Item 1. Business.
The use of the words “we,” “us” or “our” refers to Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III, Inc., or GAHR III, and its subsidiaries, including Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Holdings, LP, for periods prior to the Merger, as defined below, and American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (formerly known as Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, Inc., or GAHR IV) and its subsidiaries, including American Healthcare REIT Holdings, LP (formerly known as Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Holdings, LP), for periods following the Merger, except where otherwise noted. Certain historical information of GAHR IV is included for background purposes.
Company
American Healthcare REIT, Inc., a Maryland corporation, is a leading internally-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns a diversified portfolio of clinical healthcare real estate properties, focusing primarily on medical office buildings, or MOBs, senior housing, skilled nursing facilities, or SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities. We have built a fully-integrated management platform, with approximately 113 employees, that operates clinical healthcare properties throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Isle of Man. We also operate healthcare-related facilities utilizing the structure permitted by the REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act of 2007, which is commonly referred to as a “RIDEA” structure (the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, authorizing the RIDEA structure were enacted as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008). Our healthcare facilities operated under a RIDEA structure include our senior housing operating properties, or SHOP, and our integrated senior health campuses. We have originated and acquired secured loans and may also originate and acquire other real estate-related investments on an infrequent and opportunistic basis. We generally seek investments that produce current income; however, we have selectively developed, and may continue to selectively develop, healthcare real estate properties. We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We believe that we have been organized and operated, and we intend to continue to operate, in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code.
Merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III, Inc. and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, Inc.
On October 1, 2021, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated June 23, 2021, or the Merger Agreement, GAHR III merged with and into Continental Merger Sub, LLC, a Maryland limited liability company and newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of GAHR IV, or Merger Sub, with Merger Sub being the surviving company, or the REIT Merger. On October 1, 2021, also pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV Holdings, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and subsidiary and operating partnership of GAHR IV, or GAHR IV Operating Partnership, merged with and into Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Holdings, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, or our operating partnership, with our operating partnership being the surviving entity, or the Partnership Merger. We collectively refer to the REIT Merger and the Partnership Merger as the Merger. Following the Merger on October 1, 2021, our company, or the Combined Company, was renamed American Healthcare REIT, Inc. and our operating partnership, also referred to as the surviving partnership, was renamed American Healthcare REIT Holdings, LP. The REIT Merger was intended to qualify as a reorganization under, and within the meaning of, Section 368(a) of the Code. As a result of and at the effective time of the Merger, the separate corporate existence of GAHR III and GAHR IV Operating Partnership ceased.
At the effective time of the REIT Merger and prior to the reverse stock split, each issued and outstanding share of GAHR III’s common stock, $0.01 par value per share, converted into the right to receive 0.9266 shares of GAHR IV’s Class I common stock, $0.01 par value per share. Further, at the effective time of the Partnership Merger and prior to the reverse stock split, (i) each unit of limited partnership interest in the surviving partnership outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Partnership Merger was converted automatically into the right to receive 0.9266 of a Partnership Class I Unit, as defined in the agreement of limited partnership, as amended, of the surviving partnership and (ii) each unit of limited partnership interest in GAHR IV Operating Partnership immediately prior to the effective time of the Partnership Merger was converted automatically into the right to receive one unit of limited partnership interest of the surviving partnership of like class.
AHI Acquisition
Also on October 1, 2021, immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger, GAHR III acquired a newly formed entity, American Healthcare Opps Holdings, LLC, or NewCo, which we refer to as the AHI Acquisition, pursuant to a contribution and exchange agreement dated June 23, 2021, or the Contribution Agreement, between GAHR III; our operating partnership; American Healthcare Investors, LLC, or AHI; Griffin Capital Company, LLC, or Griffin Capital; Platform Healthcare Investor T-II, LLC; Flaherty Trust; and Jeffrey T. Hanson, the non-executive Chairman of our board of directors, or our board, Danny Prosky, our Chief Executive Officer and President, and Mathieu B. Streiff, one of our directors, or collectively, the AHI Principals. NewCo owned substantially all of the business and operations of AHI, as well as all of the
equity interests in (i) Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV Advisor, LLC, or GAHR IV Advisor, a subsidiary of AHI that served as the external advisor of GAHR IV, and (ii) Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Advisor, LLC, or GAHR III Advisor, also referred to as our former advisor, a subsidiary of AHI that served as the external advisor of GAHR III.
Pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, AHI contributed substantially all of its business and operations to the surviving partnership, including its interest in GAHR III Advisor and GAHR IV Advisor, and Griffin Capital contributed its then-current ownership interest in GAHR III Advisor and GAHR IV Advisor to the surviving partnership. In exchange for these contributions, the surviving partnership issued limited partnership units, or OP units. Subject to working capital and other customary adjustments, the total approximate value of these OP units at the time of consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Contribution Agreement, and prior to the reverse stock split, was approximately $131,674,000, with a reference value for purposes thereof of $8.71 per OP unit, such that the surviving partnership issued 15,117,529 OP units as consideration, or the Closing Date Consideration. Following the consummation of the Merger and the AHI Acquisition, the Combined Company became self-managed. See “Operating Partnership and Former Advisor” below for a further discussion. Such OP units were owned by AHI Group Holdings, LLC, or AHI Group Holdings, which is owned and controlled by the AHI Principals, Platform Healthcare Investor TII, LLC, Flaherty Trust and a wholly owned subsidiary of Griffin Capital, or collectively, the NewCo Sellers.
The AHI Acquisition was treated as a business combination for accounting purposes, with GAHR III as both the legal and accounting acquiror of NewCo. While GAHR IV was the legal acquiror of GAHR III in the REIT Merger, GAHR III was determined to be the accounting acquiror in the REIT Merger in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, Topic 805, Business Combinations, after considering the relative share ownership and the composition of the governing body of the Combined Company. Thus, the financial information set forth herein subsequent to the consummation of the Merger and the AHI Acquisition reflects results of the Combined Company, and the financial information set forth herein prior to the Merger and the AHI Acquisition reflects GAHR III’s results. For this reason, period to period comparisons may not be meaningful.
See Note 4, Business Combinations — 2021 Business Combinations, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion of the Merger and the AHI Acquisition.
Operating Partnership and Former Advisor
We conduct substantially all of our operations through our operating partnership and we are the sole general partner of our operating partnership. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we owned an approximately 95.0% and 94.9% general partnership interest therein, respectively, and the remaining 5.0% and 5.1%, respectively, was owned by the NewCo Sellers.
Through September 30, 2021, we were externally advised by our former advisor pursuant to an advisory agreement, as amended, or the Advisory Agreement, between us and our former advisor. Our former advisor, subject to the oversight and review of our board, provided asset management, property management, acquisition, disposition and other advisory services on our behalf consistent with our investment policies and objectives. Following the Merger and the AHI Acquisition, we became self-managed and are no longer externally advised. As a result, any fees that would have otherwise been payable to our former advisor are no longer being paid to a third party. Upon consummation of the AHI Acquisition, we redeemed all 51 limited partnership units that our former advisor held in our operating partnership, as well as all 52 limited partnership units held by GAHR IV Advisor in GAHR IV Operating Partnership. Also, on October 1, 2021 and in connection with the AHI Acquisition, our operating partnership redeemed all 5,148 shares of our common stock owned by our former advisor and all 5,208 shares of our Class T common stock owned by GAHR IV Advisor in GAHR IV.
Prior to the Merger and the AHI Acquisition, our former advisor was 75.0% owned and managed by wholly owned subsidiaries of AHI, and 25.0% owned by a wholly owned subsidiary of Griffin Capital, or collectively, our former co-sponsors. Prior to the AHI Acquisition, AHI was 47.1% owned by AHI Group Holdings, 45.1% indirectly owned by DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG), or DigitalBridge, and 7.8% owned by James F. Flaherty III. We were not affiliated with Griffin Capital, DigitalBridge or Mr. Flaherty; however, we were affiliated with our former advisor, AHI and AHI Group Holdings.
See the “Merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III, Inc. and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, Inc.” and “AHI Acquisition” sections above for a further discussion. See Note 13, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests, and Note 14, Equity – Noncontrolling Interests in Total Equity, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion of the ownership in our operating partnership.
Public Offerings
GAHR IV raised $754,118,000 through a best efforts initial public offering, or the initial offering, and issued 18,909,920 aggregate shares of its Class T common stock and Class I common stock. In addition, during the initial offering, GAHR IV
issued 813,384 aggregate shares of its Class T common stock and Class I common stock pursuant to GAHR IV’s distribution reinvestment plan, as amended, or the DRIP, for a total of $31,021,000 in reinvested distributions. Following the deregistration of the initial offering, GAHR IV continued issuing shares of its common stock up to $100,000,000 pursuant to the DRIP through a subsequent offering, or the 2019 GAHR IV DRIP Offering, pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-3 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. GAHR IV commenced offering shares pursuant to the 2019 GAHR IV DRIP Offering on March 1, 2019, following the termination of the initial offering on February 15, 2019. On March 18, 2021, the GAHR IV board of directors authorized the suspension of the DRIP, effective as of April 1, 2021.
On October 4, 2021, our board authorized the reinstatement of the DRIP, as amended, or the AHR DRIP, to offer up to $100,000,000 of shares of our common stock pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-3 under the Securities Act previously filed by GAHR IV, or the AHR DRIP Offering. On November 14, 2022, our board suspended the AHR DRIP Offering beginning with distributions declared, if any, for the quarter ending December 31, 2022. As a result of the suspension of the AHR DRIP Offering, unless and until our board reinstates the AHR DRIP Offering, stockholders who are current participants in the AHR DRIP were and will be paid distributions in cash. As of December 31, 2022, a total of $91,448,000 in distributions were reinvested that resulted in 2,431,695 shares of common stock being issued pursuant to the AHR DRIP.
On September 16, 2022, we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, a Registration Statement on Form S-11 (File No. 333-267464) with respect to a proposed public offering by us of our shares of common stock in conjunction with a contemplated listing of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE. Such registration statement and contemplated listing are not yet effective.
On November 10, 2022, our board approved charter amendments to effect, on November 15, 2022, a one-for-four reverse stock split of our common stock and a corresponding reverse split of the OP units, or the Reverse Splits. All numbers of common shares and per share data, as well as the OP units, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been retroactively adjusted for all periods presented to give effect to the Reverse Splits. See Note 14, Equity, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion of our public offerings.
On March 15, 2023, our board, at the recommendation of the audit committee of our board, which is comprised solely of independent directors, unanimously approved and established an updated estimated per share net asset value, or NAV, of our common stock of $31.40. We provide this updated estimated per share NAV annually to assist broker-dealers in connection with their obligations under Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, Rule 2231 with respect to customer account statements. The updated estimated per share NAV is based on the estimated value of our assets less the estimated value of our liabilities, divided by the number of shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis, calculated as of December 31, 2022. The valuation was performed in accordance with the methodology provided in Practice Guideline 2013-01, Valuations of Publicly Registered Non-Listed REITs, issued by the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives, or the IPA, in April 2013, in addition to guidance from the SEC. See our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 17, 2023 for more information on the methodologies and assumptions used to determine, and the limitations and risks of, our updated estimated per share NAV.
COVID-19
Our residents, tenants, operating partners and managers, our industry and the U.S. economy continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. While the COVID 19 pandemic is subsiding, the timing and extent of the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is dependent upon many factors, including the emergence and severity of COVID-19 variants, the effectiveness and frequency of booster vaccinations and the duration and implications of restrictions and safety measures. As the lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting the healthcare system to a certain extent, it continues to present challenges for us as an owner and operator of healthcare facilities, making it difficult to ascertain the long-term impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on real estate markets in which we own and/or operate properties and our portfolio of investments.
We have evaluated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business thus far and incorporated information concerning such impacts into our assessments of liquidity, impairment and collectability from tenants and residents as of December 31, 2022. We will continue to monitor such impacts and will adjust our estimates and assumptions based on the best available information. For a further discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our business, see Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Key Developments
•On January 19, 2022, we, through our operating partnership, entered into a credit agreement for a credit facility with an aggregate maximum principal amount up to $1,050,000,000. See Note 9, Lines of Credit and Term Loans, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion.
•On September 16, 2022, we filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-11 (File No. 333-267464), with respect to a proposed public offering of our shares of common stock in conjunction with a contemplated listing of our common stock on the NYSE, or the Proposed Listing. Such registration statement and contemplated listing are not yet effective. The potential public offering is subject to market conditions and other factors, and there can be no assurance as to whether, or when, any such offering may be completed, or as to the size, public offering price or other terms of such offering.
•On November 10, 2022, our board approved charter amendments to effect a one-for-four reverse stock split of our common stock and a corresponding reverse split of the OP units on November 15, 2022.
•In connection with the Proposed Listing, on November 14, 2022, our board suspended the AHR DRIP Offering beginning with the distributions declared, if any, for the quarter ending December 31, 2022. As a result of the suspension of the AHR DRIP Offering, unless and until our board reinstates the AHR DRIP Offering, stockholders who are current participants in the AHR DRIP will be paid future distributions in cash. On November 14, 2022, our board also suspended our share repurchase plan beginning with share repurchase requests for the quarter ending December 31, 2022. All share repurchase requests, including requests resulting from the death or qualifying disability of stockholders, commencing with the quarter ended December 31, 2022, will not be processed, will be considered canceled in full and will not be considered outstanding repurchase requests. See Note 14, Equity — Common Stock, and Note 14, Equity— Share Repurchase Plan, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion.
•On December 20, 2022, we, through our majority-owned subsidiary, Trilogy Investors, LLC, or Trilogy, entered into an amendment to the 2019 Trilogy Credit Agreement to increase the aggregate maximum principal amount from $360,000,000 to $400,000,000. See Note 9, Lines of Credit and Term Loans, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion.
•We appointed three new independent directors, Scott A. Estes in August 2022 and Marvin R. O'Quinn and Valerie Richardson in January 2023, as part of our board's commitment to diversity when considering director candidates with a mix of experience, knowledge, age, gender and backgrounds.
•In 2022, we launched our Environmental, Social and Governance, or ESG, program and began conducting a materiality assessment to assist us in prioritizing our efforts and maximizing the efficacy of our ESG program.
•To further assist us in establishing a work environment that promotes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DE&I, for our employees, in 2022, we developed a DE&I action plan and provided DE&I education for all employees and executive leadership.
•During 2022, we expanded our integrated senior health campuses and SHOP segments by $253,908,000 primarily through the acquisition of buildings and campuses and completed development projects. See Note 3, Real Estate Investments, Net, and Note 4, Business Combinations, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion.
•We improved our corporate governance structure and procedures in 2022 by amending our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and our Whistleblower Policy and adopting Corporate Governance Guidelines, an Insider Trading Policy, a Regulation FD and Disclosure Policy and a Related Party Transactions Policy.
•We entered into an interest rate swap transaction, or the Swap, with Fifth Third Financial Risk Solutions, a division of Fifth Third Bank, with an effective date of February 1, 2023. We entered into the Swap to mitigate the potential interest rate risk associated with $275,000,000 of our floating rate term loan under our existing credit facility, effectively fixing the interest rate associated with that portion of our term loan and limiting our exposure to interest rate movements. See Note 22, Subsequent Events — Interest Rate Swap, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion.
•In response to interest rates that have increased significantly since the beginning of 2022, from a Federal Funds Rate of 0.08% as of January 2022 to 4.57% as of February 2023, and greater uncertainty surrounding further interest rate movements, our board elected to reduce our quarterly distribution to $0.25 per share in order to preserve our liquidity, better align distributions with available cash flows and position our company for its long-term strategic goals. On March 15, 2023, our board authorized a reduced quarterly distribution from $0.40 per share to $0.25 per share to our Class T common stockholders and Class I common stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 4, 2023. The distribution for the quarter commencing January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023, which will be paid on or about April 18, 2023, represents an annualized distribution rate of $1.00 per share. See our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 17, 2023 for more information.
•On March 15, 2023, our board, at the recommendation of the audit committee of our board, comprised solely of independent directors, unanimously approved and established an updated estimated per share NAV of our common stock of $31.40 as of December 31, 2022. For further discussion, see Part II, Item 5, Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities, and Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
•As of March 17, 2023, we owned and/or operated 314 buildings and integrated senior health campuses, or approximately 19,957,000 square feet of gross leasable area, or GLA, for an aggregate contract purchase price of $4,626,119,000. In addition, as of March 17, 2023, we also owned a real estate-related debt investment purchased for $60,429,000.
Our principal executive offices are located at 18191 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 300, Irvine, California 92612, and our telephone number is (949) 270-9200. We maintain a web site at www.americanhealthcarereit.com, at which there is additional information about us. The contents of that site are not incorporated by reference in, or otherwise a part of, this filing. We make our periodic and current reports and all amendments to those reports available at www.americanhealthcarereit.com as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with the SEC. They also are available for printing by any stockholder upon request. In addition, copies of our filings with the SEC may be obtained from the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov. Access to these filings is free of charge.
Business Objectives and Growth Strategies
Our business objectives are to grow our cash flows, maintain financial flexibility, increase the value of our portfolio, make regular cash distributions to our stockholders, and generate risk-adjusted returns through the following growth strategies:
•capture embedded growth from COVID-19 recovery through leasing and expense controls at our senior housing facilities, integrated senior health campuses and SNFs;
•external growth through disciplined and targeted acquisitions to expand our diversified portfolio;
•continue to develop integrated senior health campuses through experienced development partner (i.e., Trilogy); and
•provide sustained stability through consistent MOB performance with opportunity for revenue growth driven by occupancy gains and improving mark-to-market lease spreads.
Investment Strategy
We have acquired, and may continue to acquire, properties either directly or jointly with third parties. We have disposed, and may continue to dispose, non-core properties from time to time to improve the quality of our portfolio. We also have originated and acquired, and may continue to originate or acquire, secured loans and other real estate-related investments on an infrequent and opportunistic basis.
We generally seek investments that produce current income; however, we have selectively developed, are currently developing (through Trilogy), and may continue to selectively develop, real estate properties. Our portfolio may include properties in various stages of development other than those producing current income. These stages include unimproved land both with and without entitlements and permits, property to be redeveloped and repositioned, newly constructed properties and properties in lease-up or other stabilization stages, all of which have limited or no relevant operating histories and current income. We make such investment determinations based upon a variety of factors, including the anticipated risk-adjusted returns for such properties when compared with other available properties, the appropriate diversification of the portfolio and our objectives of realizing both current income and capital appreciation.
We seek to grow our cash flows, maintain financial flexibility, increase the value of our portfolio, make regular cash distributions, and generate risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders through the business objectives and growth strategies discussed above. In order to achieve these objectives, we may invest using a number of investment structures, which may include direct acquisitions, joint ventures, leveraged investments, issuing securities for property and direct and indirect
investments in real estate. In order to maintain our exemption from regulation as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, we may be required to limit our investments in certain types of real estate-related investments. See “Investment Company Act Considerations” below for a further discussion.
For each of our investments, regardless of property type, we seek to invest in properties with the following attributes:
•Strong Local Health Systems and Operating Partners. We seek to invest in properties associated with strong health systems and operators, that provide exceptional care, have dominant market share and/or are critical to the healthcare delivery system in the communities that they serve.
•Quality. We seek to acquire properties that are suitable for their intended use with a quality of construction that is capable of sustaining the property’s investment potential for the long-term, assuming funding of budgeted maintenance, repairs and capital improvements.
