This week, Senior Housing News readers took a microscope to Ventas’ third-quarter financial results and explored the benefits and pitfalls of rebranding. Readers also learned how immigrant workers could help fill the gaps in the senior living work force.
Mainstreet’s New Foray
An announcement from Mainstreet caught our attention early Friday. The Indiana-based company that has forged a strong brand around post-acute, transitional care properties is getting into the student housing business.
“We’ve built up a development engine, and now you’ll see us put other assets into that engine,” Mainstreet CFO Adlai Chester told SHN.
Medical office buildings are another asset class that Mainstreet is eyeing, Chester said.
But he was quick to dampen any ideas that the transitional care model is becoming any less of a focus for the company. Development of these diverse types of real estate will have “no effect at all” on the ambitious pipeline that Mainstreet has for its bread-and-butter transitional care properties, he said.
The company’s “development engine” consists of the capability to do market studies, raise capital and otherwise source and execute projects. But Mainstreet’s hired three new team members to spearhead the student housing projects, and plans for new hires to lead the effort on any other new asset types they decide to develop.
Student housing has some similarities to senior care, such as outdated infrastructure and demand for a more updated hospitality model, Chester said. But the company doesn’t see particular synergies or overlap between its post-acute and student housing businesses.
And compared with its $5 billion, five-year post-acute pipeline, the scale of the student housing development is like a single raindrop in a vast ocean. It’s starting with a single project: a multi-phase development at Warner University in Lake Wales, Florida. It will consist of 25 units, 100 beds and 35,000 square feet, representing a $5.5 million total community investment. It is scheduled to open in August 2016.
“It’s a very small initiative,” Chester said. “One project this year, next year, two or three.”
Most Read
Oversupply, Turnover Take a Bite Out of Ventas—Ventas’ third-quarter financial results were not poor across the board, but revenue badly missed expectations as supply concerns, along with challenges in occupancy related to a high turnover rate, had some drag on performance for the company.
Behind the Rebrand: Improving Senior Living Occupancy and Image—Senior housing providers across the country have found rebranding can fill long-standing vacancies and make their communities relevant again. SHN talked to providers and marketing firms about renaming, toxic words, color schemes and more.
Senior Living’s Labor Crisis: Providers, Lawmakers Seek Solutions Overseas—Between wage pressures and work environments that can take an emotional and physical toll, senior living providers are scrambling to recruit and retain staff. There’s a clear consensus within the industry that soon there won’t be enough caregivers for the United States’ aging population—and immigrant workers could be a key part of the solution.
Written by Mary Kate Nelson
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