Editor’s Picks: Welltower Completes $1.15 Billion Buy

This week, while temperatures dropped in the Windy City, our readers were hot on the latest happenings across the senior housing industry. 

Readers wanted to know about a new entrant in the space with a multifamily background and how nonprofits are keeping up with the competition. Here in the newsroom, we were into the plans a well-known home builder has for a $1.2 billion senior living portfolio pipeline. 

This Week in Review

Welltower Completes Acquisition of Premier Senior Housing Portfolio—Welltower Inc. (NYSE: HCN) has completed its previously-announced acquisition of 19 senior living properties on the West Cost for the purchase price of $1.15 billion, the company announced. The purchase makes the Toledo, Ohio-based real estate investment trust (REIT) the largest owner of senior housing in Northern and Southern California.

Most Read

Developer With Multifamily Know-How Launches Senior Living Company—Another multifamily developer is taking the dive into the senior housing business and is developing a small but focused pipeline of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities with an established operator.

3 Strategies for Nonprofit Senior Living to Stay Competitive—The future’s bright for nonprofit senior living, or at least those providers that are executing on some key plays to remain competitive in a marketplace that’s changing quickly. Operator sophistication, size and scale were frequently discussed topics at the 2016 Ziegler Annual Senior Living Finance + Strategy Conference, which took place late last month on Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, according to Lisa McCracken, Ziegler’s senior vice president of senior living research and development. 

Homebuilder Enters Senior Living with $1.2 Billion Michigan Pipeline—As a well-known, family-owned custom home builder in Southeast Michigan, Moceri Companies have built a reputation for high-end projects. Describing themselves as a luxury dream builder, Moceri is taking its 60 years of homebuilding experience and applying it to the senior living market to start a planned senior living portfolio, Blossom Collection, anticipated to cost $1.2 billion.

Brookdale Brings Another Industry Outsider to the C-Suite—Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) has been tapping executives from various outside industries to take on leadership roles at the company. Its new hire for executive vice president and chief people officer is Cedric T. Coco, former senior vice president of human resources for Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW). 

Around the Web

The Future of Retirement Communities: Walkable and Urban—There’s a new walking trend among retirees, who are increasingly looking to ditch their cars when seeking a new place to live during the Golden Years. Instead of aging in place, more retirees are looking to age in the community, with access to urban benefits like restaurants, shops and bus routes within walking distance, The New York Times writes. 

Dutch Law Would Allow Assisted Suicide for Healthy Older People—A proposal in the Netherlands would legalize assisted suicide for older people who are generally healthy but feel they have led a full life, The New York Times reports. The controversial proposal goes far beyond assisted suicide laws that legalize euthanasia for terminal patients or patients who suffer unbearable pain without prospects of a cure. Critics say the proposal goes too far, while others maintain people have the right to end their lives with dignity, and when they so choose.

Amy’s Adds

It’s ’Times Square or Bust!’ for 50 Bradenton Seniors—Some 50 residents at a senior living community in Bradenton, Florida, have strapped on pedometers as they plan to log every step they take until December 31. Their goal is to “walk” all the way to Times Square by the time the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. The group hopes their combined steps will add up to the 1,163-mile journey to the Big Apple.

Written by Amy Baxter