Portfolio Turnaround
The two-community Maine portfolio consists of a 54-unit stand-alone memory care in a blue-collar town in southern Maine and a 56-unit assisted living community in a more affluent town in southern coastal Maine. Both presented unique challenges, as they required a great deal of deferred capital improvements, and both were acquired during the pandemic which prevented move-ins from occurring.
Occupancies were low; 59% and 51% respectively and NAS was charged with implementing creative leasing strategies at a time when needed physical plant improvements were delayed due to both assets being cash-negative. NAS improved sales hygiene with stronger sales talent, tightened lead tracking practices, and reporting. In one of the buildings, NAS made the strategic move to add independent living pricing as an alternative to the assisted living rates which allowed us to go to market with a new and well-received product.
For both assets, NAS engaged in thoughtful outreach and redesigned all collateral, including the website and signage. We added a spend-down option at the memory care community to better compete against the newer communities in their comp set. Both, under NAS oversight, have
completed their capital improvements, which included adding a pub in the assisted living community to attract more low-acuity residents who were previously turned off by the dated appearance of the community.
Census grew from 59% to 100% for the memory care community, and from 51% to 100% for the assisted living community. Both are ahead of schedule and remain full to this day.