•Location. We seek to acquire properties that are located in established or otherwise appropriate markets, with access and visibility suitable to meet the needs of its occupants. In addition to United States properties, we may also seek to acquire international properties that meet our investment criteria.
•Market; Supply and Demand. We focus on local or regional markets that have potential for stable and growing property level cash flows over the long-term. These determinations are based in part on an evaluation of local and regional economic, demographic and regulatory factors affecting the property. For instance, we favor markets that indicate a growing population and employment base and markets that exhibit potential limitations on additions to supply, such as barriers to new construction. Barriers to new construction include lack of available land, stringent zoning restrictions and states where certificates of need are required. Conversely, we generally seek to limit our investments in areas that have limited potential for growth.
•Predictable Capital Needs. We seek to acquire properties where the future expected capital needs can be reasonably projected in a manner that would enable us to meet our objectives.
•Cash Flows. We seek to acquire properties where the current and projected cash flows, including the potential for appreciation in value, would enable us to maximize long-term stockholder value. We evaluate cash flows as well as expected growth and the potential for appreciation.
We are not limited as to the geographic areas where we may acquire properties. We are not specifically limited in the number or size of properties we may acquire or on the percentage of our assets that we may invest in a single property or investment. The number and mix of properties and real estate-related investments we will acquire will depend upon real estate and market conditions and other circumstances existing at the time we are acquiring our properties and making our investments and the amount of debt financing available.
Real Estate Investments
We generally seek investments that produce current income. We expect our real estate investments to include:
•MOBs;
•integrated senior health campuses;
•senior housing facilities;
•SNFs; and
•healthcare-related facilities operated utilizing a RIDEA structure.
Our real estate investments may also include:
•hospitals;
•long-term acute care facilities;
•surgery centers;
•memory care facilities;
•specialty medical and diagnostic service facilities;
•laboratories and research facilities;
•pharmaceutical and medical supply manufacturing facilities; and
•offices leased to tenants in healthcare-related industries, including life sciences.
We generally seek to acquire real estate of the types described above that will best enable us to meet our investment objectives, taking into account, among other things, the diversification of our portfolio at the time, relevant real estate and financial factors, the location, the income-producing capacity and the prospects for long-range appreciation of a particular property. As a result, we may acquire properties other than the types described above. In addition, we may acquire properties that vary from the parameters described above for a particular property type.
Our real estate investments generally take the form of holding fee title or long-term leasehold interests. Our investments may be made either directly through our operating partnership or indirectly through investments in joint ventures, limited liability companies, general partnerships or other co-ownership arrangements with the developers of the properties or other persons. See “Joint Ventures” below for a further discussion.
We have exercised, and may continue to exercise, our purchase options to acquire properties that we currently lease. In addition, we have participated in sale-leaseback transactions, in which we purchase real estate investments and lease them back to the sellers of such properties. We seek to structure any such sale-leaseback transaction such that the lease will be characterized as a “true lease” and so that we will be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Our obligation to close a transaction involving the purchase of real estate is generally conditioned upon the delivery and verification of certain documents, including, where appropriate: (i) plans and specifications; (ii) environmental reports (generally a minimum of a Phase I investigation); (iii) building condition reports; (iv) surveys; (v) evidence of marketable title subject to such liens and encumbrances; (vi) audited financial statements covering recent operations of real properties having operating histories unless such statements are not required to be filed with the SEC and delivered to stockholders; (vii) title insurance policies; and (viii) the availability of property and liability insurance policies.
In determining whether to purchase a particular real estate investment, we may obtain an option on such property, including land suitable for development. The amount paid for an option is normally surrendered if the real estate is not purchased, and is normally credited against the purchase price if the real estate is purchased. We also may enter into arrangements with the seller or developer of a real estate investment whereby the seller or developer agrees that if, during a stated period, the real estate investment does not generate specified cash flows, the seller or developer will pay us cash in an amount necessary to reach the specified cash flows level, subject in some cases to negotiated dollar limitations.
We have obtained, and we intend to continue to obtain, adequate insurance coverage for all real estate investments in which we invest.
We have acquired, and we intend to continue to acquire, leased properties with long-term leases and we generally do not intend to operate any healthcare-related facilities directly. As a REIT, we are prohibited from operating healthcare-related facilities directly; however, we have leased, and may continue to lease, healthcare-related facilities that we acquire to wholly owned taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRS, utilizing a RIDEA structure permitted by the Code. In such an event, our TRS will engage a third party in the business of operating healthcare-related facilities to manage the property. Through our TRS, we bear all operational risks and liabilities associated with the operation of such healthcare-related facilities unlike our triple-net leased properties. Such operational risks and liabilities might include, but are not limited to, resident quality of care claims and governmental reimbursement matters.
Development and Construction Activities
On an opportunistic basis, we have selectively developed, are currently developing (through Trilogy), and may continue to selectively develop, real estate assets within our integrated senior health campuses segment and other segments of our portfolio when market conditions warrant, which may be funded through capital that we, and in certain circumstances, our joint venture partners, provide. In doing so, we may be able to reduce overall purchase costs by developing property versus purchasing an existing property. We retain and will continue to retain independent contractors to perform the actual construction work on tenant improvements, as well as property development.
Terms of Leases
The terms and conditions of any lease we enter into with our tenants may vary substantially. However, we expect that a majority of our tenant leases will require the tenant to pay or reimburse us for some or all of the operating expenses of the building based on the tenant’s proportionate share of rentable space within the building. Operating expenses typically include, but are not limited to, real estate and other taxes, utilities, insurance and building repairs, and other building operation and
management costs. For our multi-tenanted properties, we generally expect to be responsible for the replacement of certain capital improvements affecting a property, including structural components of a property such as the roof of a building, and other capital improvements such as parking facilities. We expect that many of our tenant leases will have terms of five or more years, some of which may have renewal options.
Substantially all of our leases with residents at our SHOP and integrated senior health campuses are for a term of one year or less, which creates the opportunity for operators to adjust rents to reflect current market conditions.
Joint Ventures
We have entered into, and we may continue to enter into, joint ventures, general partnerships, and other arrangements with one or more institutions or individuals, including real estate developers, operators, owners, investors and others, for the purpose of acquiring real estate. Our investment in Trilogy is an example of a joint venture into which we have entered. Such joint ventures may be leveraged with debt financing or unleveraged. We have entered into, and may continue to enter into, joint ventures to further diversify our investments or to access investments which meet our investment criteria that would otherwise be unavailable to us. In determining whether to invest in a particular joint venture, we will evaluate the real estate that such joint venture owns or is being formed to own under the same criteria described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the selection of our other properties. However, we will not participate in tenant in common syndications or transactions.
Joint ventures with unaffiliated third parties may be structured such that the investment made by us and the other joint venture party are on substantially different terms and conditions. This type of investment structure may result in the other joint venture party receiving more of the cash flows, including appreciation, of an investment than we would receive, or may result in certain conflict of interest. See Item 1A, Risk Factors — Risks Related to Joint Ventures, for a further discussion.
Real Estate-Related Investments
In addition to our acquisition of properties, we have invested on an infrequent and opportunistic basis and may continue to invest, in real estate-related investments, including loans and securities investments.
Investment in Real Estate Mortgages
We have invested, and we may continue to invest, in first and second mortgage loans, mezzanine loans and bridge loans. However, we will not make or invest in any loans that are subordinate to any mortgage or equity interest of any of our directors, or any of our affiliates. We also may invest in participations in mortgage loans. Second mortgage loans are secured by second deeds of trust on real property that is already subject to prior mortgage indebtedness. A mezzanine loan is a loan made in respect of certain real property but is secured by a lien on the ownership interests of the entity that, directly or indirectly, owns the real property. A bridge loan is short term financing, for an individual or business, until permanent or the next stage of financing can be obtained. Mortgage participation investments are investments in partial interests of mortgages of the type described above that are made and administered by third-party mortgage lenders. We may also make seller financing loans in connection with the disposition of our properties. In evaluating prospective loan investments, we consider factors, including, but not limited to: (i) the ratio of the investment amount to the underlying property’s value; (ii) current and projected cash flows of the property; (iii) the degree of liquidity of the investment; (iv) the quality, experience and creditworthiness of the borrower; and (v) in the case of mezzanine loans, the ability to acquire the underlying real property.
Our criteria for making or investing in loans are substantially the same as those involved in our investment in properties. We do not intend to make loans to other persons, to underwrite securities of other issuers or to engage in the purchase and sale of any types of investments other than those relating to real estate. We generally will not make or invest in mortgage loans on any one property if the aggregate amount of all mortgage loans outstanding on the property, including our loan, would exceed an amount equal to 85.0% of the appraised value of the property, as determined by an appraiser, unless we find substantial justification due to other underwriting criteria; however, our policy generally will be that the aggregate amount of all mortgage loans outstanding on the property, including our loan, would not exceed 75.0% of the appraised value of the property. We may find such justification in connection with the purchase of loans in cases in which we believe there is a high probability of our foreclosure upon the property in order to acquire the underlying assets and in which the cost of the loan investment does not exceed the fair market value of the underlying property. We will not invest in or make loans unless an appraisal has been obtained concerning the underlying property, except for those loans insured or guaranteed by a government or government agency or in connection with seller financing loans. In the event the transaction is with any of our directors or their respective affiliates, the appraisal will be obtained from a certified independent appraiser to support its determination of fair market value. In addition, we will seek to obtain a customary lender’s title insurance policy or commitment as to the priority of the mortgage or condition of the title. Because the factors considered, including the specific weight we place on each factor, will vary for each prospective loan investment, we do not, and are not able to, assign a specific weight or level of importance to any particular factor.
We will evaluate all potential loan investments to determine if the security for the loan and the loan-to-value ratio meets our investment criteria and objectives. Most loans that we will consider for investment would provide for monthly payments of interest and some may also provide for principal amortization, although many loans of the nature that we will consider provide for payments of interest only and a payment of principal in full at the end of the loan term. We will not originate loans with negative amortization provisions.
We are not limited as to the amount of our assets that may be invested in mezzanine loans, bridge loans and second mortgage loans. However, we recognize that these types of loans are riskier than first deeds of trust or first priority mortgages on income-producing, fee-simple properties, and we expect to minimize the amount of these types of loans in our portfolio. We will evaluate the fact that these types of loans are riskier in determining the rate of interest on the loans. We do not have any policy that limits the amount that we may invest in any single loan or the amount we may invest in loans to any one borrower. We have not established a portfolio turnover policy with respect to loans we invest in or originate.
Investment in Other Securities
We have invested, and may continue to invest, in debt securities such as commercial mortgage-backed securities issued by other unaffiliated real estate companies. We may also invest in equity securities of public or private real estate companies. Commercial mortgage-backed securities are securities that evidence interests in, or are secured by, a single commercial mortgage loan or a pool of commercial mortgage loans. Commercial mortgage-backed securities generally are pass-through certificates that represent beneficial ownership interests in common law trusts whose assets consist of defined portfolios of one or more commercial mortgage loans. They typically are issued in multiple tranches whereby the more senior classes are entitled to priority distributions from the trust’s income. Losses and other shortfalls from expected amounts to be received in the mortgage pool are borne by the most subordinate classes, which receive payments only after the more senior classes have received all principal and/or interest to which they are entitled. Commercial mortgage-backed securities are subject to all of the risks of the underlying mortgage loans. We may invest in investment grade and non-investment grade commercial mortgage-backed securities.
The specific number and mix of securities in which we invest will depend upon real estate market conditions, other circumstances existing at the time we are investing in securities and the amount of any future indebtedness that we may incur. We will not invest in securities of other issuers for the purpose of exercising control and the first or second mortgages in which we intend to invest will likely not be insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs or otherwise guaranteed or insured. Real estate-related equity securities are generally unsecured and also may be subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. Our investments in real estate-related equity securities will involve special risks relating to the particular issuer of the equity securities, including the financial condition and business outlook of the issuer.
Financing Policies
We have used, and intend to continue to use, secured and unsecured debt as a means of providing additional funds for the acquisition of properties and real estate-related investments. Our ability to enhance our investment returns and to increase our diversification by acquiring assets using additional funds provided through borrowing could be adversely impacted if banks and other lending institutions reduce the amount of funds available for the types of loans we seek. When interest rates are high or financing is otherwise unavailable on a timely basis, we may purchase certain assets for cash with the intention of obtaining debt financing at a later time. We have also used, and may continue to use, derivative financial instruments such as fixed interest rate swaps and caps to add stability to interest expense and to manage our exposure to interest rate movements.
We anticipate that our overall leverage will not exceed 50.0% of the combined fair market value of all of our properties and other real estate-related investments, as determined at the end of each calendar year. For these purposes, the market value of each asset will be equal to the contract purchase price paid for the asset or, if the asset was appraised subsequent to the date of purchase, then the market value will be equal to the value reported in the most recent independent appraisal of the asset. Our policies do not limit the amount we may borrow with respect to any individual investment. As of December 31, 2022, our aggregate borrowings were 48.5% of the combined market value of all of our real estate and real estate-related investments.
We seek to obtain financing on the most favorable terms available to us and refinance assets during the term of a loan only in limited circumstances, such as when a decline in interest rates makes it beneficial to prepay an existing loan, when an existing loan matures or if an attractive investment becomes available and the proceeds from the refinancing can be used to purchase such investment. The benefits of the refinancing may include increased cash flows resulting from reduced debt service requirements, an increase in distributions from proceeds of the refinancing, and an increase in diversification and assets owned if all or a portion of the refinancing proceeds are reinvested.
If we incur mortgage indebtedness, we will endeavor to obtain level payment financing, meaning that the amount of debt service payable would be substantially the same each year, although some mortgages are likely to provide for one large payment and we may incur floating or adjustable rate financing when our board determines it to be in our best interest.
Dispositions
We have disposed, and may continue to dispose, of assets. We will determine whether a particular property or real estate-related investment should be sold or otherwise disposed of after consideration of the relevant factors, including prevailing economic conditions, with a view toward maximizing our investment objectives. We intend to hold each property or real estate-related investment we acquire for an extended period. However, circumstances might arise which could result in a shortened holding period for certain investments. A property or real estate-related investment may be sold before the end of the expected holding period if: (i) diversification benefits exist associated with disposing of the investment and rebalancing our investment portfolio; (ii) an opportunity arises to pursue a more attractive investment; (iii) the value of the investment might decline; (iv) with respect to properties, a major tenant involuntarily liquidates or is in default under its lease; (v) the investment was acquired as part of a portfolio acquisition and does not meet our general acquisition criteria; (vi) an opportunity exists to enhance overall investment returns by raising capital through sale of the investment; (vii) the sale of the investment is in the best interest of our stockholders; or (viii) in connection with the strategic goals of one of our joint ventures.
The determination of whether a particular property or real estate-related investment should be sold or otherwise disposed of will be made after consideration of the relevant factors, including prevailing economic conditions, with a view toward maximizing our investment objectives.
Tax Status and Distribution Policy
We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2016. We believe that we have been organized and operated, and we intend to continue to operate, in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code. Our qualification as a REIT, and maintenance of such qualification, will depend on our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, various complex requirements under the Code relating to, among other things, the sources of our gross income, the composition and values of our assets, our distribution levels and the concentration of ownership of our stock.
As a REIT, we generally are not subject to U.S. federal income tax on the REIT taxable income that we currently distribute to our stockholders. Under the Code, REITs are subject to numerous organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that they distribute annually at least 90.0% of their REIT taxable income to their stockholders. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any calendar year and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, our REIT taxable income would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the regular corporate rate, and we would likely be precluded from qualifying for treatment as a REIT until the fifth calendar year following the year in which we fail to qualify. Accordingly, our failure to qualify as a REIT could have a material adverse effect on us. Even if we qualify as a REIT, we may still be subject to certain U.S. federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets and to U.S. federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed REIT taxable income. In addition, subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, a portion of our business has been, and is likely to continue to be, conducted through, and a portion of our income may be earned in, one or more TRSs that are themselves subject to regular corporate income taxation.
We cannot predict if we will generate sufficient cash flows to continue to pay cash distributions to our stockholders on an ongoing basis or at all. The amount of any cash distributions is determined by our board and depends on the amount of distributable funds, current and projected cash requirements, tax considerations, any limitations imposed by the terms of indebtedness we may incur as well as other factors. If our investments produce sufficient cash flows, we expect to continue paying distributions to our stockholders as determined at the discretion of our board of directors. Because our cash available for distribution in any year may be less than 90.0% of our annual taxable income, excluding net capital gains, for the year, we may be required to borrow money, use proceeds from the issuance of securities (in subsequent offerings, if any) or sell assets to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the distribution requirement. These methods of obtaining funds could affect future distributions by increasing operating costs. We did not establish any limit on the amount of net proceeds from the initial offering or borrowings that may be used to fund distributions, except that, in accordance with our organizational documents and Maryland law, we may not make distributions that would: (i) cause us to be unable to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business; or (ii) cause our total assets to be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus senior liquidation preferences.
To the extent that any distributions to our stockholders are paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, such distributions are taxable as ordinary income. To the extent that any of our distributions exceed our current and accumulated earnings and profits, such amounts constitute a return of capital to our stockholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes, to the extent of their basis in their stock and thereafter will constitute capital gain. Any portion of distributions to our stockholders paid from net offering proceeds or borrowings constitutes a return of capital to our stockholders.
Since September 2021, our board authorized distributions to our stockholders of record as of a designated record date each month and paid such distributions monthly in arrears. Beginning with distributions made after July 2022, our board elected
to pay distributions quarterly to reduce administrative costs. The amount of distributions we pay to our stockholders is determined by our board and is dependent on a number of factors, including funds available for the payment of distributions, our financial condition, capital expenditure requirements, annual distribution requirements needed to maintain our status as a REIT under the Code and restrictions imposed by our organizational documents and Maryland Law.
See Part II, Item 5, Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities — Distributions, for a further discussion of distributions approved by our board.
Competition
We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities for acquisitions and dispositions of MOBs, hospitals, SNFs, senior housing and other healthcare-related facilities. Our ability to successfully compete is impacted by economic trends, availability of acceptable investment opportunities, our ability to negotiate beneficial investment terms, availability and cost of capital, construction and development costs, and applicable laws and regulations.
Income from our investments is dependent on the ability of our tenants and operators to compete with other healthcare operators. These operators compete on a local and regional basis for patients and residents and the operators’ ability to successfully attract and retain patients and residents depends on key factors such as the number of properties in the local market, the quality of the affiliated health system, proximity to hospital campuses, the price and range of services available, the scope and quality of care, reputation, age and appearance of each property, demographic trends and the cost of care in each locality. Additionally, referral sources, including physicians and managed care organizations, may change their lists of hospitals or physicians to which they refer patients or that are permitted to participate in a payor program. As a result, we may have to provide rent concessions, incur charges for tenant improvements, or offer other inducements, or we may be unable to timely lease vacant space in our properties, all of which may have an adverse impact on our results of operations. Private, federal and state payment programs and the effect of other laws and regulations may also have a significant impact on the ability of our tenants and operators to compete successfully for patients and residents at the properties. For additional information on the risks associated with our business, please see Item 1A, Risk Factors.
