Eclipse Takes Over Operations of 9-Property, Ventas-Owned Portfolio

One of the largest senior living operators in the United States has gained further scale by taking over the management of a nine-property assisted living and memory care portfolio.

Lake Oswego, Oregon-based Eclipse Senior Living assumed management of the communities effective Dec. 1. All the properties are located in North Carolina and will be under the Elmcroft by Eclipse Senior Living brand.

The portfolio was formerly operated by Raleigh, North Carolina-based Carillon Assisted Living, Eclipse CEO Kai Hsiao confirmed to Senior Housing News.

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Chicago-based real estate investment trust Ventas (NYSE: VTR) owns the properties. Ventas also holds an ownership stake in Eclipse. Spokespeople for the REIT declined to comment for this article.

Shortly after it was founded in 2017, Eclipse took over Ventas’ portfolio of nearly 80 communities formerly operated by Elmcroft Senior Living. Since that time, Eclipse has expanded its portfolio to nearly 120 communities, making it one of the 15 largest providers in the nation.

As the company has gained scale, it has pursued a multi-brand strategy. In addition to its Elmcroft brand, Eclipse has created the Embark brand for middle-market independent living and the high-end Evoke brand.

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The most recent additions to the Elmcroft umbrella bring Eclipse’s presence in North Carolina to 12 communities.

“It did increase our density in North Carolina and added efficiencies for our regional teams there, and it’s a growing market,” Hsiao told SHN. “I think for any communities that come to us, we provide some efficiencies because of our scale, and our hope is to grow the performance of the communities.”

The properties are located in smaller metropolitan areas throughout the state, in the towns of Asheboro, Cramerton, Harrisburg, Hendersonville, Hillsborough, Newton, Salisbury, Shelby and Southport.

Ventas encountered unexpected challenges in its large senior housing operating portfolio in Q3 2019. Pricing pressures linked to an influx of new supply in recent years hit the REIT’s operators hard, particularly in secondary and tertiary markets, executives said.

Eclipse in particular was cited as an operator experiencing these headwinds, given the location of its properties. However, the operator’s numbers also reflected the fact that many of its communities were transitioned to Eclipse within the last year, and the company has been in the process of implementing a new pricing model.

Carillon will be focused on development moving forward, President and CEO Karen Moriarty told SHN.

“Our REIT partners, most of whom have been with us for the better part of a decade, have afforded us a unique opportunity to exit the operation of those portfolios and drive a brand new generation of development at the company, both in the traditional assisted living space and beyond,” she said in an emailed statement. “The team is fully energized and engaged in the design of our new senior living offerings, which will start with the opening of our next community this spring.”

That community under development is located in North Durham, about seven miles from Duke University.

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