These communities were purchased in a sizeable portfolio transaction pre-COVID, under a value-add thesis contemplating operator transitions to create regional groupings coupled with the intent to meaningfully invest in renovations and repositioning

Unfortunately, the cumulative impact of COVID followed by an unprecedented rise in interest rates created meaningful headwinds to the original thesis and drove a portfolio re-prioritization, rationalization, and de-levering effort

Opened between 1994 and 2000, the Chicagoland portfolio consisted of three geographically clustered communities, with two distinct managers, offering approximately 290 assisted living and memory care units and approximately 40 Medicare-only skilled nursing units in affluent Chicago suburbs. The communities struggled post COVID and presented a meaningful value-add opportunity, despite some recent capital improvements. Ultimately, the seller elected to divest the communities to preserve liquidity and simplify the portfolio

Given the mix of attractive scale but a very specialized unit mix, Blueprint ran a dual track process targeting both Chicago-based owner-operators with expertise and local scale in both seniors housing and skilled nursing operations, as well as regional senior housing operators looking to establish or grow a Chicagoland footprint with a more sizeable acquisition. After receiving multiple bids contemplating both steady state operations and a closure of the skilled nursing units, the Seller elected to move forward with a bid from a locally based owner-operator looking to finally expand their Midwest portfolio into Illinois while maintaining the skilled nursing operations

Blueprint worked hand-in-hand with the seller, buyer, and the outgoing operators to close the transaction through a series of operational and regulatory complexities