Government Regulations
Our properties are subject to various federal, state and local regulatory requirements, and changes in these laws and regulations, or their interpretation by agencies, occur frequently. Further, our tenants and our healthcare facility operators, including our TRS entities that own and operate our properties under a RIDEA structure, are typically subject to extensive and complex federal, state and local healthcare laws and regulations relating to quality of care, government reimbursement, fraud and abuse practices, and similar laws governing the operation of healthcare facilities, and we expect the healthcare industry, in general, will continue to face increased regulation and pressure in the areas of healthcare management, fraud and provision of services, among others. If we fail to comply with these various requirements, we may incur governmental fines or private damage awards. While we believe that our properties are and will be in substantial compliance with all of these regulatory requirements, we do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether future requirements will require us to make significant unanticipated capital expenditures that will adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. We believe, based in part on third-party due diligence reports which are generally obtained at the time we acquire the properties, that all of our properties comply in all material respects with current regulations or are currently being remediated pursuant to a government approved plan. However, if we were required to make significant expenditures under applicable regulations, we could be materially and adversely affected.
Privacy and Security Laws and Regulations
There are various federal and state privacy laws and regulations that provide for consumer protection of personal health information, particularly electronic security and privacy. Compliance with such laws and regulations may require us, among other things, to conduct additional risk analysis, modify our risk management plan, implement new policies and procedures and conduct additional training. We are generally dependent on our tenants and management companies to fulfill our compliance obligations, and we have in certain circumstances developed a program to periodically monitor compliance with such obligations. However, there can be no assurance we would not be required to alter one or more of our systems and data security procedures to be in compliance with these laws. If we fail to adequately protect health information, we could be subject to civil or criminal liability and adverse publicity, which could harm our business and impact our ability to attract new tenants and residents. We may be required to notify individuals, as well as government agencies and the media, if we experience a data breach.
Healthcare Licensure and Certification
Generally, certain properties in our portfolio are subject to licensure, may require a certificate of need, or CON, or other certification through regulatory agencies in order to operate and participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Requirements
pertaining to such licensure and certification relate to the quality of care provided by the operator, qualifications of the operator’s staff and continuing compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, CON laws and regulations may place restrictions on certain activities such as the addition of beds at our facilities and changes in ownership. Failure to obtain a license, CON or other certification, or revocation, suspension or restriction of such required license, CON or other certification, could adversely impact our properties’ operations and their ability to generate revenue from services provided. State CON laws are not uniform throughout the United States and are subject to change. We cannot predict the impact of state CON laws on our facilities or the operations of our tenants.
Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, or the ADA, all public accommodations must meet federal requirements for access and use by disabled persons. Additional federal, state and local laws also may require modifications to our properties or restrict our ability to renovate our properties. We cannot predict the cost of compliance with the ADA or other legislation. We may incur substantial costs to comply with the ADA or any other legislation.
Government Environmental Regulation and Private Litigation
Environmental laws and regulations hold us liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances which may be on our properties. These laws could impose liability without regard to whether we are responsible for the presence or release of the hazardous materials. Government investigations and remediation actions may have substantial costs and the presence of hazardous substances on a property could result in personal injury or similar claims by private plaintiffs. Various laws also impose liability on a person who arranges for the disposal or treatment of hazardous or toxic substances and such person often must incur the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous substances at the disposal or treatment facility. These laws often impose liability whether or not the person arranging for the disposal ever owned or operated the disposal facility. As the owner of our properties, we may be deemed to have arranged for the disposal or treatment of hazardous or toxic substances.
Geographic Concentration
For a discussion of our geographic information, see Item 2, Properties — Geographic Diversification/Concentration Table, as well as Note 19, Segment Reporting, and Note 20, Concentration of Credit Risk, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Corporate Responsibility — Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
We are committed to conducting our business in a manner that benefits all of our stakeholders and ensures a lasting and positive impact from our operations. As a result, we measure our success not only by our ability to generate profits but also our ability to reduce our impact on the environment, affect positive social change in our community and conduct our operations in accordance with the highest ethical standards. To achieve this, we are developing a comprehensive ESG strategy and related ESG policy.
Environmental
In 2022, we launched our ESG program and began conducting a materiality assessment to assist us in prioritizing our efforts and maximizing the efficacy of our program. We strive to consciously manage our operations in a way that minimizes our impact on the environment and promotes sustainability. At our headquarters, we leverage the latest technology to minimize our energy use, such as efficient and automated lighting systems, moderation, and monitoring of heating and air conditioning, and recycling paper, plastics, metals, and electronics. In addition, we encourage all of our employees to adopt sustainable best practices. For example, we promote the use of electronic communication over printing whenever possible and have implemented electronic approval systems. Our corporate office in California is located in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (known as LEED) certified buildings. Within our portfolio, we work with tenants and operators to implement energy efficiency wherever possible, including light-emitting diode (known as LED) retrofitting and water conservation efforts.
We follow a policy of monitoring our properties for the presence of hazardous or toxic substances. While there can be no assurance that a material environmental liability does not exist at our properties, we are not currently aware of any environmental liability with respect to our properties that would have a material adverse effect on us. Further, we are not aware of any material environmental liability or any unasserted claim or assessment with respect to an environmental liability that we believe would require additional disclosure or the recording of a loss contingency.
Social
Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately 113 employees.
We believe our employees are our greatest asset, and we pride ourselves on the diversity they bring to our company. Because of this, we have implemented a number of programs to foster not only their professional growth, but also their growth as global citizens. All of our employees are provided with a comprehensive benefits and wellness package, which may include high-quality medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k) matching, long-term incentive plans, educational grants, fitness programs, and other benefits. We provide our employees, consultants and executive officers with competitive compensation and, where applicable, opportunities for equity ownership through our Amended and Restated 2015 Incentive Plan, or the AHR Incentive Plan. See Note 14, Equity — AHR 2015 Incentive Plan, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a further discussion.
We also believe that one of the keys to our success is our ability to benefit from a wide range of opinions and experiences. We believe the best way to accomplish this is through promoting racial, gender, and generational diversity across all layers of our organization. As of December 31, 2022, 69.0% of our employees were minorities and 63.7% were females. Generationally, our organization was composed of 4.4% Generation Z, 48.7% Millennials, 39.8% Generation X and 7.1% Baby Boomers. In addition, we have implemented a DE&I action plan to create a workplace environment that is both meaningful and rewarding to all employees and where there are no barriers to success for our employees. Through DE&I, we create stronger teamwork and relationships that allows us to create a performance driven culture of success for one another and our stakeholders.
Health and Safety
We are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace. We continuously strive to meet or exceed compliance with all laws, regulations and accepted practices pertaining to workplace safety. All employees and contractors are required to comply with established safety policies, standards and procedures. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus has remained on promoting employee health and safety and ensuring business continuity. Beginning in March 2020, our employees were instructed to work from home. As certain offices have reopened due to the lifting of local government restrictions, we have maintained a voluntary work-from-home policy, providing our people with valued flexibility. We have also substantially reduced employee travel to only essential business needs in favor of ongoing video-based meetings.
For our healthcare-related facilities operated pursuant to a RIDEA structure, which include our SHOP and integrated senior health campuses, we rely on each management company to attract and retain skilled personnel to provide services at our healthcare-related facilities. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, such management companies have put into place a number of health and safety measures to enable their employees to continue to work in our healthcare-related facilities, including the procurement and distribution of personal protective equipment, and the implementation of daily employee and resident health screenings, vaccination clinics for employees and residents as well as aggressive safety protocols in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, and local health agency guidelines to limit the exposure and spread of COVID-19. While the health and safety measures instituted by each management company have allowed facilities to operate during the pandemic, these facilities may face challenges created by workforce shortages and absenteeism due to COVID-19.
Governance
We believe maintaining a rigorous corporate governance framework is essential to the success of our organization, and we seek to adhere to policies and procedures that ensure transparency, accountability, oversight, and risk minimization. This includes committees of our board, comprised solely of independent directors, which oversee a wide range of matters such as financial reporting, executive compensation, ESG policies and conflict of interest related matters.
We have structured our corporate governance in a manner we believe closely aligns our interests with those of our stockholders. Notable features of our corporate governance structure include the following:
•our board is not classified and each of our directors is subject to election annually;
•we have fully independent audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees;
•at least one of our directors qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” under applicable SEC regulations and all members of the Audit Committee are financially literate in accordance with the NYSE listing rules and requirements;
•our board has opted out of the business combination statute in the MGCL (provided that such business combination is first approved by our board) and, pursuant to our bylaws, we have opted out of the control share acquisition statute in the MGCL;
•we do not have a stockholder rights plan, and do not intend to adopt a stockholder rights plan in the future without (i) the approval of our stockholders or (ii) seeking ratification from our stockholders within 12 months of adoption of the plan if our board determines, in the exercise of the directors’ duties under applicable law, that it is in our best interests to adopt a rights plan without the delay of seeking prior stockholder approval; and
•our Corporate Governance Guidelines adopted by our board require our directors and officers to own certain minimum amounts of our common stock.
We also adhere to what we believe to be industry leading policies to ensure our management and employees are acting in a manner which protects the best interest of our stakeholders. This includes our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Whistleblower Policy, Insider Trading Policy, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Regulation FD and Disclosure Policy and Related Party Transactions Policy.
Investment Company Act Considerations
We conduct, and intend to continue to conduct, our operations, and the operations of our operating partnership and any other subsidiaries, so that no such entity meets the definition of an “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act. We primarily engage in the business of investing in real estate assets; however, our portfolio does include, to a much lesser extent, other real estate-related investments. We have also acquired, and may continue to acquire, real estate assets through investments in joint venture entities, including joint venture entities in which we may not own a controlling interest. We anticipate that our assets generally will be held in wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries of the company, each formed to hold a particular asset. We monitor our operations and our assets on an ongoing basis in order to ensure that neither we, nor any of our subsidiaries, meet the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act. Among other things, we monitor the proportion of our portfolio that is placed in investments in securities.
Information About Industry Segments
We segregate our operations into reporting segments in order to assess the performance of our business in the same way that management reviews our performance and makes operating decisions. As of December 31, 2022, we operated through six reportable business segments — integrated senior health campuses, MOBs, SNFs, SHOP, senior housing — leased and hospitals.
Integrated Senior Health Campuses
As of December 31, 2022, we owned and/or operated 120 integrated senior health campuses. These facilities allow residents to “age-in-place” by providing independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and certain ancillary services, all within a single campus setting. Integrated senior health campuses predominantly focus on needs-driven segments of senior care (i.e., assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing) and charge market rents in lieu of entry fees, as is commonly the case with continuing care retirement communities. Nearly all of our integrated senior health campuses are operated utilizing a RIDEA structure, allowing us to participate in the upside from any improved operational performance and bear the risk of any decline in operating performance. Integrated senior health campuses are a valuable component of our portfolio because of their ability to provide a continuum of care as residents require increasing levels of care.
MOBs
As of December 31, 2022, we owned 104 MOBs that we lease to third parties. These properties are similar to commercial office buildings, but typically require specialized infrastructure to accommodate a medical use (e.g., physicians’ offices and examination rooms, as well as some ancillary uses, including pharmacies, hospital ancillary service space and outpatient services, such as diagnostic centers, rehabilitation clinics and outpatient-surgery operating rooms). Our MOBs are typically multi-tenant properties leased to healthcare providers (hospitals and physician practices) under leases that generally provide for recovery of certain operating expenses and certain capital expenditures and have initial terms of five to 10 years with fixed annual rent escalations. We value the stable and reliable cash flows our MOBs provide our company, which we believe are particularly valuable during market disruptions and recessionary periods.
SNFs
As of December 31, 2022, we owned 17 SNFs that we lease to third parties. SNF residents are generally higher acuity and need assistance with eating, bathing, dressing and/or medication management and also require available 24-hour nursing
care. SNFs offer restorative, rehabilitative and custodial nursing care for people who cannot live independently but do not require the more extensive and sophisticated treatment available at hospitals. Skilled nursing services provided by our tenants in SNFs are paid for either by private sources or through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Our SNFs are leased to a single tenant under a triple-net lease, typically with 12 to 15 year initial terms, fixed annual rent escalations and require minimum lease coverage ratios. We commonly structure SNFs under a master lease with multiple facilities in order to diversify our master tenant’s sources of rent and mitigate risk. We typically focus on SNF investments in states that require a CON in order to develop new SNFs, which we believe reduces the risk of over-supply.
SHOP
As of December 31, 2022, we owned and operated 51 senior housing facilities in our SHOP segment. Senior housing facilities cater to different segments of the elderly population based upon their personal needs and include independent living, assisted living and memory care facilities. Residents of assisted living facilities typically require limited medical care but need assistance with eating, bathing, dressing and/or medication management. Services provided by operators at these facilities are primarily paid for by the residents directly or through private insurance and are therefore less reliant on government reimbursement programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare. The facilities in our SHOP segment are operated utilizing RIDEA structures, allowing us to participate in the upside from any improved operational performance but requiring us to bear the risk of any decline in operating performance. Our SHOP segment has the potential for embedded growth through the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and demand growth from an aging U.S. population.
Senior Housing — Leased
As of December 31, 2022, we owned 20 senior housing facilities that we lease to third parties within our senior housing — leased segment. The facilities are leased to a single tenant under a triple-net lease structure with approximately 12 to 15 year initial terms and fixed annual rent escalations and require minimum lease coverage ratios. We commonly structure senior housing — leased assets under a single master lease covering multiple facilities in order to diversify our master tenant’s sources of rent and mitigate risk.
Hospitals
As of December 31, 2022, we have one wholly-owned hospital and one hospital in which we own an approximately 90.6% interest. Services provided by operators and tenants in our hospitals are paid for by private sources, third-party payors (e.g., insurance and health maintenance organizations) or through the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Our hospital properties include acute care, long-term acute care, specialty and rehabilitation services and are leased to single tenants or operators under triple-net lease structures.
For a further discussion of our segment reporting for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, see Item 2, Properties, Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Note 19, Segment Reporting, to the Consolidated Financial Statements that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves risks. Our stockholders should carefully consider the risk factors below, together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included herein. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects and our ability to service our debt and make distributions to our stockholders at a particular rate, or at all, could be materially and adversely affected (which we refer to collectively as “materially and adversely affecting us” or having “a material adverse effect on us” and comparable phrases).
Risk Factor Summary
Below is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our common stock speculative or risky. This summary should be read in conjunction with the full risk factors contained below.
Investment Risks
•There is no public market for the shares of our common stock. Therefore, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares of our common stock and, if our stockholders are able to sell their shares of our common stock, they will likely sell them at a substantial discount.
•We have paid, and may continue to pay, a portion of distributions from the net proceeds of the initial offering and borrowings or from other sources. Any such distributions may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in assets and may negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment.
•The estimated per share NAV of our common stock may not be an accurate reflection of fair value of our assets and liabilities and likely will not represent the amount of net proceeds that would result if we were liquidated, dissolved or completed a merger or other sale of our company.
•We may not effect a liquidity event within any targeted time frame, or at all. If we do not effect a liquidity event, our stockholders may have to hold their investment in shares of our common stock indefinitely.
•We may not complete the contemplated underwritten offering of our common stock or be successful in listing our common stock on the NYSE. Similarly, there can be no assurance that any public offering price per share of common stock in any offering or subsequent trading price per share of our common stock on the NYSE, if we are successful in listing our common stock thereon, will exceed our current NAV per share.
Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Results
•The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted, and could continue to adversely impact, our business and financial results.
•We have experienced net losses in the past and we may experience additional losses in the future.
•Our prior performance may not be an accurate predictor of our ability to achieve our business objectives or of our future results.
•Our success is dependent on the performance and continued contributions of certain of our key personnel and, in the event they are no longer employed by us, we could be materially and adversely affected.
•All of our integrated senior health campuses are managed by Trilogy Management Services, LLC, or the Trilogy Manager, and account for a significant portion of our revenues and operating income. Adverse developments in the Trilogy Manager’s business or financial strength could have a material adverse effect on us.
Risks Related to Investments in Real Estate
•Uncertain market conditions could lead our real estate investments to decrease in value or may cause us to sell our properties at a loss in the future.
•Most of our costs, such as operating and general and administrative expenses, interest expense and real estate acquisition and construction costs, are subject to inflation and may not be recoverable.
•Our high concentrations of properties in particular geographic areas magnify the effects of negative conditions affecting those geographic areas.
•Our real estate investments may be concentrated in MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals or other healthcare-related facilities, making us more vulnerable to negative factors affecting these classes than if our investments were diversified beyond the healthcare industry.
•Our business, tenants, residents and operators may face litigation and experience rising liability and insurance costs, which may materially and adversely affect us.
Risks Related to Real Estate-Related Investments
•Unfavorable real estate market conditions and delays in liquidating defaulted mortgage loan investments may negatively impact mortgage loans in which we have invested and may invest, which could result in losses to us.
•We expect a portion of our real estate-related investments to be illiquid and we may not be able to adjust our portfolio in a timely manner in response to changes in economic and other conditions.
Risks Related to the Healthcare Industry
•The healthcare industry is heavily regulated and new laws or regulations, changes to existing laws or regulations, loss of licensure, or failure to obtain licensure could result in the inability of our tenants to make rent payments to us or adversely affect our operators’ ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures.
•Reductions in reimbursement from third-party payors could adversely affect our tenants’ operations and ability to make rental payments to us or our operators’ ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures.
•If seniors delay moving to senior housing facilities until they require greater care or forgo moving to senior housing facilities altogether, such action could have a material adverse effect on us.
•We, our tenants and our operators for our senior housing facilities and SNFs may be subject to various government reviews, audits and investigations that could materially and adversely affect us, including an obligation to refund amounts previously paid to us.
Risks Related to Joint Ventures
•Property ownership through joint ventures could limit our control of those investments or our decisions with respect to other investments, restrict our ability to operate and finance properties on our terms, and reduce their expected return.
Risks Related to Debt Financing
•We have substantial indebtedness and may incur additional indebtedness in the future, which could materially and adversely affect us.
•To the extent we borrow funds at floating interest rates, we will be adversely affected by rising interest rates unless fully hedged. Rising interest rates will also increase our interest expense on future fixed-rate debt.
•Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our business.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Organization
•Future offerings of debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock, or equity securities, which would dilute our existing stockholders and may be senior to our common stock, may adversely affect our stockholders.
Risks Related to Taxes and Our REIT Status
•Failure to maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes would subject us to U.S. federal income tax on our REIT taxable income at the regular corporate rate, which would substantially reduce our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
•We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability or reduce our operating flexibility.
•If the REIT Merger does not qualify as a tax-free reorganization, there may be adverse tax consequences.
Risks Related to Tax Exempt Investors
•If a stockholder that is a benefit plan or IRA fails to meet the fiduciary and other standards under ERISA or the Code as a result of an investment in shares of our common stock, such stockholder could be subject to civil and, if the failure is willful, criminal penalties.
Investment Risks
There is no public market for the shares of our common stock. Therefore, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares of our common stock and, if our stockholders are able to sell their shares of our common stock, they will likely sell them at a substantial discount.
