As part of a strategic plan for Five Star Senior Living to exit the skilled nursing business completely and, in senior living, focus on larger communities, Stellar Senior Living has entered into an agreement with real estate investment trust Diversified Healthcare Trust that will see it manage nine former Five Star skilled nursing facilities and one continuing care retirement community.
The agreement covers a collective 1,152 units in Colorado, Texas and Wyoming within DHC’s senior housing operating portfolio. Five of the communities were transitioned Aug. 1, with the rest of the communities transitioning Sept. 1.
Salt Lake City-based Stellar operates 26 communities throughout the western United States.“Our supreme goal is to do and be the best in all we undertake and to provide a Stellar life for our residents, their families and our employees,” Stellar Senior Living founder and CEO Evrett Benton stated in a press release.
Benton was a founding member of Five Star before leaving in 2011 to start Stellar with his son, Adam Benton, and his son-in-law, Ray Henderson.
Newton, MA-based Diversified has entered into new management agreements for approximately 80% of the Five Star properties earmarked for transition since Five Star announced in April a strategic plan to exit the skilled nursing business completely and transition the management of 108 senior living communities to other operators.
In August, the REIT announced that Cedarhurst Senior Living will manage seven assisted living communities and one memory care community, all in Illinois. Charter Senior Living, Oaks-CaraVita Senior Care and Phoenix Senior Living also are operating former Five Star communities. Charter is managing communities in Florida, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia; Oaks-CaraVita is managing communities in Georgia and South Carolina; and Phoenix is managing communities in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The REIT previously announced that it expects to transition the remainder of the Five Star properties by the end of the year.
