Senior Living Blog By Dave Stolte
A Short History of Senior Living Facilities in California by Dave Stolte
by Dave Stolte, Vice President, Senior Housing
I discovered the senior living niche in commercial real estate after 18 years as a “Butterfly Broker” (doing whatever it took to put three kids through 20 years of college and 3 weddings). I had a personal experience with the senior care industry when my own mother, who was in what was considered an “upscale” facility in well-to-do Clayton, Missouri, was in a less than desirable situation. When I visited her at the facility, I was struck by the odor permeating the entire place and I returned to California, thinking there MUST be a better way to treat seniors in their declining years. My mother later passed away at the age of 86 and I spent the next several years at the Andrus School of Gerontology at USC researching the aging population on the then-growing Internet. The coming crush of seniors and shortage of space to care for them convinced me to spend the rest of my days working with Developers and Operators to provide decent care for seniors. More >
Part 4: The Future of CCRCs: An Interview with Dave Ferguson, President, American Baptist Homes of the West by Dave Stolte
May 11th
by Dave Stolte, Vice President, Senior Housing
This is Part 4 in my series about the Future of CCRCs…
Interview with Dave Ferguson – President, American Baptist Homes of the West
NAI Capital: Is the “Buy-in” Life Estate model of the CCRC a dinosaur on the road to being replaced by a rental model across the U.S.?
FERGUSON: As a noted humorist once said, “Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated”. As long as conservative elders view future health and shelter care as a form of life insurance, we’ll continue to have a “Life Estate” model. The developers and operators of rental models see them as an alternative to traditional “Buy-In” CCRCs. This is good, as it induces older people to study both models. There’s an interesting situation developing in our business – occupancies have fallen slightly in the last two years (from 92-93% to the 88% range), but sales are up. This, in part is due to a natural attrition of occupants, and I believe it has little to do with the downturn in single family values across the country. More >
Part 3: The Future for Continuing Care Retirement Centers with John Erickson of Erickson Retirement Communities by Dave Stolte
Apr 28th
Part 3: The Future for CCRCs…
by Dave Stolte, Vice President, Senior Housing
Continuing our previous discussion about CCRCs, below is an interview with John Erickson of Erickson Retirement Communities conducted a few weeks ago. More >
Part 2: The Future for Continuing Care Retirement Centers, interview with Bob Wootton of The Covington by Dave Stolte
Apr 20th
by Dave Stolte, Vice President, Senior Housing
In our last blog, we spoke with Todd Kaestner of Brookdale, who believes the “buy-in” for CCRCs for retirees will continue to thrive and prosper, especially for conservative estate planning. We interviewed a number of other operators of CCRCs, both rental models and “Life Estate” buy-in versions, to get a variety of views:
Interview with Bob Wootton- Director Sales/Marketing – The Covington (Episcopal Home Communities): More >
Part 1: What is the Future for Continuing Care Retirement Centers, an interview with Todd Kaestner of the Brookdale Senior Living Center by Dave Stolte
Apr 14th
By David Stolte, Vice President, Senior Living @NAI Capital
I’ve recently heard rumors that the “old” buy-in model for Continuing Care Retirement Centers (CCRCs) is fading, since today’s elders believe they can manage their estates better than an Independent/Assisted/Skilled Health Care Living provider. More >
“A is for Alzheimer’s”, an Interview with Loren Shook of the Silverado Senior Living Center by Dave Stolte
Feb 17th
By David Stolte, Vice President, Senior Living @NAI Capital
The other day I had the pleasure of interviewing Loren Shook, a neighbor and the President / CEO of SILVERADO SENIOR LIVING (notice their name states “Living” and not “Housing” – denoting a lifestyle, and not just shelter).
Alzheimer’s is a rapidly-growing disease among Americans, but it’s just one of many dementia forms in existence. Loren’s company is the 36th-largest Assisted Living Provider in the United States today, with 1,578 beds. Mr. Shook provided much insight on caring for senior citizens and the importance of raising the standard of care for seniors and others. More >
The Impact of CA Assembly Bill 215 on California’s Skilled Nursing Facilities by Dave Stolte
Jan 12th
By Dave Stolte
California Assembly Bill 215 passed, effective January 1, 2011.
The Bill provides for a “new” assigned grade for every Skilled Nursing Facility in California, with the provision that the grade must be posted in a prominent place at the facility, (such as the front door). You say: “So what, who cares”? Well, it goes a lot deeper than that.
While designed to be helpful, this Act can bring more instability to a profession that’s overburdened with government oversight. Can you imagine walking up to a facility you’re checking out for Mom or Pop, and seeing a two star rating on the front door? (Ratings are from 5 stars to 1 star). In case no one noticed, there are already a plethora of ranking systems in play on the internet for existing Skilled Nursing Facilities (see www.carepathways.com or www.health.usnews.com/senior-housing/nursing-homes.com) etc. More >