There currently is no public market for the shares of our common stock. We do not expect a public market for our stock to develop prior to the listing of the shares of our common stock on a national securities exchange, which may not occur in the near future or at all. Additionally, our charter contains restrictions on the ownership and transfer of shares of our stock and these restrictions may inhibit our stockholders’ ability to sell their shares of our common stock. Our charter provides that no person may own more than 9.9% in value of our issued and outstanding shares of capital stock or more than 9.9% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock. Any purported transfer of the shares of our common stock that would result in a violation of either of these limits will result in such shares being transferred to a trust for the benefit of a charitable beneficiary or such transfer being declared null and void. We have adopted a share repurchase plan, but it is limited in terms of the amount of shares of our common stock which may be repurchased annually, is subject to our board’s discretion and is currently suspended except with respect to requests resulting from the death or qualifying disability of stockholders. As such, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares of our common stock promptly or at all. If our stockholders are able to sell their shares of our common stock, our stockholders may only be able to sell them to an unrelated third party at a substantial discount from the price they paid. This may be the result, in part, of the fact that, at the time we made our investments, the amount of funds available for investment were reduced by up to 12.0% of the gross offering proceeds, which amounts were used to pay selling commissions, a dealer manager fee and other organizational and offering expenses. We also were required to use gross offering proceeds to pay acquisition fees, acquisition expenses and asset management fees. Unless our aggregate investments increase in value to compensate for these fees and expenses, which may not occur, it is unlikely that our stockholders will be able to sell their shares of our common stock, whether pursuant to our share repurchase plan or otherwise, without incurring a substantial loss. We cannot assure our stockholders that their shares of our common stock will ever appreciate in value to equal the price our stockholders paid for their shares of our common stock. Therefore, shares of our common stock should be considered illiquid and a long-term investment, and our stockholders must be prepared to hold their shares of our common stock for an indefinite length of time.
We have paid a portion of distributions from the net proceeds of the initial offering and borrowings, and in the future, may continue to pay distributions from borrowings or from other sources in anticipation of future cash flows. Any such distributions may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in assets and may negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment.
We have used the net proceeds from the initial offering, borrowings and certain fees payable to our former advisor which have been waived, and in the future, may use borrowed funds or other sources, to pay cash distributions to our stockholders, which may reduce the amount of proceeds available for investment and operations, cause us to incur additional interest expense as a result of borrowed funds or cause subsequent investors to experience dilution. Further, if the aggregate amount of cash distributed in any given year exceeds the amount of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, the excess amount will be deemed a return of capital. Therefore, distributions payable to our stockholders may partially include a return of capital, rather than a return on capital, and we have paid a portion of our distributions from the net proceeds of the initial offering. We have not established any limit on the amount of net proceeds from the initial offering or borrowings that may be used to fund distributions, except that, in accordance with our organizational documents and Maryland law, we may not make distributions that would: (i) cause us to be unable to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business; or (ii) cause our total assets to be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus senior liquidation preferences. The actual amount and timing of distributions is determined by our board, in its sole discretion, and typically depends on the amount of funds available for distribution, which depend on items such as our financial condition, current and projected capital expenditure requirements, tax considerations and annual distribution requirements needed to maintain our qualification as a REIT. As a result, our distribution rate and payment frequency have varied, and may continue to vary, from time to time.
Prior to March 31, 2020, the GAHR IV board of directors authorized, on a quarterly basis, a daily distribution to its stockholders of record as of the close of business on each day of the period commencing on May 1, 2016 and ending on March 31, 2020. The daily distributions were calculated based on 365 days in the calendar year and were equal to $0.001643836 per share of GAHR IV’s Class T common stock and Class I common stock, which is equal to an annualized distribution rate of $0.60 per share. These distributions were aggregated and paid monthly in arrears in cash or shares of common stock pursuant to the DRIP offerings, only from legally available funds.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on GAHR IV’s business and operations, the GAHR IV board of directors decided to take steps to protect GAHR IV’s capital and maximize GAHR IV’s liquidity in an effort to strengthen GAHR IV’s long-term financial prospects. Consequently, on March 31, 2020, the GAHR IV board of directors authorized a reduced distribution to its stockholders which is payable monthly in arrears only from legally available funds and equal to an annualized distribution rate of $0.40 per share, a decrease from the annualized distribution rate of $0.60 per share previously paid by GAHR IV. On October 4, 2021, our board reinstated the DRIP. As a result of the reinstatement of the DRIP, beginning with the October 2021 distribution, stockholders who previously enrolled as participants in the DRIP will receive distributions
in shares of our common stock pursuant to the terms of the DRIP, instead of cash distributions. See our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on October 5, 2021 for more information.
In connection with a proposed public offering by us of our shares of common stock in conjunction with a contemplated listing of our common stock on the NYSE, on November 14, 2022, our board approved the suspension of the AHR DRIP Offering beginning with the distributions declared for the quarter ending December 31, 2022. Consequently, until such time as our board approves the reinstatement of the AHR DRIP Offering, if at all, any future distributions to be paid to stockholders will be payable 100% in cash. See our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on November 16, 2022.
The estimated per share NAV of our common stock may not be an accurate reflection of fair value of our assets and liabilities and likely will not represent the amount of net proceeds that would result if we were liquidated, dissolved or completed a merger or other sale of our company.
On March 15, 2023, our board, at the recommendation of the audit committee of our board, which is comprised solely of independent directors, unanimously approved and established an updated estimated per share NAV of our Class T common stock and Class I common stock of $31.40 as of December 31, 2022. We provide this updated estimated per share NAV to assist broker-dealers in connection with their obligations under FINRA Rule 2231, with respect to customer account statements. The valuation was performed in accordance with the methodology provided in the Practice Guideline 2013-01, Valuations of Publicly Registered Non-Listed REITs, issued by the IPA in April 2013, in addition to guidance from the SEC. In the event we list on a national securities exchange in the future, we would not plan to continue publishing these valuations.
The updated estimated per share NAV was determined after consultation with an independent third-party valuation firm, the engagement of which was approved by the audit committee of our board. FINRA rules provide no guidance on the methodology an issuer must use to determine its estimated per share NAV. As with any valuation methodology, our independent valuation firm’s methodology was based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that may not have been accurate or complete. Different parties with different assumptions and estimates could derive a different estimated per share NAV, and these differences could be significant.
The updated estimated per share NAV was not audited or reviewed by our independent registered public accounting firm and did not represent the fair value of our assets or liabilities according to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP. In addition, the updated estimated per share NAV was an estimate as of a given point in time and the value of shares of our common stock will fluctuate over time as a result of, among other things, the number of shares of our common stock outstanding, developments related to individual assets and changes in the real estate and capital markets. Accordingly, with respect to the updated estimated per share NAV, we can give no assurance that:
•a stockholder would be able to resell his, her or its shares at our updated estimated per share NAV;
•a stockholder would ultimately realize distributions per share equal to our updated estimated per share NAV upon liquidation of our assets and settlement of our liabilities or a sale of our company;
•our shares of common stock would trade at our updated estimated per share NAV on a national securities exchange;
•an independent third-party appraiser or other third-party valuation firm, other than the third-party valuation firm engaged by our board to assist in its determination of the updated estimated per share NAV, would agree with our estimated per share NAV; or
•the methodology used to estimate our updated per share NAV would be acceptable to FINRA or comply with reporting requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, the Code, other applicable law, or the applicable provisions of a retirement plan or individual retirement account, or IRA.
Further, our board has ultimately been responsible for determining the estimated per share NAV. Our independent valuation firm calculates estimates of the value of our assets, and our board then determines the net value of assets and liabilities taking into consideration such estimate provided by the independent valuation firm. After any particular valuation, there are likely to be changes in the value of our assets that would not be reflected in the published estimated per share NAV. As a result, the published estimated per share NAV may not fully reflect changes in value that may have occurred since the prior valuation. Furthermore, we will monitor our portfolio, but it has been, and may continue to be, difficult to reflect changing market conditions or material events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, prevailing interest rates and movements in capitalization rates that may impact the value of our portfolio between valuations, or to obtain timely or complete information regarding any such events. Therefore, the estimated per share NAV published before and during the announcement of an extraordinary event may differ significantly from our actual per share NAV until such time as sufficient information is available and analyzed, the financial impact is fully evaluated, and the appropriate adjustment is made to our estimated per share NAV, as determined by our board.
For a full description of the methodologies used to value our assets and liabilities in connection with the calculation of the updated estimated per share NAV, see our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 17, 2023.
We may not effect a liquidity event within any targeted time frame, or at all. If we do not effect a liquidity event, our stockholders may have to hold their investment in shares of our common stock for an indefinite period of time.
Although we are currently positioning our company for a potential future listing on a national securities exchange at an opportune time, we are not obligated, through our charter or otherwise, to effectuate a transaction or liquidity event and may not effectuate a transaction or liquidity event within any time frame or at all. If we do not effectuate a transaction or liquidity event, it will be very difficult for our stockholders to have liquidity for their investment in the shares of our common stock other than limited liquidity through our share repurchase plan, if our share repurchase plan is fully reinstated by our board.
If and when we complete a liquidity event, the market value ascribed to our shares of common stock upon the liquidity event may be significantly lower than the current estimated per share NAV.
In the event that we complete a liquidity event, such as a listing of our shares on a national securities exchange, a merger in which our stockholders receive securities that are listed on a national securities exchange, or a sale for cash, the market value of our shares upon consummation of such liquidity event may be significantly lower than the current estimated per share NAV of our common stock that may be reflected on the account statements of our stockholders. For example, if our shares are listed on a national securities exchange, the trading price of the shares may be significantly lower than the most recent estimated per share NAV of our common stock of $31.40 as of December 31, 2022.
No assurance can be given that we will complete the contemplated underwritten offering by us of our common stock or that we will be successful in listing our common stock on the NYSE. Similarly, there can be no assurance that the public offering price per share of common stock in any offering that we may complete or that the subsequent trading price per share of our common stock on the NYSE, if we are successful in listing our common stock thereon, will exceed our current NAV per share.
In September 2022, we filed a registration statement with the SEC relating to a proposed public offering by us of shares of our common stock in conjunction with the contemplated listing of our common stock on the NYSE. Completing a public offering will require the SEC to declare the registration statement effective, and listing on the NYSE will require approval by the NYSE. Moreover, in addition to required regulatory actions, a decision to proceed with an offering and listing depends on our evaluation of market conditions and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, there can be no assurance as to when, or even if, we will be able to complete the public offering or successfully list our common stock on the NYSE.
We do not know the terms, including the public offering price per share, on which the contemplated underwritten public offering of common stock may be completed. The initial public offering price of the common stock sold in any such offering will be discussed between us and the representatives of the underwriters of such offering. Among the factors that we expect to consider in determining the initial public offering price, in addition to prevailing market conditions, will be our historical performance, estimates of our business potential and earnings prospects, an assessment of our management and the consideration of the above factors in relation to market valuation of companies in related businesses. Thereafter, the market price of shares of our common stock on the NYSE will depend on numerous factors and may be volatile, and an active trading market may not develop or be maintained. There can be no assurance that the public offering price per share of common stock will equal or exceed our NAV per share, which our Board determined on March 15, 2023 to be $31.40 as of December 31, 2022, and the subsequent trading price may be below the public offering price per share.
Prior to suspension of the AHR DRIP Offering in November 2022, the purchase price per share of common stock sold under the AHR DRIP was the most recently published estimated NAV per share. No assurance can be given that the public offering price per share of common stock sold in any underwritten offering or that the trading price per share of our common stock on the NYSE will equal or exceed the price at which shares of common stock were sold under the AHR DRIP. The public offering price per share of common stock sold in any underwritten offering or the subsequent trading price per share of our common stock on the NYSE could be below our NAV per share and the price per share that investors purchased shares in the AHR DRIP Offering.
If we do complete the contemplated underwritten offering by us, shares of Class T common stock and Class I common stock held by current stockholders might not be listed initially on the NYSE.
It is contemplated that we will list our common stock sold in the potential underwritten public offering on the NYSE in conjunction with any such offering. Currently, our stockholders own either Class T common stock or Class I common stock, and we do not intend to list our Class T common stock or Class I common stock on the NYSE. However, it is contemplated that on the six-month anniversary of any listing of our common stock on the NYSE, outstanding shares of Class T common stock and Class I common stock will automatically be converted into shares of our NYSE-listed common stock. Accordingly, if we do complete the contemplated underwritten offering by us, current stockholders are not expected to be able to sell their Class T common stock or Class I common stock on the NYSE until such conversion occurs, and such shares would be less liquid than our listed common stock until such time as the automatic conversion occurs.
Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Results
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted, and could continue to adversely impact, our business and financial results, and the ultimate impact will depend on future developments including the extent of changes in policies and funding resulting from the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.
Our residents, tenants, operating partners and managers, our industry and the U.S. economy continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. While the COVID 19 pandemic is subsiding, the timing and extent of the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is dependent upon many factors, including the emergence and severity of COVID-19 variants, the effectiveness and frequency of booster vaccinations and the duration and implications of restrictions and safety measures. As the lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting the healthcare system to a certain extent, it continues to present challenges for us as an owner and operator of healthcare facilities, making it difficult to ascertain the long-term impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on real estate markets in which we own and/or operate properties and our portfolio of investments.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant decline in resident occupancies at our leased senior housing facilities and SNFs, SHOP and integrated senior health campuses and an increase in COVID-19 related operating expenses with more costly short-term hires due to the shortage of healthcare personnel. Therefore, our focus at such properties continues to be on resident occupancy recovery and operating expense management. Resident occupancies at our senior housing and SNFs have been gradually improving. We believe the operational recovery of such classes from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will generally continue and that such recovery over time towards pre-pandemic levels will drive our overall portfolio performance.
As a result of the federal government's COVID-19 public health emergency declaration in January 2020, certain federal and state pandemic-related relief measures, such as funding, procedural waivers and/or reimbursement increases, became available to some of our tenants and operators. On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration will expire on May 11, 2023, creating uncertainty as to how widespread these measures will continue to be and to what extent they may be distributed to and benefit our tenants and operators.
The lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and pace of recovery will largely depend on future developments, which cannot be predicted with confidence at this time.
We have experienced net losses in the past and we may experience additional losses in the future.
Historically, we have experienced net losses (calculated in accordance with GAAP) and we may not be profitable or realize growth in the value of our investments. Many of our losses can be attributed to start-up costs, general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, as well as acquisition expenses incurred in connection with purchasing properties or making other investments. For a further discussion of our operational history and the factors affecting our net losses, see Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and our Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our prior performance may not be an accurate predictor of our ability to achieve our business objectives or of our future results.
Our stockholders should not rely on our past performance to predict our future results. Our stockholders should review our prospects in light of the risks, uncertainties and difficulties frequently encountered by companies that have a limited operating history, many of which may be beyond our control. For example, due to challenging economic conditions in the past, distributions to stockholders were reduced. Therefore, to be successful in this market, we must, among other things:
•identify and acquire investments that further our business objectives and growth strategies;
•attract, integrate, motivate and retain qualified personnel to manage our day-to-day operations;
•respond to competition both for investment opportunities and potential investors’ investment in us; and
•build and expand our operational structure to support our business.
We cannot guarantee that we will succeed in achieving these goals, and our failure to do so could materially and adversely affect us and our stockholders could lose all or a portion of their investment.
Our success is dependent on the performance and continued contributions of certain of our key personnel and, in the event they are no longer employed by us, we could be materially and adversely affected.
Our success depends, to a significant degree, upon the continued contributions of our executives and key officers. In particular, Danny Prosky would be difficult to replace. Mr. Prosky currently serves as our Chief Executive Officer and one of
our directors. In the event that Mr. Prosky or one of our other executives or key executive officers are no longer employed by us, for any reason, it could have a material adverse effect on us and we may not be able to attract and hire equally capable individuals to replace them. If we were to lose the benefit of the experience, efforts and abilities of one or more of our executives or other key officers, we could be materially and adversely affected.
Our financial results, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and our ability to dispose of our investments are subject to international, national and local market conditions we cannot control or predict.
We are subject to the risks of an international or national economic slowdown or downturn and other changes in international, national and local market conditions. The following factors may have affected, and may continue to affect, income from our properties, our ability to acquire and dispose of properties, and our overall financial results and ability to make distributions to our stockholders:
•poor economic times may result in defaults by tenants of our properties due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity or operational failures. We may provide rent concessions, tenant improvement expenditures or reduced rental rates to maintain or increase occupancy levels;
•fluctuations as a result of supply and demand imbalances and reduced occupancies and rental rates may cause the properties that we own to decrease in value. Consequently, we may not be able to recover the carrying amount of our properties, which may require us to recognize an impairment charge or record a loss on sale in our financial results;
•reduced values of our properties may limit our ability to dispose of assets at attractive prices or to obtain or maintain debt financing secured by our properties and may reduce the availability of unsecured loans;
•constricted access to credit may result in tenant defaults or non-renewals under leases;
•layoffs may lead to a lower demand for medical services and cause vacancies to increase and a lack of future population and job growth may make it difficult to maintain or increase occupancy levels;
•disruptions in the financial markets, deterioration in economic conditions or a public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have resulted, and may continue to result, in lower occupancy in our facilities, increased vacancy rates for commercial real estate due to generally lower demand for rentable space, as well as an oversupply of rentable space;
•governmental actions and initiatives, including risks associated with the impact of a prolonged government shutdown or budgetary reductions or impasses; and
•increased insurance premiums, real estate taxes or utilities or other expenses, such as inflation costs, will decrease our financial results and may reduce funds available for distribution to our stockholders or, to the extent such increases are passed through to tenants, may lead to tenant defaults. Also, any such increased expenses may not coincide with our ability to increase rents to tenants on turnover, which would adversely impact our financial results.
The length and severity of any economic slowdown or downturn cannot be predicted with confidence at this time. We have been, and we expect may continue to be, negatively impacted to the extent an economic slowdown or downturn is prolonged or becomes more severe.
We face significant competition for the acquisition and disposition of MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities, which may impede our ability to take, and increase the cost of, such actions, which may materially and adversely affect us.
We face significant competition from other entities engaged in real estate investment activities for acquisitions and dispositions of MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities, some of whom may have greater resources, lower costs of capital and higher risk tolerances than we do. Increased competition makes it more challenging for us to identify and successfully capitalize on opportunities that meet our business objectives and could improve the bargaining power of our counterparties, thereby impeding our investment, acquisition and disposition activities. If we pay higher prices per property or receive lower prices for dispositions of our MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals or other healthcare-related facilities as a result of such competition, we may be materially and adversely affected.
Our investments in, and acquisitions of, MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities may be unsuccessful or fail to meet our expectations.
Some of our acquisitions may not prove to be successful. We could encounter unanticipated difficulties and expenditures relating to any acquired properties, including contingent liabilities, and acquired properties might require significant management attention that would otherwise be devoted to our ongoing business. Such expenditures may negatively affect our results of operations. Investments in and acquisitions of MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-
related facilities entail risks associated with real estate investments generally, including risks that the investment will not achieve expected returns, that the cost estimates for necessary property improvements will prove inaccurate or that the tenant or operator will fail to meet performance expectations. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that our anticipated acquisitions and investments, the completion of which is subject to various conditions, will be consummated in accordance with anticipated timing, on anticipated terms, or at all. In addition, we may not be able to identify off-market investment opportunities or investment opportunities that are strategically marketed to a limited number of investors at the rate that we anticipate or at all. We may be unable to obtain or assume financing for acquisitions on favorable terms or at all. Healthcare properties are often highly customizable and the development or redevelopment of such properties may require costly tenant-specific improvements. We may experience delays and disruptions to property redevelopment as a result of supply chain issues and construction material and labor shortages. We also may be unable to quickly and efficiently integrate new acquisitions, particularly acquisitions of portfolios of properties, into our existing operations, and this could have a material adverse effect on us. Acquired properties may be located in new markets, either within or outside the United States, where we may face risks associated with a lack of market knowledge or understanding of the local economy, lack of business relationships in the area, costs associated with opening a new regional office, and unfamiliarity with local governmental and permitting procedures. As a result, we cannot assure our stockholders that we will achieve the economic benefit we expect from acquisitions, investment, development and redevelopment opportunities and may lead to impairment of such assets.
