension Senior Living named Kevin O’Neil as chief medical officer. O’Neil currently serves as chief medical officer at Brookdale Senior Living, and will assume his new role Oct. 31.

In his new role, O’Neil will drive the clinical and quality strategy and goals of Ascension Senior Living, leading initiatives to improve clinical quality and outcomes, establish evidence-based practice standards and enhance resident and provider experiences by delivering a better health experience in a more affordable manner. He will be part of Ascension’s clinical integration committee, and serve as the geriatric medicine lead for Ascension Health, the health care delivery subsidiary of Ascension.

O’Neil has spent more than 30 years in the senior living and geriatric medicine fields, most recently serving as vice president and chief medical officer for Brookdale. He is also a clinical professor in the Department of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida.

“Dr. O’Neil is a recognized professional in the senior living and geriatric medicine fields, [and] I am extremely happy that he has agreed to join us and help to integrate our clinical resources and services and identify opportunities for coordinating care across the continuum while enhancing the aging experience of residents and program participants at our programs and communities,” Ascension President and CEO Jesse Jantzen said in a news release.

Plante Moran Living Forward Announces Promotions, New Hires

Plante Moran Living Forward, the senior living division of real estate consulting firm Plante Moran Cresa, announced the promotion of Dana Wollschlager to principal and new practice leader and Jamie Timoteo to vice president, in addition to the hires of two new executive staff, Eric Dumont and Katie Trice.

Wollschlager has spent more than 25 years in the senior living industry, working across several disciplines, including design and construction oversight, financing, regulatory compliance, onsite operations and asset management. Her promotion means she’ll take on the role of practice leader as Plante Moran Living Forward works to grow and further develop its strategic, financial, operational, real estate selection and development advisory services.

As vice president, Timoteo will play an important part in growing the firm’s practice in the Chicago area. He has spent the last year developing financial feasibility studies for more than $500 million in project financing and market feasibility studies on more than 100 markets across the United States.

“Dana and Jamie are trusted advisors to our senior living clients and bring a passion for improving the quality of care for our aging population,” said Bill Lichwalla, president of Michigan-based Plante Moran Cresa.

Meanwhile, Dumont and Trice have been added to Plante Moran Living Forward’s executive team as vice presidents. Dumont has managed capital projects in senior living, health care and a variety of other industries at Plante Moran Cresa, and will transition to support Plante Moran Living Forward as a lead relationship manager, developing client relationships throughout Michigan and the Midwest. Trice joins Plante Moran Living Forward’s Chicago office from Cambridge Realty Companies to help clients with market and financial feasibility plans for their capital projects, and comes to the role with 15 years of experience in the senior living industry.

“Since launching Plante Moran Living Forward in 2014, we’ve seen great success and growth,” Lichwalla said. “We look forward to continuing to develop our team and services to help senior living organizations prepare to serve one of the largest cohorts the industry has ever experienced.”

Blue Moon Capital Partners Appoints New Managing Director

Blue Moon Capital Partners LLC, a senior housing private equity investor, appointed Christopher S. Kronenberger as managing director for the firm.

Kronenberger will lead business development and investment origination in his new role, and will also be involved in all aspects of day-to-day investment activity. He is a member of Blue Moon’s investment committee, as well. He has eight years of senior living investment experience from PGIM Real Estate, formerly Prudential Real Estate Investors, where he oversaw all of the underwriting and due dilligence for new acquisitions and dispositions for their dedicated senior housing funds.

“Chris has a strong background in senior living, and importantly to Blue Moon, fully appreciates investing in the sector on behalf of institutional investors,” Blue Moon Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer Kathryn Sweeney said in a news release. “We look forward to growing our business with Chris as a key member of the team.”

Boston, Massachusetts-based Blue Moon focuses exclusively on the senior housing sector, and invests in development and recapitalization of new, purpose-bult, innovative senior housing communities in joint venture with developers and operators.

Ecumen Names New VP of Corporate Communications

Ecumen, a nonprofit senior housing and aging services provider based in Shoreview, Minnesota, named Aimee Viniard-Weideman as vice president of corporate communications.

In the role, Viniard-Weideman will be responsible for public relations, media relations, internal communications, brand strategy and reputation management. Sh was previously assistant dean and director of strategic communications and organizational development at the University of Minnesota Extension. She has more than 25 years of strategic communications experience in higher education and health care.

Ecumen operates in 39 cities and nine states, providing a variety of senior housing options and services, including independent living, assisted living, short-term rehabilitiation, home and community-based services and more.

Juniper Village Welcomes New Executive Director

Juniper Village at the Shenango Inn, an assisted living community located in Sharon, Pennsylvania, under the umbrella of Juniper Communities, welcomed Carole Moberly as its new executive director.

Carole has worked as an administrator of licensed nursing homes for 22 years. Most recently, she was a regional administrative consultant traveling throughout Pennsylvania for a management company working on corporate compliance, as well as opening, closing and moving nursing homes.

“I am so excited to return to work in my home community of Sharon—I find it so rewarding to give back my knowledge and expertise to my own community, my own neighbors and friends,” Moberly said in a news release. “Working so far with Juniper Village has been a wonderful experience.”

Juniper Village at the Shenango Inn is home to up to 140 residents. Juniper Communities operates long-term care communities in New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania and Colorado.

Written by Kourtney Liepelt