We are uncertain of all of our sources of debt or equity for funding our capital needs. If we cannot obtain funding on favorable terms, our ability to acquire, and make necessary capital improvements to, properties may be impaired or delayed, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We have not identified all of our sources of debt or equity for funding, and such sources of funding may not be available to us on favorable terms or at all. If we do not have access to sufficient funding on favorable terms in the future, we may not be able to acquire, and make necessary capital improvements to, properties, pay other expenses, or expand our business when desired, or at all, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We are dependent on tenants for our revenue, and lease terminations could reduce our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The successful performance of our real estate investments is materially dependent on the financial stability of our tenants. Lease payment defaults by tenants would cause us to lose the revenue associated with such leases and could reduce our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. If a property is subject to a mortgage, a default by a significant tenant on its lease payments to us may result in a foreclosure on the property if we are unable to find an alternative source of revenue to meet our mortgage payments. In the event of a tenant default, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-leasing our property. Further, we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to re-lease the property for the rent previously received, if at all, or that lease terminations will not cause us to sell the property at a loss.
All of our integrated senior health campuses are managed by the Trilogy Manager and account for a significant portion of our revenues and operating income. Adverse developments in the Trilogy Manager’s business or financial strength could have a material adverse effect on us.
As of March 17, 2023, the Trilogy Manager managed all of the day-to-day operations for all of our integrated senior health campuses pursuant to a long-term management agreement. These integrated senior health campuses accounted for approximately 41.1% of our portfolio (based on aggregate contract purchase price) as of December 31, 2022 and contributed approximately 46.8% of our annualized base rent/annualized NOI as of such date. Although we have various rights as the joint venture owner of these integrated senior health campuses under our management agreement, we rely on the Trilogy Manager’s personnel, expertise, technical resources and information systems, proprietary information, good faith and judgment to manage our integrated senior health campuses operations efficiently and effectively, and to identify and manage development opportunities for new integrated senior health campuses. We also rely on the Trilogy Manager to provide accurate campus-level financial results for our integrated senior health campuses in a timely manner and to otherwise operate our integrated senior health campuses in compliance with the terms of our management agreement and all applicable laws and regulations. We depend on the Trilogy Manager’s ability to attract and retain skilled personnel to provide these services. A shortage of nurses or other trained personnel or general inflationary pressures may force the Trilogy Manager to enhance its pay and benefits package to compete effectively for such personnel, the cost of which we would bear in proportion to our joint venture interest, but it may not be able to offset these added costs by increasing the rates charged to residents. As such, any adverse developments in the Trilogy Manager’s business or financial strength, including its ability to retain key personnel, could impair its ability to manage our integrated senior health campuses efficiently and effectively and could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, if the Trilogy Manager experiences any significant financial, legal, accounting or regulatory difficulties due to a weak economy, industry downturn or otherwise, such difficulties could result in, among other adverse events, acceleration of its indebtedness, impairment of its continued access to capital, the enforcement of default remedies by its counterparties, or the commencement
of insolvency proceedings by or against it under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Any one or a combination of these risks could have a material adverse effect on us.
In the event that our management agreement with the Trilogy Manager is terminated or not renewed, we may be unable to replace the Trilogy Manager with another suitable operator, or, if we were successful in locating such an operator, we cannot guarantee that it would manage the integrated senior health campuses efficiently and effectively or that any such transition would be completed timely, which may have a material adverse effect on us.
In the event we were to contemplate pursuing any existing or future contractual rights or remedies under our management agreement with the Trilogy Manager, including termination rights, we would consider numerous factors, including legal, contractual, regulatory, business and other relevant considerations. In the event that we exercise our rights to terminate the management agreement with the Trilogy Manager for any reason or such agreements are not renewed upon expiration of their terms, we would attempt to reposition the affected integrated senior health campuses with another operator. Although we believe that other qualified national and regional operators would be interested in managing our integrated senior health campuses, we cannot provide any assurance that we would be able to locate another suitable operator or, if we were successful in locating such an operator, that it would manage the integrated senior health campuses efficiently and effectively or that any such transition would be completed timely or would not require substantial capital expenditures. Any such transition would likely result in disruption of the operation of such facilities, including matters relating to staffing and reporting. Moreover, the transition to a replacement operator may require approval by the applicable regulatory authorities and, in most cases, one or more of our lenders, including the mortgage lenders for certain of the integrated senior health campuses, and we cannot provide any assurance that such approvals would be granted on a timely basis, if at all. Any inability to replace, or delay in replacing the Trilogy Manager as the operator of integrated senior health campuses with a highly qualified successor on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on us.
The financial deterioration, insolvency or bankruptcy of one or more of our major tenants, operators, borrowers or other obligors could have a material adverse effect on us.
A downturn in any of our tenants’, operators’, borrowers’ or other obligors’ businesses could ultimately lead to voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy or similar insolvency proceedings, including but not limited to assignment for the benefit of creditors, reorganization, liquidation or winding-up. Bankruptcy and insolvency laws afford certain rights to a defaulting tenant, operator or borrower that has filed for bankruptcy or reorganization that may render certain of our remedies unenforceable or, at the least, delay our ability to pursue such remedies and realize any related recoveries. A debtor has the right to assume, or to assume and assign to a third party, or to reject its executory contracts and unexpired leases in a bankruptcy proceeding. If a debtor were to reject its leases with us, obligations under such rejected leases would cease. The claim against the rejecting debtor would be an unsecured claim, which would be limited by the statutory cap set forth in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and there may be insufficient assets to satisfy all unsecured claims, even ones limited by the statutory cap. This statutory cap may be substantially less than the remaining rent actually owed under the lease. In addition, a debtor may also assert in bankruptcy proceedings that leases should be re-characterized as financing agreements, which could result in our being deemed a lender instead of a landlord. A lender’s rights and remedies, as compared to a landlord’s, generally are materially less favorable, and our rights as a lender may be subordinated to other creditors’ rights.
Furthermore, the automatic stay provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code would preclude us from enforcing our remedies unless we first obtain relief from the court having jurisdiction over the bankruptcy case. This would effectively limit or delay our ability to collect unpaid rent or interest payments, and we may ultimately not receive any payment at all. In addition, we would likely be required to fund certain expenses and obligations to preserve the value of our properties, avoid the imposition of liens on our properties or transition our properties to a new tenant or operator. Additionally, we lease many of our properties to healthcare providers who provide long-term custodial care to the elderly. Evicting operators for failure to pay rent while the property is occupied typically involves specific procedural or regulatory requirements and may not be successful. Even if eviction is possible, we may determine not to do so due to reputational or other risks. Bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings typically also result in increased costs to the operator, significant management distraction and performance declines. If we are unable to transition affected properties, they would likely experience prolonged operational disruption, leading to lower occupancy rates and further depressed revenues. Publicity about the operator’s financial troubles and bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings may also negatively impact their and our reputations, decreasing customer demand and revenues. Any or all of these risks could have a material adverse effect on us.
We may incur additional costs in re-leasing properties with specialized uses, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Some of the properties we have acquired and will seek to acquire are healthcare properties designed or built primarily for a particular tenant of a specific type of use known as a single-user facility. If we or our tenants terminate the leases for these properties or our tenants default on their lease obligations or lose their regulatory authority to operate such properties, we may not be able to locate suitable replacement tenants to lease the properties for their specialized uses. Alternatively, we may be
required to spend substantial amounts to adapt the properties to other uses or incur other significant re-leasing costs. Any loss of revenues or additional capital expenditures required as a result may have a material adverse effect on us.
We may be unable to secure funds for future tenant or other capital improvements, which could limit our ability to attract, replace or retain tenants, pay our expenses and make distributions to our stockholders.
When tenants do not renew their leases or otherwise vacate their space, in order to attract replacement tenants, we have expended, and may be required to expend in the future, substantial funds for tenant improvements and leasing commissions related to the vacated space. Such tenant improvements have required, and may continue to require, us to incur substantial capital expenditures. If we have not established capital reserves for such tenant or other capital improvements, we will have to obtain financing from other sources and we have not identified any sources for such financing. We may also have future financing needs for other capital improvements to refurbish or renovate our properties. If we need to secure financing sources for tenant or other capital improvements in the future, but are unable to secure such financing or are unable to secure financing on terms we feel are acceptable, we may be unable to make tenant and other capital improvements or we may be required to defer such improvements. If this happens, it may cause one or more of our properties to suffer from a greater risk of obsolescence or a decline in value, or a greater risk of decreased cash flows as a result of fewer potential tenants being attracted to the property or our existing tenants not renewing their leases. If we do not have access to sufficient funding in the future, we may also not be able to pay our expenses or make distributions to our stockholders.
A breach of information technology systems on which we rely could materially and adversely impact us.
We and our tenants and operators rely on information technology systems, including the internet and networks and systems maintained and controlled by third-party vendors and other third parties, to process, transmit and store information and to manage or support our business processes. Third-party vendors collect and hold personally identifiable information and other confidential information of our tenants, operators, patients, stockholders and employees. We also maintain confidential financial and business information regarding us and persons and entities with which we do business on our information technology systems. While we and our tenants and operators take steps to protect the security of the information maintained in our information technology systems, including the use of commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmitting and storing of the information, it is possible that such security measures will not be able to prevent human error or the systems’ improper functioning, or the loss, misappropriation, disclosure or corruption of personally identifiable information or other confidential or sensitive information, including information about our tenants and employees. Cybersecurity breaches, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, phishing scams, attacks by hackers, breaches due to employee error or misconduct and similar breaches, can create, and in some instances in the past have resulted in, system disruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized access to information maintained on our information technology systems or the information technology systems of our third-party vendors or other third parties or otherwise cause disruption or negative impacts to occur to our business and materially and adversely affect us. While we and, we believe, most of our tenants and operators maintain cyber risk insurance to provide some coverage for certain risks arising out of cybersecurity breaches, there is no assurance that such insurance would cover all or a significant portion of the costs or consequences associated with a cybersecurity breach. As our reliance on technology increases, so will the risks posed to our information systems, both internal and those we outsource. In addition, as the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to information technology systems become more varied and sophisticated and the occurrence of such breaches becomes more frequent, we and our third-party vendors and other third parties may be unable to adequately anticipate these techniques or breaches and implement appropriate preventative measures. There is no guarantee that any processes, procedures and internal controls we have implemented or will implement will prevent cyber intrusions. Any failure to prevent cybersecurity breaches and maintain the proper function, security and availability of our or our third-party vendors’ and other third parties’ information technology systems could interrupt our operations, damage our reputation and brand, damage our competitive position, make it difficult for us to attract and retain tenants, and subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties, which could materially and adversely affect us. Additionally, as increased regulatory compliance for cybersecurity protocols and disclosures are required by state or federal authorities, the increased amount of resources, both time and expense, could also materially and adversely affect us.
Risks Related to Investments in Real Estate
Uncertain market conditions could lead our real estate investments to decrease in value or may cause us to sell our properties at a loss in the future.
Our management, subject to the oversight of our board, may exercise its discretion as to whether and when to sell a property, and we have no obligation to sell properties at any particular time or at all. We cannot predict with any certainty the various market conditions affecting real estate investments that will exist at any particular time in the future. As such, we may be purchasing our properties at a time when capitalization rates are at historically low levels and purchase prices are high. In addition, we may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We may not have adequate funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements. Moreover, in acquiring a property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property. The value of our properties may not increase over time, which may restrict our ability to sell our properties, or in the event we are able to sell such properties, may lead to sale prices less than the prices that we paid to purchase the properties or the price at which we value the property. Additionally, we may incur prepayment penalties in the event we sell a property subject to a mortgage earlier than we otherwise had planned. Accordingly, our ability to realize potential appreciation on our real estate investments and make distributions to our stockholders will, among other things, be dependent upon uncertain market conditions.
Most of our costs, such as operating and general and administrative expenses, interest expense, and real estate acquisition and construction costs, are subject to inflation and may not be recoverable.
A significant portion of our operating expenses is sensitive to inflation. These include expenses for property-related costs such as insurance, utilities and repairs and maintenance. We also have ground lease expenses in certain of our properties. Ground lease costs are contractual, but in some cases, lease payments reset every few years based on changes on consumer price indexes.
Operating expenses on our non-RIDEA properties, with the exception of ground lease rental expenses, are typically recoverable through our lease arrangements, which allow us to pass through substantially all expenses associated with property taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance, and other operating expenses (including increases thereto) to our tenants. As of December 31, 2022, the majority of our existing leases were either triple-net leases or leases that allow us to recover certain operating expenses and certain capital expenditures. Our remaining leases are generally modified gross, or base year, leases, which only provide for recoveries of operating expenses above the operating expenses from the initial year within each lease. During inflationary periods, we expect to recover increases in operating expenses from our triple-net leases and our modified gross, or base year, leases. As a result, we do not believe that inflation would result in a significant adverse effect on our net operating income, results of operations, and operating cash flows at the property level. For our RIDEA properties, increases in operating expenses, including labor, that are caused by inflationary pressures will generally be passed through to us and may materially and adversely affect us.
Our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation costs, as well as professional and legal fees. Annually, our employee compensation is adjusted to reflect merit increases; however, to maintain our ability to successfully compete for the best talent, rising inflation rates has required and may continue to require us to provide compensation increases beyond historical annual merit increases, which may significantly increase our compensation costs. Similarly, professional and legal fees are also subject to the impact of inflation and expected to increase proportionately with increasing market prices for such services. Consequently, inflation is expected to increase our general and administrative expenses over time and may materially and adversely affect us.
Also, during inflationary periods, interest rates have historically increased, which would have a direct effect on the interest expense of our borrowings. Our exposure to increases in interest rates is limited to our variable-rate borrowings, which consist of borrowings under our credit facilities and variable-rate mortgage loans payable. As of December 31, 2022, our outstanding variable-rate borrowings aggregated to $1,651,221,000, all of which was unhedged. In January 2023, we entered into an interest rate swap contract to hedge $275,000,000 of our floating rate term loan under our existing credit facility. Rising interest rates will also increase our interest expense on future fixed-rate borrowings. Therefore, a significant increase in inflation rates would have a material adverse impact on our financing costs and interest expense.
We have long term lease agreements with our tenants that contain effective annual rent escalations that were either fixed or indexed based on a consumer price index or other index. We believe our annual lease expirations allow us to reset these leases to market rents upon renewal or re-leasing and that annual rent escalations within our long-term leases are generally sufficient to offset the effect of inflation on non-recoverable costs, such as general and administrative expenses and interest expense. However, it is possible that during higher inflationary periods like the one existing in 2021 and 2022, the impact of
inflation will not be adequately offset by the resetting of rents from our renewal and re-leasing activities and our annual rent escalations. As a result, during periods when the impact of inflation exceeds the annual rent escalation percentages in our current leases and the percentage increase in rents in new leases, our financial results will be impaired, potentially significantly.
Additionally, inflationary pricing may have a negative effect on the real estate acquisitions and construction costs necessary to complete our development and redevelopment projects, including, but not limited to, costs of construction materials, labor, and services from third-party contractors and suppliers. Higher acquisition and construction costs could adversely impact our net investments in real estate and expected yields in our development and redevelopment projects, which may make otherwise lucrative investment opportunities less profitable to us. Any of these matters may materially and adversely affect us over time.
Our real estate assets may decline in value and be subject to significant impairment losses, which may reduce our net income.
We periodically evaluate long-lived assets, primarily consisting of investments in real estate that are carried at historical cost less accumulated depreciation, for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. In our evaluation of impairment, we consider indicators such as significant negative industry or economic trends, significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results and a significant change in the extent or manner in which the asset is used or significant physical change in the asset. If indicators of impairment of long-lived assets are present, we evaluate the carrying value of the related real estate investment in relation to the future undiscounted cash flows of the underlying operations. In performing this evaluation, we consider market conditions and our current intentions with respect to holding or disposing of the asset. If we determine that an impairment has occurred, we would be required to make a downward adjustment to the net book value of the property, which could have a material adverse effect on us in the period in which the impairment charge is recorded. We have recorded impairment charges related to certain properties in the year ended December 31, 2022, and may record future impairments based on actual results and changes in circumstances. Negative developments in the real estate market may cause management to reevaluate the business and macro-economic assumptions used in its impairment analysis. Changes in management’s assumptions based on actual results may have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto that are a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our high concentrations of properties in particular geographic areas magnify the effects of negative conditions affecting those geographic areas.
We have a concentration of properties in particular geographic areas; therefore, any adverse situation that disproportionately effects one of those areas would have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. As of March 17, 2023, properties located in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan accounted for approximately 37.8%, 11.9% and 10.7%, respectively, of our total property portfolio’s annualized base rent or annualized NOI. Accordingly, there is a geographic concentration of risk subject to fluctuations in each such state’s economy, real estate and other market conditions.
Our real estate investments may be concentrated in MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals or other healthcare-related facilities, making us more vulnerable to negative factors affecting these classes than if our investments were diversified beyond the healthcare industry.
As a REIT, we invest primarily in real estate. Within the real estate industry, we have acquired, and may continue to acquire, or selectively develop and own MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities. We are subject to risks inherent in concentrating investments in real estate. These risks resulting from a lack of diversification become even greater as a result of our business objectives and growth strategies, which involve investing substantially all of our assets in clinical healthcare real estate.
A downturn in the commercial real estate industry generally could significantly adversely affect the value of our properties. A downturn in the healthcare industry could negatively affect our lessees’ ability to make lease payments to us and our operators’ ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively. These matters could materially and adversely affect us and could be more pronounced than if we diversified our investments outside of real estate or if our portfolio did not include a substantial concentration in MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals or healthcare-related facilities.
Terrorist attacks, acts of violence or war, political protests and unrest or public health crises have affected and may affect the markets in which we operate and have a material adverse effect on us.
Terrorist attacks, acts of violence or war, political protests and unrest or public health crises (including the COVID-19 pandemic) have negatively affected, and may continue to negatively affect, our operations and our stockholders’ investments. We have acquired, and may continue to acquire, real estate assets located in areas that are susceptible to terrorist attacks, acts of violence or war, political protests or public health crises. These events may directly impact the value of our assets through
damage, destruction, loss or increased security costs. Although we may obtain terrorism insurance, we may not be able to obtain sufficient coverage to fund any losses we may incur. Risks associated with potential acts of terrorism could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Further, certain losses resulting from these types of events are uninsurable or not insurable at reasonable costs. In addition, other than any reserves we may establish, we have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct any uninsured damaged property, and we cannot assure our stockholders that any such sources of funding will be available to us for such purposes in the future. Also, to the extent we must pay unexpectedly large amounts for uninsured losses, our cash flows could be impaired in a manner that would result in little or no cash being distributed to our stockholders. More generally, any terrorist attack, other act of violence or war, political protest and unrest or public health crisis could result in increased volatility in, or damage to, the United States and worldwide financial markets and economy, all of which could adversely affect our tenants’ ability to pay rent on their leases with us, our operators’ ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively and our ability to borrow money or issue capital stock on favorable terms, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Our business, tenants, residents and operators may face litigation and experience rising liability and insurance costs, which may materially and adversely affect us.
We currently intend to pursue insurance recovery for any losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there can be no assurance that coverage will be available under our existing policies or if such coverage is available, which and how much of our losses will be covered and what other limitations may apply. Due to the likely increase in claims as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, insurance companies may limit or stop offering coverage to companies like ours for pandemic related claims and/or significantly increase the cost of insurance so that it is no longer available at commercially reasonable rates.
With respect to our SHOP and integrated senior health campuses, we are ultimately responsible for operational risks and other liabilities of the facility, other than those arising out of certain actions by our operator, such as gross negligence or willful misconduct. As such, operational risks include, and our resulting revenues therefore depend on, the availability and cost of general and professional liability insurance coverage or increases in insurance policy deductibles. Furthermore, because we bear such operational risks and liabilities related to our SHOP and integrated senior health campuses, we may be directly adversely impacted by potential litigation or investigations related to the COVID-19 pandemic that have occurred or may occur at those facilities, and our insurance coverage may not cover or may not be sufficient to cover any potential losses.
Additionally, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of insurance for our tenants, operators and residents is expected to increase as well, and such insurance may not cover certain claims related to COVID-19, which could impair their ability to pay rent to us. Our exposure to COVID-19 related litigation or investigation risk may be further increased if our operators or residents of such facilities are subject to bankruptcy or insolvency.
Any of these matters could materially and adversely affect us.
If we contract with a development company for newly developed property, our earnest money deposit made to the development company may not be fully refunded.
We may acquire one or more properties under development. We anticipate that if we do acquire properties that are under development, we will be obligated to pay a substantial earnest money deposit at the time of contracting to acquire such properties, and that we will be required to close the purchase of the property upon completion of the development of the property. We may enter into such a contract with the development company even if at the time we enter into the contract, we have not yet secured sufficient financing to enable us to close the purchase of such property. However, we may not be required to close a purchase from the development company, and may be entitled to a refund of our earnest money, generally in any of the following circumstances depending on the contract:
•the development company fails to complete the development of the property according to contractual requirements;
•all or a specified portion of the pre-leased tenants fail to take possession under their leases for any reason; or
•we are unable to secure sufficient financing to pay the purchase price at closing.
The obligation of the development company to refund our earnest money deposit will be unsecured, and we may not be able to obtain a refund of such earnest money deposit from it under these circumstances since the development company may be an entity without substantial assets or operations.
We may not retain any profits resulting from the sale of our properties, or receive such profits in a timely manner, because we may provide financing to the purchaser of such property.
When we decide to sell one of our properties, we may provide financing to the purchasers. When we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default on its obligations under the financing, which could negatively
impact cash flows from operations. Even in the absence of a purchaser default, the distribution of sale proceeds or their reinvestment in other assets, will be delayed until the promissory notes or other property we may accept upon the sale are actually paid, sold, refinanced or otherwise disposed of. In some cases, we may receive initial down payments in cash and other property in the year of sale in an amount less than the selling price, and subsequent payments will be spread over a number of years. Additionally, if any purchaser defaults under a financing arrangement with us, it could negatively impact our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Representations and warranties made by us in connection with sales of our properties may subject us to liability that could materially and adversely affect us.
When we sell a property, we have been required, and may continue to be required, to make representations and warranties regarding the property and other customary items. In the event of a breach of such representations or warranties, the purchaser of the property may have claims for damages against us, rights to indemnification from us or otherwise have remedies against us. In any such case, we may incur liabilities that could materially and adversely affect us.
We face possible liability for environmental cleanup costs and damages for contamination related to properties we acquire, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Because we own and operate real estate, we are subject to various international, U.S. federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations. Under these laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real estate may be liable for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on, under or in such property. The costs of removal or remediation could be substantial. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. Under such laws, a current owner or operator of property can be held liable for contamination on the property caused by the former owner or operator. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which property may be used or businesses may be operated, and these restrictions may require substantial expenditures. Environmental laws provide for sanctions in the event of noncompliance and may be enforced by governmental agencies or, in certain circumstances, by private parties. Certain environmental laws and common law principles could be used to impose liability for release of and exposure to hazardous substances, including the release of asbestos-containing materials into the air, and third parties may seek recovery from owners or operators of real estate for personal injury or property damage associated with exposure to released hazardous substances. In addition, new or more stringent laws or stricter interpretations of existing laws could change the cost of compliance or liabilities and restrictions arising out of such laws. The cost of defending against these claims, complying with environmental regulatory requirements, conducting remediation of any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims could be substantial and could materially and adversely affect us. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances on a property or the failure to meet environmental regulatory requirements may materially impair our ability to use, lease or sell a property, or to use the property as collateral for borrowing.
Our current and future properties and our tenants may be unable to compete successfully, which could result in lower rent payments and could materially and adversely affect us.
Our current and future properties often will face competition from nearby properties that provide comparable services. Some of those competing properties are owned by governmental agencies and supported by tax revenues, and others are owned by nonprofit corporations and may be supported to a large extent by endowments and charitable contributions. These types of support are not available to our properties. Operators of competing properties may provide superior services than those provided by our operators, which could reduce the competitiveness of our properties, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Similarly, our MOB and senior housing—leased tenants face competition from other medical practices in nearby hospitals and other medical facilities and their failure to compete successfully with these other practices could adversely affect their ability to make rental payments to us, which could materially and adversely affect us. Further, from time to time and for reasons beyond our control, referral sources, including physicians and managed care organizations, may change their lists of hospitals or physicians to which they refer patients or that are permitted to participate in the payor program. This could also adversely affect our tenants’ ability to make rental payments to us, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Ownership of property outside the United States may subject us to different or greater risks than those associated with our domestic operations.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $68,085,000 invested in the United Kingdom, or UK, and the Isle of Man, or 1.4% of our portfolio, based on our aggregate purchase price of real estate investments. International development, ownership, and operating activities involve risks that are different from those we face with respect to our domestic development, ownership, and operating activities. For example, we have limited investing experience in international markets. If we are unable to
successfully manage the risks associated with international expansion and operations, we may be materially and adversely affected.
Additionally, our ownership of properties in the UK and the Isle of Man currently subjects us to fluctuations in the exchange rates between U.S. dollars and the UK Pound Sterling, which may, from time to time, impact our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. Revenues generated from any properties or other real estate-related investments we acquire or ventures we enter into relating to transactions involving assets located in markets outside the United States likely will be denominated in the local currency. Therefore, any investments we make outside the United States will subject us to foreign currency risk due to potential fluctuations in exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar, and there can be no assurance that any attempt to mitigate foreign currency risk through hedging transactions or otherwise will be successful. As a result, changes in exchange rates of any such foreign currency to U.S. dollars may materially and adversely affect us and the book value of our assets. In addition, changes in foreign currency exchange rates used to value a REIT’s foreign assets may be considered changes in the value of the REIT’s assets. These changes may adversely affect our status as a REIT. Further, bank accounts in a foreign currency which are not considered cash or cash equivalents may adversely affect our status as a REIT.
Acquired properties may expose us to unknown liability.
We may acquire properties or invest in joint ventures that own properties subject to liabilities and without any recourse, or with only limited recourse, against the prior owners or other third parties with respect to unknown liabilities. As a result, if a liability were asserted against us based upon ownership of those properties, we might have to pay substantial sums to settle or contest it, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow. Unknown liabilities with respect to acquired properties might include liabilities for clean-up of undisclosed environmental contamination, claims by tenants, vendors or other persons against the former owners of the properties, liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of business, and claims for indemnification by general partners, directors and others indemnified by the former owners of the properties.
Severe weather events, natural disasters and the effects of climate change and regulatory and societal responses thereto could materially and adversely affect us.
Natural disasters and severe weather events, including earthquakes, fires, storms, tornados, floods, hurricanes, snow and freezing temperatures could cause significant damage to our properties and the surrounding environment or area. Climate change is causing such events to become more frequent and increasingly severe in their effects, which could increase the costs to and impact on us and our operators over time. The effects of such events on our properties may include increased operational costs, including energy costs, delays and cost increases in our construction projects, damage to our facilities and periods when impacted facilities may be partially or wholly unoccupied, power outages and reputational damage.
Additionally, international, governmental, and societal responses to climate change may materially and adversely affect us or our operators’, including through shifts in fuel sources leading to short or long-term increases in energy costs and new and more stringent building codes pertaining to energy efficiency, reduced emissions, or weather resistance that may be more costly to comply with, any of which could increase our building costs and our and our operators’ capital expenditures, maintenance, and operating costs. These and other changes in federal, state, or local regulation or in societal expectations could materially and adversely affect us directly or indirectly through the impact on our operators.
Risks Related to Real Estate-Related Investments
Unfavorable real estate market conditions and delays in liquidating defaulted mortgage loan investments may negatively impact mortgage loans in which we have invested and may invest, which could result in losses to us.
The investment in mortgage loans or mortgage-backed securities we have made, and may continue to make, involve special risks relating to the particular borrower or issuer of the mortgage-backed securities and we will be at risk of loss on those investments, including losses as a result of defaults on our mortgage loan investments. These losses may be caused by many conditions beyond our control, including economic conditions affecting real estate values, tenant defaults and lease expirations, interest rate levels, and the other economic and liability risks associated with real estate. If we acquire property by foreclosure following defaults under our mortgage loan investments, we will have the economic and liability risks as the owner described above. We do not know whether the values of the property securing any of our mortgage loan investments will remain at the levels existing on the dates we initially make the related investment. If the values of the underlying properties drop, our risk will increase and the values of our interests may decrease. Furthermore, if there are defaults under our mortgage loan investments, we may not be able to foreclose on or obtain a suitable remedy with respect to such investments. Specifically, we may not be able to repossess and sell the underlying properties quickly, which could reduce the value of our investment. For example, an action to foreclose on a property securing a mortgage loan is regulated by state statutes and rules and is subject to many of the delays and expenses of lawsuits if the defendant raises defenses or counterclaims. Additionally, in the event of default by a mortgagor, these restrictions, among other things, may impede our ability to foreclose on or sell the mortgaged property or to obtain proceeds sufficient to repay all amounts due to us on the mortgage loan.
The commercial mortgage-backed securities in which we have invested, and may continue to invest, are subject to several types of risks.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities are securities which evidence interests in, or are secured by, a single commercial mortgage loan or a pool of commercial mortgage loans. Accordingly, the commercial mortgage-backed securities in which we have invested, and may continue to invest, are subject to all the risks of the underlying mortgage loans.
In a rising interest rate environment, the value of commercial mortgage-backed securities may be adversely affected when payments on underlying mortgages loan(s) do not occur as anticipated, resulting in the extension of the security’s effective maturity and the related increase in interest rate sensitivity of a longer-term instrument. The value of commercial mortgage-backed securities may also change due to shifts in the market’s perception of securitization sponsors and borrower sponsors and regulatory or tax changes adversely affecting the mortgage securities markets as a whole. In addition, commercial mortgage-backed securities are subject to the credit risk associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities are also subject to several risks created through the securitization structuring process. Subordinate commercial mortgage-backed securities are paid to the extent that there are funds available to make payments. To the extent the collateral pool includes a large percentage of delinquent loans, there is a risk that payments on subordinate commercial mortgage-backed securities will not be fully paid. In addition, commercial mortgage-backed securities are also subject to greater credit risk than those commercial mortgage-backed securities of the same series that are more highly rated.
The mezzanine loans in which we have invested in the past, and may continue to invest, involve greater risks of loss than senior loans secured by income-producing real estate.
We have in the past, and may in the future, invest in mezzanine loans that take the form of subordinated loans secured by second mortgages on the underlying real estate or loans secured by a pledge of the ownership interests of either the entity owning the real estate or the entity that owns the interest in the entity owning the real estate. These types of investments involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior mortgage lending secured by income-producing real estate because the investment may become unsecured as a result of foreclosure by the senior lender. In the event of a bankruptcy of the entity providing the pledge of its ownership interests as security, we may not have full recourse to the assets of such entity or the assets of the entity may not be sufficient to satisfy our mezzanine loan. If a borrower defaults on our mezzanine loan or debt senior to our loan or in the event of a borrower bankruptcy, our mezzanine loan will be satisfied only after the senior debt. As a result, we may not recover some or all of our investment. In addition, mezzanine loans may have higher loan-to-value ratios than conventional mortgage loans, resulting in less equity in the real estate and increasing the risk of loss of principal.
We expect a portion of our real estate-related investments to be illiquid and we may not be able to adjust our portfolio in a timely manner in response to changes in economic and other conditions.
We may acquire real estate-related investments in connection with privately negotiated transactions which are not registered under the relevant securities laws, resulting in a prohibition against their transfer, sale, pledge or other disposition except in a transaction that is exempt from the registration requirements of, or is otherwise not subject to, those laws. As a result, our ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic and other conditions may be relatively limited. The mezzanine and bridge loans we may purchase will be particularly illiquid investments due to their short life, their unsuitability for securitization, and the greater difficulty of recoupment in the event of a borrower’s default.
Bridge loans involve a greater risk of loss than traditional investment-grade mortgage loans with fully insured borrowers.
We have in the past, and may in the future, acquire bridge loans secured by first lien mortgages on a property to borrowers who are typically seeking short-term capital to be used in an acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of a property, or other short-term liquidity needs. The typical borrower under a bridge loan has usually identified an undervalued asset that has been under-managed and/or is located in a recovering market. If the market in which the asset is located fails to recover according to the borrower’s projections, or if the borrower fails to improve the quality of the asset’s management and/or the value of the asset, the borrower may not receive a sufficient return on the asset to satisfy the bridge loan, and we bear the risk that we may not recover some or all of our initial expenditure.
In addition, borrowers usually use the proceeds of a conventional mortgage to repay a bridge loan. A bridge loan therefore is subject to the risk of a borrower’s inability to obtain permanent financing to repay the bridge loan. Bridge loans are also subject to risks of borrower defaults, bankruptcies, fraud, losses, and special hazard losses that are not covered by standard hazard insurance. In the event of any default under bridge loans held by us, we bear the risk of loss of principal and non-payment of interest and fees to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the mortgage collateral and the principal amount and unpaid interest of the bridge loan. To the extent we suffer such losses with respect to our bridge loans, we may be materially and adversely affected.
If we sell real estate-related investments prior to their maturity, we may be forced to sell those investments on unfavorable terms or at a loss.
Our board may choose to sell certain of our assets from time to time, including our real estate-related investments. If we plan to sell those investments prior to their maturity, we may be forced to do so at undesirable times and on unfavorable terms, which may result in losses. For instance, if we sell mortgage loans at a time when prevailing interest rates are higher than the interest rates of such mortgage loans, we would likely sell such loans at a discount to their stated principal values.
Risks Related to the Healthcare Industry
The healthcare industry is heavily regulated and new laws or regulations, changes to existing laws or regulations, loss of licensure or failure to obtain licensure could result in the inability of our tenants to make rent payments to us or adversely affect our operators’ ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures.
The healthcare industry is heavily regulated by federal, state and local governmental bodies. The tenants and operators of our healthcare facilities generally will be subject to laws and regulations covering, among other things, licensure, certification for participation in government programs and relationships with physicians and other referral sources. Changes in these laws and regulations, or a tenant’s or operator’s failure to comply with these laws and regulations, could adversely affect us. For example, such non-compliance could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us. Similarly, were an operator of a facility held in a RIDEA structure (where we are entitled to participate in any positive operating performance of the facility) to fail to comply with a regulatory obligation, it could adversely affect the operating performance of the facility and our participation therein.
Many of our healthcare facilities and their tenants and operators require a license or CON. Failure to obtain a license or CON, or the loss of a required license or CON, would prevent a facility from operating in the manner intended by the tenant or operator. These events could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or for an operator to operate a facility held in a RIDEA structure efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us. Similarly, state and local laws also may regulate expansion, including the addition of new beds or services or the acquisition of medical equipment at a facility, and the construction of healthcare-related facilities, by requiring a CON or other similar approval. State CON laws and other similar laws are not uniform throughout the United States and are subject to change. Restrictions on the expansion of our facilities could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or for an operator to operate a facility held in a RIDEA structure efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us. We cannot predict the impact of state CON laws or similar laws on our development or expansion of facilities or the operations of our tenants or operators.
In addition, in certain areas state CON laws materially limit the ability of competitors to enter into the markets served by our facilities, thereby limiting competition. The repeal of CON laws could allow competitors to freely operate in previously closed markets. Any such increased competition could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or for an operator to operate a facility held in a RIDEA structure efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us. These CON laws could also restrict our ability to expand in new markets.
In certain circumstances, loss of state licensure or certification or closure of a facility could ultimately result in loss of authority to operate the facility or provide services at the facility and require new CON authorization licensure and/or authorization or potential authorization from CMS to re-institute operations. As a result, the value of the facility may be reduced, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Reductions in reimbursement from third-party payors, including Medicare and Medicaid, could adversely affect the operations of our tenants and their ability to make rental payments to us or our operators’ ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures, either of which could materially and adversely affect us.
Sources of revenue for our tenants and operators may include the federal Medicare program, state Medicaid programs, private insurance carriers and health maintenance organizations, among others. Efforts by such payors to reduce healthcare costs will likely continue, which may result in reductions or slower growth in reimbursement for certain services provided by some of our tenants and operators, which could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, the healthcare billing rules and regulations are complex, and the failure of any of our tenants or operators to comply with various laws and regulations could jeopardize their ability to continue participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other government sponsored payment programs. Moreover, the state and federal governmental healthcare payment programs are subject to reductions by state and federal legislative actions, and changes in reimbursement models may reduce our tenants’ and operators’ revenues and adversely affect our tenants’ ability to make rent payments to us or our operators’ ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us.
The healthcare industry continues to face various challenges, including increased government and private payor pressure on healthcare providers to control or reduce costs. It is possible that our tenants and operators will continue to experience a shift in payor mix away from fee-for-service payors, resulting in an increase in the percentage of revenues attributable to reimbursement based upon value-based principles and quality driven managed care programs, and general industry trends that include pressures to control healthcare costs. Pressures to control healthcare costs and a shift away from traditional health insurance reimbursement based upon a fee for service payment to payment based upon quality outcomes have increased the uncertainty of payments.
In addition, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, or the Healthcare Reform Act, was passed with an intent to reduce the number of individuals in the United States without health insurance and effect significant other changes to the ways in which healthcare is organized, delivered and reimbursed. Included within the legislation is a limitation on physician-owned hospitals from expanding facility capacity, unless the facility satisfies very narrow federal exceptions to this limitation. Therefore, if our tenants are physicians that own and refer to a hospital, the hospital may be limited in its operations and expansion potential, which may limit the hospital’s services and resulting revenues and may impact the owner’s ability to make rental payments.
Furthermore, the Healthcare Reform Act included new payment models with new shared savings programs and demonstration programs that include bundled payment models and payments contingent upon reporting on satisfaction of quality benchmarks. The new payment models will likely change how physicians are paid for services. These changes could negatively affect some of our tenants and operators, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was signed into law and repealed the individual mandate financial penalty portion of the Healthcare Reform Act beginning in 2019. With the elimination of the individual mandate enforcement mechanism, several states brought suit seeking to invalidate the entire Healthcare Reform Act. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed this lawsuit without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the law. However, challenges to the Healthcare Reform Act may continue. If all or a portion of the Healthcare Reform Act, including the individual mandate, is eventually ruled unconstitutional, our tenants and operators may have more patients and residents who do not have insurance coverage, which may adversely impact the tenants’ and operators’ collections and revenues. Additionally, in October 2022, the Biden Administration announced new actions by CMS to strengthen accountability for nursing homes participating in the Special Focus Facilities, or SFF, an oversight program designed to monitor poor-performing nursing homes. These reforms include strengthened penalties for SFF nursing homes that fail to improve, increases in safety standards that SFF nursing homes must implement and increased communication between CMS and SFF nursing homes. The announcement further noted that the administration will continue to take administrative action to improve oversight of nursing homes moving forward. The financial impact on our tenants and operators could adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or an operator’s ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We cannot predict the ultimate content, timing or effect of any further healthcare reform legislation or the impact of potential legislation on us. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare services, which may adversely impact our tenants’ ability to make rental payments to us or our operators’ ability to operate facilities held in RIDEA structures efficiently, either of, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
If seniors delay moving to senior housing facilities until they require greater care or forgo moving to senior housing facilities altogether, such action could have a material adverse effect on us.
Seniors have been increasingly delaying their moves to senior housing facilities, including to our senior housing—leased facilities and SHOP, until they require greater care and are increasingly forgoing moving to senior housing facilities altogether. Further, rehabilitation therapy and other services are increasingly being provided to seniors on an outpatient basis or in seniors’ personal residences in response to market demand and government regulation, which may increase the trend for seniors to delay moving to senior housing facilities. Such delays may cause decreases in occupancy rates and increases in resident turnover rates at our senior housing facilities. Moreover, seniors may have greater care needs and require higher acuity services, which may increase our tenants’ and operators’ cost of business, expose our tenants and operators to additional liability, or result in lost business and shorter stays at our leased and managed senior housing facilities if our tenants and operators are not able to provide the requisite care services or fail to adequately provide those services. These trends may negatively impact the occupancy rates and revenues at our leased and managed senior housing, which could have a material adverse effect on us. Further, if any of our tenants or operators are unable to offset lost revenues from these trends by providing and growing other revenue sources, such as new or increased service offerings to seniors, our senior housing facilities may be unprofitable, we may receive lower returns and rent, and the value of our senior housing facilities may decline.
Events that adversely affect the ability of seniors and their families to afford resident fees at our senior housing facilities could cause our occupancy rates and revenues to decline, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Costs to seniors associated with independent and assisted living services are generally not reimbursable under Medicare, and the scope of services that may be covered by Medicaid varies by state. In many cases, only seniors with income or assets meeting or exceeding the comparable median in the regions where our facilities are located typically will be able to afford to pay the entrance fees and monthly resident fees, and a weak economy, depressed housing market or changes in demographics could adversely affect their continued ability to do so. If our tenants and operators are unable to retain and attract seniors with sufficient income, assets or other resources required to pay the fees associated with independent and assisted living services and other services provided by our tenants and operators at our healthcare facilities, our occupancy rates and revenues could decline, which could, in turn, materially and adversely affect us.
Some tenants and operators of our facilities will be subject to fraud and abuse laws, the violation of which could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or an operator’s ability to operate a facility held in a RIDEA structure efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us.
There are various federal, foreign and state laws prohibiting fraudulent and abusive business practices by healthcare providers who participate in, receive payments from, or are in a position to make referrals in connection with government-sponsored healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Our contractual arrangements with tenants and operators may also be subject to these fraud and abuse laws, including federal laws such as the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law. Moreover, our agreements with tenants and operators may be required to satisfy individual state law requirements that vary from state to state, which impacts the terms and conditions that may be negotiated in such agreements.
These federal and foreign laws include:
•the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a criminal law which prohibits, among other things, the offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in return for, or to induce, the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any item or service for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid;
•the Federal Physician Self-Referral Prohibition, which, subject to specific exceptions, restricts physicians from making referrals for specifically designated health services for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs to an entity with which the physician, or an immediate family member, has a financial relationship;
•the False Claims Act, which prohibits any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, false or fraudulent claims for payment or approval that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government, including claims paid by the Medicare and Medicaid programs;
•the Civil Monetary Penalties Law, which authorizes the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to impose monetary penalties or exclusion from participating in state or federal healthcare programs for certain fraudulent acts;
•the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, which makes it a federal crime to defraud any health benefit plan, including private payors;
•the Exclusions Law, which authorizes the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to exclude persons or entities from participating in state or federal healthcare programs for certain fraudulent acts; and
•the UK Bribery Act 2010, a criminal law which relates to any function of a public nature, connected with a business, performed in the course of a person’s employment or performed on behalf of a company or another body of persons, covering bribery both in the public and private sectors.
Each of these laws includes criminal and/or civil penalties for violations that range from punitive sanctions, damage assessments, penalties, imprisonment, denial of Medicare and Medicaid payments and/or exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Monetary penalties associated with violations of these laws have been increased in recent years. Certain laws, such as the False Claims Act, allow for individuals to bring whistleblower actions on behalf of the government for violations thereof. Additionally, states in which the facilities are located may have similar fraud and abuse laws. Investigation by a federal or state governmental body for violation of fraud and abuse laws or imposition of any of these penalties upon one of our tenants or operators could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or an operator’s ability to operate a facility held in a RIDEA structure efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Efforts to ensure compliance with applicable healthcare laws and regulations may cause our tenants and operators to incur substantial costs that could materially and adversely affect a tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us or an operator’s ability to operate a facility held in a RIDEA structure efficiently, either of which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Adverse trends in healthcare provider operations may materially and adversely affect us.
The healthcare industry is currently experiencing:
•changes in the demand for and methods of delivering healthcare services;
•changes in third-party reimbursement policies;
•significant unused capacity in certain areas, which has created substantial competition for patients among healthcare providers in those areas;
•increased expenses for uninsured patients;
•increased competition among healthcare providers;
•increased liability insurance expenses;
•continued pressure by private and governmental payors to reduce payments to providers of services;
•increased scrutiny of billing, referral and other practices by federal and state authorities;
•changes in federal and state healthcare program payment models;
•increased emphasis on compliance with privacy and security requirements related to personal health information; and
•increased instability in the Health Insurance Exchange market and lack of access to insurance plans participating in the exchange.
Additionally, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, many governmental entities relaxed certain licensure and other regulatory requirements relating to telemedicine, allowing more patients to virtually access care without having to visit a healthcare facility. If governmental and regulatory authorities continue to allow for increased virtual healthcare, this may affect the demand for some of our properties, such as MOBs.
These factors may negatively affect the economic performance of some or all of our tenants and operators, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Our tenants and operators may be affected by the financial deterioration, insolvency and/or bankruptcy of other companies in the healthcare industry.
Certain companies in the healthcare industry, including some key senior housing operators, are experiencing considerable financial, legal and/or regulatory difficulties which have resulted or may result in financial deterioration and, in some cases, insolvency and/or bankruptcy. The adverse effects on these companies could have a significant impact on the industry as a whole, including but not limited to negative public perception by investors, lenders, patients and residents. As a result, our tenants and properties managed by our operators could experience the damaging financial effects of a weakened industry sector driven by negative headlines, and we could be materially and adversely affected.
Our tenants and operators may be subject to significant legal and regulatory actions that could subject them to increased operating costs and substantial uninsured liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Our tenants and operators may become subject to claims that their services have resulted in patient injury or other adverse effects. Healthcare providers have experienced an increasing trend in the frequency and severity of professional liability and general liability insurance claims and litigation asserted against them. The insurance coverage maintained by our tenants and operators may not cover all claims made against them nor continue to be available at a reasonable cost, if at all. In some states, insurance coverage for the risk of punitive damages arising from professional liability and general liability claims and/or litigation may not, in certain cases, be available to our tenants and operators due to state law prohibitions or limitations of availability. As a result, tenants and operators of our MOBs, senior housing, SNFs, hospitals and other healthcare-related facilities operating in these states may be liable for punitive damage awards that are either not covered or are in excess of their insurance policy limits. We also believe that there has been, and will continue to be, an increase in regulatory or other governmental investigations of certain healthcare providers, particularly in the area of Medicare/Medicaid false claims, as well as an increase in enforcement actions resulting from these investigations. Insurance may not always be available to cover such losses. Any adverse determination in a legal proceeding or regulatory or other governmental investigation, whether currently asserted or arising in the future, could negatively affect a tenant’s or operator’s business and financial strength. If a tenant or
operator is unable to obtain or maintain insurance coverage, if judgments are obtained in excess of the insurance coverage, if uninsured punitive damages are required to be paid, or if an uninsurable government enforcement action is brought, the tenant or operator could be exposed to substantial additional liabilities, which may affect the tenant’s ability to pay rent to us or the operator’s ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We, our tenants and our operators for our senior housing facilities and SNFs may be subject to various government reviews, audits and investigations that could materially and adversely affect us, including an obligation to refund amounts previously paid to us, potential criminal charges, the imposition of fines and/or the loss of the right to participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
We, our tenants and our operators for our senior housing facilities and SNFs are subject to various governmental reviews, audits and investigations to verify compliance with the Medicaid and Medicare programs and applicable laws and regulations. We, our tenants and our operators for our senior housing facilities and SNFs are also subject to audits under various government programs, including Recovery Audit Contractors, Unified Program Integrity Contractors, and other third party audit programs, in which third-party firms engaged by CMS conduct extensive reviews of claims data and medical and other records to identify potential improper payments under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Private pay sources also reserve the right to conduct audits. An adverse review, audit or investigation could result in:
•an obligation to refund amounts previously paid to us, our tenants or our operators pursuant to the Medicare or Medicaid programs or from private payors, in amounts that could be material to us;
•state or federal agencies imposing fines, penalties and other sanctions on us, our tenants or our operators;
•loss of our right, our tenants’ right or our operators’ right to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs or one or more private payor networks;
•an increase in private litigation against us, our tenants or our operators; and
•damage to our reputation in various markets.
While we, our tenants and our operators for our senior housing facilities and SNFs have always been subject to post-payment audits and reviews, more intensive “probe reviews” appear to be a permanent procedure with our fiscal intermediaries. If the government or a court were to conclude that such errors, deficiencies or disagreements constituted criminal violations or were to conclude that such errors, deficiencies or disagreements resulted in the submission of false claims to federal healthcare programs, or if the government were to discover other problems in addition to the ones identified by the probe reviews that rose to actionable levels, our tenants and operators might face potential criminal charges and/or civil claims, administrative sanctions and penalties for amounts that could be material to us. In addition, other key personnel and our tenants and operators and their other key personnel could be temporarily or permanently excluded from future participation in state and federal healthcare reimbursement programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. In any event, it is likely that a governmental investigation alone, regardless of its outcome, would divert material time, resources and attention from our management team and our staff or those of our tenants and our operators and could materially and adversely affect us during and after any such investigation or proceedings.
In cases where claim and documentation review by any CMS contractor results in repeated poor performance, a facility can be subjected to protracted oversight. This oversight may include repeat education and re-probe, extended pre-payment review, referral to recovery audit or integrity contractors, or extrapolation of an error rate to other reimbursement outside of specifically reviewed claims. Sustained failure to demonstrate improvement towards meeting all claim filing and documentation requirements could ultimately lead to Medicare and Medicaid decertification, which materially and adversely affects us. Adverse actions by CMS may also cause third party payor or licensure authorities to audit our tenants or operators. These additional audits could result in termination of third-party payor agreements or licensure of the facility, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
In addition, our tenants and operators that accepted relief funds distributed to combat the adverse effects of COVID-19 and reimburse providers for unreimbursed expenses and lost revenues may be subject to certain reporting and auditing obligations associated with the receipt of such relief funds. If these tenants or operators fail to comply with the terms and conditions associated with relief funds, they may be subject to government recovery and enforcement actions. Furthermore, regulatory guidance relating to use of the relief funds, recordkeeping requirements and other terms and conditions continues to evolve and there is a high degree of uncertainty surrounding many aspects of the relief funds. This uncertainty may create compliance challenges for tenants and operators who accepted relief funds.
The Healthcare Reform Act and similar foreign laws impose additional requirements regarding compliance and disclosure.
The Healthcare Reform Act requires SNFs to have a compliance and ethics program that is effective in preventing and detecting criminal, civil and administrative violations and in promoting quality of care. The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services included in the final rule published on October 4, 2016 the requirement for operators to implement a compliance and ethics program as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid. Long-term care facilities, including SNFs, had until November 28, 2019 to comply. If our operators fall short in their compliance and ethics programs and quality assurance and performance improvement programs, if and when required, their reputations and ability to attract patients and residents could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Similar requirements also apply to healthcare properties in the UK under national law and guidance. The Health & Care Professions Council, the regulator of health, psychological and care professionals in the UK, requires a qualification to demonstrate standards of proficiency and also set standards, hold a register, quality assure education and investigate complaints. They have set out an ethical framework with standards of conduct, performance and ethics including restrictions on confidentiality and the use of social media. If any of our operators in the UK fall short in their obligations, their reputations and ability to attract patients and residents may be adversely affect which might have a material adverse effect on their business and by extension us.
Risks Related to Joint Ventures
Property ownership through joint ventures could limit our control of those investments or our decisions with respect to other investments, restrict our ability to operate and finance properties on our terms, and reduce their expected return.
In connection with the purchase of real estate, we have entered, and may continue to enter, into joint ventures with third parties. We may also purchase or develop properties in co-ownership arrangements with the property sellers, developers or other parties. We may own properties through both consolidated and unconsolidated joint ventures. These structures involve participation in the investment by other parties whose interests and rights may not be the same as ours. Our joint ventures, and joint ventures we may enter into in the future, may involve risks not present with respect to our wholly owned properties, including the following:
•we may share with, or even delegate decision-making authority to, our joint venture partners regarding certain major decisions affecting the ownership or operation of the joint venture and the joint venture property, such as, but not limited to, (1) additional capital contribution requirements, (2) obtaining, refinancing or paying off debt and (3) obtaining consent prior to the sale or transfer of our interest in the joint venture to a third party, which may prevent us from taking actions that are opposed by our joint venture partners;
•our joint venture partners may have business interests or goals with respect to the joint venture property that conflict with our business interests and goals, which could increase the likelihood of disputes regarding the ownership, management or disposition of the property;
•in some instances, we may enter into arrangements with our joint venture partners that may (1) require an acquisition opportunity to be allocated to the joint venture when we otherwise may have acquired the asset ourselves or (2) cause the joint venture to sell an asset at a time when we otherwise may not have initiated such a transaction;
•disputes may develop with our joint venture partners over decisions affecting the joint venture property or the joint venture, which may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and distract our officers from focusing their time and effort on our business, disrupt the day-to-day operations of the property, such as by delaying the implementation of important decisions until the conflict is resolved, have an adverse impact on the operations and profitability of the joint venture and possibly force a sale of the property if the dispute cannot be resolved;
•our joint venture partners may be unable to or refuse to make capital contributions when due, or otherwise fail to meet their obligations, which could require us to fund the shortfall or forego our equity in the joint venture; and
•the activities of a joint venture could adversely affect our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT.
As of December 31, 2022, we indirectly own a 73.1% interest in Trilogy, a consolidated joint venture representing approximately 41.1% of our portfolio (based on aggregate contract purchase price) and contributing approximately 46.8% of our Annualized Base Rent / Annualized NOI as of such date. Approximately 23.1% of Trilogy is indirectly owned by NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc., or NorthStar, with the remaining 3.8% primarily owned by affiliates of the Trilogy Manager, an eligible independent contractor, or EIK, that manages the day-to-day operations of the joint venture. In addition to relying on the Trilogy Manager to manage the joint venture effectively, our investment in Trilogy exposes us to many of the risks described above with respect to joint venture investments generally. For example, other parties with interests in Trilogy have certain rights that could affect our investment in Trilogy. There are certain decisions that are deemed “major decisions” with respect to Trilogy’s business (such as terminating the management agreement with the Trilogy Manager, taking certain actions under the management agreement, making certain sales of the Trilogy properties, and taking certain other actions with respect
to the Trilogy portfolio) that require the approval of NorthStar. It is possible that NorthStar will have interests that differ from ours, and our ability to pursue our interests we may be limited by their rights under the joint venture arrangements. Additionally, if we seek to transfer our indirect ownership interests in Trilogy, we are required to first offer such interests to NorthStar, which could delay our ability to sell such interests or adversely affect the price we receive in connection with a sale. In addition, in certain circumstances, we and NorthStar have the right to force the sale of all of Trilogy’s assets, provided that, if this right is triggered by a party, the non-triggering party has a right to elect to purchase the Trilogy assets. This could cause us to increase our investment in Trilogy or result in the sale of Trilogy at a time when we would not to choose to effect a sale.
If we serve as a managing member, general partner or controlling party with respect to investments or joint ventures, we may be subject to risks and liabilities that we would not otherwise face.
In certain circumstances, we may serve as managing member, general partner or controlling party with respect to investments and joint ventures. In such instances, we may face additional risks including, among others, the following:
•we may have increased duties to the other investors or partners in the investment or venture;
•in the event of certain events or conflicts, our partners may have recourse against us, including the right to monetary penalties, the ability to force a sale or exit the investment or venture;
•our partners may have the right to remove us as the general partner or managing member in certain cases involving cause; and
•our subsidiaries that would be the general partner or managing member of the investment or venture could be generally liable, under applicable law or the governing agreement of a venture, for the debts and obligations of the investment or venture, subject to certain exculpation and indemnification rights pursuant to the terms of the governing agreement.
We may structure our joint venture relationships in a manner which limits the amount we participate in the cash flows or appreciation of an investment.
We have entered, and may continue to enter, into joint venture agreements, the economic terms of which may provide for the distribution of income to us otherwise than in direct proportion to our ownership interest in the joint venture. For example, while we and another joint venture party may invest an equal amount of capital in an investment, the investment may be structured such that one joint venture partner has a right to priority distributions of cash flows up to a certain target return while another joint venture partner may receive a disproportionately greater share of cash flows once such target return has been achieved. This type of investment structure may result in our joint venture partner receiving more of the cash flows, including any from appreciation, of an investment than we receive. If we do not accurately judge the appreciation prospects of a particular investment or structure the venture appropriately, we may incur losses on joint venture investments or have limited participation in the profits of a joint venture investment, either of which could reduce our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Risks Related to Debt Financing
We have substantial indebtedness and may incur additional indebtedness in the future, which could materially and adversely affect us.
We have substantial indebtedness and may incur additional indebtedness in the future, which could materially and adversely affect us. As of December 31, 2022, we had indebtedness of $2,537,113,000, which comprises $1,282,634,000 in unsecured debt (lines of credit and term loans) and $1,254,479,000 in mortgage loans payable. Though we anticipate that our overall leverage will not exceed 50.0% of the combined fair market value of all of our properties and other real estate-related investments, as determined at the end of each calendar year, our organizational documents do not place a limitation on the amount of leverage that we may incur, and we could incur leverage substantially in excess of this amount. We expect to fund a portion of our cash needs, including funding investment activity, with additional indebtedness. Our ability to access additional debt capital and the cost of other terms thereof will be significantly influenced by our creditworthiness and any rating assigned by a rating agency, as well as by general economic and market conditions. Significant secured and unsecured indebtedness adversely affects our creditworthiness and could prevent us from achieving an investment grade credit rating or cause a rating agency to lower a rating or to place a rating on a “watchlist” for possible downgrade. Deteriorations in our creditworthiness or in any ratings that we may achieve, or the perception that any such deterioration may occur, would adversely affect our ability to access additional debt capital and increase the cost of any debt capital that is available to us and may require us to accept restrictive covenants. A reduction in our access to debt capital, an increase in the cost thereof or our acceptance of restrictive covenants could limit our ability to achieve our business objectives and pursue our growth strategies.
Additionally, interest rates have significantly increased, and may continue to significantly increase, our interest costs. Expensive debt could reduce or limit our available cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and
development projects, hinder our ability to meet certain debt service ratios under our credit agreements or impose restrictions on our ability to incur additional debt for so long as certain debt service ratios are not met.
We may also incur mortgage debt and other property-level debt on properties that we already own in order to obtain funds to acquire additional properties or make other capital investments. In addition, we may borrow as necessary or advisable to ensure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, including borrowings to satisfy the REIT requirement that we distribute at least 90.0% of our annual REIT taxable income to our stockholders. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain any such borrowings on favorable terms or at all.
If we mortgage a property and there is a shortfall between the cash flows from that property and the cash flows needed to service mortgage debt on that property, our financial results would be negatively affected and the amount of cash available for distributions to stockholders would be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss of a property since defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure actions. If any mortgages contain cross-collateralization or cross-default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple properties. In addition, lenders may have recourse to assets other than those specifically securing the repayment of indebtedness. For tax purposes, a foreclosure on any of our properties will be treated as a disposition of the property, which could cause us to recognize taxable income on foreclosure, without receiving corresponding cash proceeds. We may give full or partial guarantees to lenders of mortgage debt on behalf of the entities that own our properties. When we give a guaranty on behalf of an entity that owns one of our properties, we will be responsible to the lender for satisfaction of the debt if it is not paid by such entity.
A significant amount of debt subjects us to many risks that, if realized, would materially and adversely affect us, including the risk that:
•our cash flow from operating activities could become insufficient to make required payments of principal and interest on our debt, which would likely result in (i) acceleration of the debt (and any other debt containing a cross-default or cross-acceleration provision), increasing the likelihood of further distress if refinancing is not available on favorable terms or at all, (ii) our inability to borrow undrawn amounts under other existing financing arrangements, even if we have timely made all required payments under such arrangements, further compromising our liquidity and/or (iii) the loss of some or all of our assets that are pledged as collateral in connection with our financing arrangements;
•our debt may increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions with no assurance that such debt will increase our investment returns in an amount sufficient to offset the associated risks relating to leverage;
•we may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operating activities to payments on our debt, thereby reducing funds available for operations, future business opportunities, stockholder distributions and/or other purposes; and
•to the extent the maturity of certain debt occurs prior to the maturity of a related asset pledged or transferred as collateral for such debt, we may not be able to refinance that debt on favorable terms or at all, which may reduce available liquidity and/or cause significant losses to us.
To the extent we borrow funds at floating interest rates, we will be adversely affected by rising interest rates unless fully hedged. Rising interest rates will also increase our interest expense on future fixed-rate debt.
Interest we pay on our debt obligations reduces our financial results and cash available for distributions to our stockholders. Whenever we incur variable-rate debt, increases in interest rates would increase our interest expense unless fully hedged. As of December 31, 2022, our outstanding debt aggregated $2,537,113,000, of which 65.1% was unhedged variable-rate debt. In January 2023, we entered into an interest rate swap contract to hedge $275,000,000 of our floating rate term loan under our existing credit facility. Rising interest rates will also increase our interest expense on future fixed-rate debt. If we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, which is currently the case, we could be required to sell one or more of our properties at times which may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments, which could result in losses.
To the extent we borrow at fixed rates or enter into fixed interest rate swaps, we will not benefit from reduced interest expense if interest rates decrease.
We are exposed to the effects of interest rate changes primarily as a result of borrowings we have used to maintain liquidity and fund expansion and refinancing of our real estate investment portfolio and operations. To limit the impact of interest rate changes on earnings, prepayment penalties and cash flows and to lower overall borrowing costs while taking into account variable interest rate risk, we have borrowed, and may continue to borrow, at fixed rates or variable rates depending upon prevailing market conditions. We have and may also continue to enter into derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swaps and caps in order to mitigate our interest rate risk on a related financial instrument. Therefore, to the extent we borrow at fixed rates or enter into fixed interest rate swaps, we will not benefit from reduced interest expense if interest rates decrease.
Hedging activity may expose us to risks.
We have used, and may continue to use, derivative financial instruments to hedge our exposure to changes in exchange rates and interest rates. If we use derivative financial instruments to hedge against exchange rate or interest rate fluctuations, we will be exposed to credit risk and legal enforceability risks. In this context, credit risk is the failure of the counterparty to perform under the terms of the derivative contract. If the fair value of a derivative contract is positive, the counterparty owes us, which creates credit risk for us. Legal enforceability risks encompass general contractual risks, including the risk that the counterparty will breach the terms of, or fail to perform its obligations under, the derivative contract. These derivative instruments are speculative in nature and there is no guarantee that they will be effective. If we are unable to manage these risks effectively, we could be materially and adversely affected.
Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our business.
When providing financing, a lender may impose restrictions on us that affect our ability to incur additional debt, make distributions to our stockholders and operate our business. We have entered into, and may continue to enter into, loan documents that contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage the property or discontinue insurance coverage. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our business objectives.
Interest-only indebtedness may increase our risk of default, adversely affect our ability to refinance or sell properties and ultimately may reduce our funds available for distribution to our stockholders.
We may finance or refinance our properties using interest-only mortgage indebtedness. During the interest-only period, the amount of each scheduled payment will be less than that of a traditional amortizing mortgage loan. The principal balance of the mortgage loan will not be reduced (except in the case of prepayments) because there are no scheduled monthly payments of principal during this period. After the interest-only period, we will be required either to make scheduled payments of amortized principal and interest or to make a lump-sum or “balloon” payment at maturity. At the time such a balloon payment is due, we may or may not be able to refinance the balloon payment on terms as favorable as the original loan or sell the particular property at a price sufficient to make the balloon payment. Furthermore, these required principal or balloon payments will increase the amount of our scheduled payments and may increase our risk of default under the related mortgage loan. If the mortgage loan has an adjustable interest rate, the amount of our scheduled payments would likely increase at a time of rising interest rates, depending upon the adjustment terms. In addition, payments of principal and interest made to service our debt, including balloon payments, may leave us with insufficient cash to pay the distributions to our stockholders, including those that we are required to pay to maintain our qualification as a REIT. Any of these results could have a material adverse effect on us.
If we are required to make payments under any “bad boy” carve-out guaranties that we may provide in connection with certain mortgages and related loans, we could be materially and adversely affected.
In obtaining certain nonrecourse loans, we have provided, and may continue to provide, standard carve-out guaranties. These guaranties are only applicable if and when the borrower directly, or indirectly through agreement with an affiliate, joint venture partner or other third party, voluntarily files a bankruptcy or similar liquidation or reorganization action or takes other actions that are fraudulent or improper (commonly referred to as “bad boy” guaranties). Although we believe that “bad boy” carve-out guaranties are not guaranties of payment in the event of foreclosure or other actions of the foreclosing lender that are beyond the borrower’s control, some lenders in the real estate industry have recently sought to make claims for payment under such guaranties. In the event such a claim was made against us under a “bad boy” carve-out guaranty following foreclosure on mortgages or related loans, and such claim was successful, we could be materially and adversely affected.
We may be adversely affected by the transition away from LIBOR and the use of SOFR or other alternative benchmark rates.
London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, and other indices which are deemed “benchmarks” are the subject of recent national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. The Financial Conduct Authority ceased publishing one-week and two-month LIBOR after December 31, 2021 and intends to cease publishing all remaining LIBOR index maturities after June 30, 2023. It currently appears that U.S. dollar LIBOR will likely be replaced by SOFR, though it is not certain whether or when SOFR or other alternative reference rates will attain market traction as replacements for LIBOR.
SOFR and SOFR-based rates have a limited history, and there is no assurance that SOFR, or rates derived from SOFR, will perform in the same or a similar way as LIBOR would have performed at any time, and there is no assurance that SOFR-based rates will ultimately prove to be a suitable substitute for LIBOR. SOFR-based reference rates cannot be predicted based on SOFR’s history, and future levels of SOFR may bear little or no relation to historical levels of SOFR, LIBOR or other rates. Additionally, SOFR has been more volatile than other benchmark or market rates, such as three-month LIBOR. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that our transition to term SOFR in connection with our floating rate or future fixed-rate borrowings will not result in increased volatility in our cost of borrowing or increased interest expense compared to our historical experience. Additionally, the inability or any inefficiency in market participants’ ability to hedge SOFR-based transactions or the illiquidity or relative illiquidity in the market for SOFR-based instruments may increase the costs associated with SOFR-based debt instruments or our ability to hedge our exposure to floating interest rates. Any of these changes could have a material adverse effect on the value of financial assets and liabilities based on or linked to SOFR or another benchmark, including our own.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Organization
Future offerings of debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock, or equity securities, which would dilute our existing stockholders and may be senior to our common stock, may adversely affect our stockholders.
We may in the future attempt to increase our capital resources by offering debt or equity securities, including notes and classes of preferred or common stock. Debt securities or shares of preferred stock will generally be entitled to receive interest payments or distributions, both current and in connection with any liquidation or sale, prior to the holders of our common stock. We are not required to offer any such additional debt or preferred stock to existing common stockholders on a preemptive basis. Therefore, issuances of common stock or other equity securities will generally dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders. Because we may generally issue any such debt or preferred stock in the future without obtaining the approval of our stockholders, you will bear the risk of our future issuances reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting your proportionate ownership. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the form amount, timing or nature of our future issuances.
In addition, subject to any limitations set forth under Maryland law, our board may amend our charter to increase or decrease the number of authorized shares of stock, or the number of shares of any class or series of stock designated, or reclassify any unissued shares into other classes or series of stock without the necessity of obtaining stockholder approval. All such shares may be issued in the sole discretion of our board. In addition, we have granted, and expect to grant in the future, equity awards under our incentive plan to our independent directors and certain of our employees, including our executive officers, which to date have consisted of our restricted stock and restricted share units, which are exchangeable into shares of our common stock subject to satisfaction of certain conditions. Finally, we have OP units outstanding which are redeemable for cash or, at our election, exchangeable into shares of our common stock.
Therefore, existing stockholders will experience dilution of their equity investment in us as we (1) sell additional shares of our common stock in the future, (2) sell securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our common stock, including OP units, (3) issue restricted shares of our common stock, restricted stock units or other equity-based securities under the AHR Incentive Plan or (4) issue shares of our common stock in a merger or to sellers of properties acquired by us in connection with an exchange of OP units.
Because the OP units may, at our election, be exchanged for shares of our common stock, any merger, exchange or conversion between our operating partnership and another entity ultimately could result in the issuance of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, thereby diluting the percentage ownership interest of other stockholders. Because of these and other reasons, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution in their equity investment in us.
Our ability to issue preferred stock may include a preference in distributions superior to our common stock and also may deter or prevent a sale of shares of our common stock in which our stockholders could profit.
Our charter authorizes our board to issue up to 200,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Our board has the discretion to establish the preferences and rights, including a preference in distributions superior to our common stockholders, of any issued preferred stock. If we authorize and issue preferred stock with a distribution preference over our common stock, payment of any distribution preferences of outstanding preferred stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of distributions on our common stock. Further, holders of preferred stock are normally entitled to receive a preference payment in the event we liquidate, dissolve or wind up before any payment is made to our common stockholders, likely reducing the amount our common stockholders would otherwise receive upon such an occurrence. In addition, under certain circumstances, the issuance of preferred stock or a separate class or series of common stock may render more difficult or tend to discourage:
•a merger, tender offer or proxy contest;
•assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities; or
•removal of incumbent management.
We may be unable to raise additional capital needed to grow our business.
We may not be able to increase our capital resources by engaging in additional debt or equity financings. Even if we complete such financings, they may not be on favorable terms. These circumstances could materially and adversely affect our financial results and impair our ability to achieve our business objectives. Additionally, we may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness or take other actions (including terms that require us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios) that would otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
The limit on the percentage of shares of our common stock that any person may own may discourage a takeover or business combination that may have benefited our stockholders.
Our charter restricts the direct or indirect ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.9% of the value of shares of our then outstanding capital stock (which includes common stock and any preferred stock we may issue) and no more than 9.9% of the value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our then outstanding common stock. This restriction may discourage a change of control of us and may deter individuals or entities from making tender offers for shares of our stock on terms that might be financially attractive to our stockholders or which may cause a change in our management. This ownership restriction may also prohibit business combinations that would have otherwise been approved by our board and our stockholders. In addition to deterring potential transactions that may be favorable to our stockholders, these provisions may also decrease our stockholders’ ability to sell their shares of our common stock.
Our stockholders’ ability to control our operations is severely limited.
Our board determines our major strategies, including our strategies regarding investments, financing, growth, capitalization, REIT qualification and distributions. Our board may amend or revise these and other strategies without a vote of the stockholders. Under our charter and Maryland law, our stockholders have a right to vote only on the following matters:
•the election or removal of directors;
•the amendment of our charter, except that our board may amend our charter without stockholder approval to change our name or the name of other designation or the par value of any class or series of our stock and the aggregate par value of our stock, increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have the authority to issue, or effect certain reverse stock splits;
•our dissolution; and
•certain mergers, consolidations, conversions, statutory share exchanges and sales or other dispositions of all or substantially all of our assets.
All other matters are subject to the sole discretion of our board.
Conflicts of interest could arise as a result of our officers’ other positions and/or interests outside of our company.
We rely on our management for implementation of our policies and our day-to-day operations. Although a majority of their business time is spent working for our company, they may engage in other investment and business activities in which we have no economic interest. Their responsibilities to these other entities could result in action or inaction that is detrimental to our business, which could harm the implementation of our growth strategies and achievement of our business strategies. They
may face conflicts of interest in allocating time among us and their other business ventures and in meeting obligations to us and those other entities.
Maryland law prohibits certain business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us to be acquired and may limit or delay our stockholders’ ability to dispose of their shares of our common stock.
Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, or the MGCL, such as the business combination statute and the control share acquisition statute, are designed to prevent, or have the effect of preventing, someone from acquiring control of us. The MGCL prohibits “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and:
•any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10.0% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock, which is referred to as an “interested stockholder”;
•an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was an interested stockholder; or
•an affiliate of an interested stockholder.
These prohibitions last for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder. Thereafter, any business combination with the interested stockholder or an affiliate of the interested stockholder must be recommended by the corporation’s board and approved by the affirmative vote of at least 80.0% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation, and two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation other than shares of voting stock held by the interested stockholder. These requirements could have the effect of inhibiting a change in control even if a change in control were in our stockholders’ best interests.
Pursuant to the MGCL, our bylaws exempt us from the control share acquisition statute, which eliminates voting rights for certain levels of shares that could exercise control over us, and our board has adopted a resolution providing that any business combination between us and any other person is exempted from the business combination statute, provided that such business combination is first approved by our board. However, if the bylaws provision exempting us from the control share acquisition statute or our board resolution opting out of the business combination statute were repealed in whole or in part at any time, these provisions of the MGCL could delay or prevent offers to acquire us and increase the difficulty of consummating any such offers, even if such a transaction would be in our stockholders’ best interest.
The MGCL and our organizational documents limit our stockholders’ right to bring claims against our officers and directors.
The MGCL provides that a director has no liability in such capacity if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the corporation’s best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Our charter requires us, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, to indemnify and advance expenses to our directors and officers and our subsidiaries’ directors and officers. Additionally, our charter limits, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for monetary damages. Moreover, we have entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers and intend to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our future directors and executive officers. Although our charter does not limit the liability of our directors and officers or allow us to indemnify our directors and officers to a greater extent than permitted under Maryland law, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors and officers than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery against them. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors and officers in some cases, which would decrease the cash otherwise available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our stockholders’ investment return may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we become subject to registration under the Investment Company Act, we may not be able to continue our business.
We do not intend to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We monitor our operations and our assets on an ongoing basis in order to ensure that neither we, nor any of our subsidiaries, meet the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act. If we were obligated to register as an investment company, we would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act imposing, among other things: limitations on capital structure; restrictions on specified investments; prohibitions on transactions with affiliates; compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy disclosure and other rules and regulations that would significantly change our operations; and potentially, compliance with daily valuation requirements.
To maintain compliance with our Investment Company Act exemption, we may be unable to sell assets we would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets we would otherwise wish to retain. Similarly, we may have to acquire additional income- or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise have acquired or may have to forgo opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire and would be important to our investment strategy. Accordingly, our board may not be able to change our investment policies as our board may deem appropriate if such change would cause us to meet the definition of an “investment company.” In addition, a change in the value of any of our assets could negatively affect our ability to avoid being required to register as an investment company. If we were required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, but failed to do so, we would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and criminal and civil actions could be brought against us. In addition, our contracts would be unenforceable unless a court were to require enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of us and liquidate our business, which would result in our stockholders’ losing all of their investment in us.
Our structure may result in potential conflicts of interest with limited partners in our operating partnership whose interests may not be aligned with those of our stockholders.
Our directors and officers have duties to us and our stockholders under Maryland law and our charter in connection with their management of us. At the same time, the general partner of our operating partnership, of which we are the sole owner, has fiduciary duties under Delaware law to our operating partnership and to the limited partners in connection with the management of our operating partnership. The duties of the general partner to our operating partnership and its partners may come into conflict with the duties of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders. Under Delaware law, a general partner of a Delaware limited partnership owes its limited partners the duties of good faith and fair dealing. Other duties, including fiduciary duties, may be modified or eliminated in the partnership agreement. If there is a conflict in the fiduciary duties owed by us (as the sole member of the general partner) to our stockholders on one hand and by the general partner to any limited partners on the other, we shall be entitled to resolve such conflict in favor of our stockholders.
Additionally, the partnership agreement expressly limits our liability by providing that we and our officers, directors, stockholders, trustees, representatives, agents and employees will not be liable or accountable to our operating partnership for (i) any act or omission performed or failed to be performed, or for any losses, claims, costs, damages, or liabilities arising from any such act or omission, (ii) any tax liability imposed on our operating partnership or (iii) any losses due to the misconduct, negligence (gross or ordinary), dishonesty or bad faith of any agents of our operating partnership, if we or any such person acted consistent with the obligation of good faith and fair dealing and with applicable duties of care and loyalty. In addition, our operating partnership is required to indemnify us and our officers, directors, employees and designees to the extent permitted by applicable law from and against any and all claims arising from operations of our operating partnership, unless it is established that: (i) the act or omission was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and either was committed in bad faith or was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty; (ii) the indemnified party received an improper personal benefit, in money, property or services; or (iii) in the case of a criminal proceeding, the indemnified person had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful. The provisions of Delaware law that allow the fiduciary duties of a general partner to be modified by a partnership agreement have not been tested in a court of law, and we have not obtained an opinion of counsel covering the provisions set forth in the partnership agreement that purport to waive or restrict our fiduciary duties.
Risks Related to Taxes and Our REIT Status
Failure to maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes would subject us to U.S. federal income tax on our REIT taxable income at the regular corporate rate, which would substantially reduce our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Code commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2016. We believe that we have been, and, through the time of the REIT Merger, GAHR III was, organized and operated, and we intend to continue to operate in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code. To continue to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must meet various requirements set forth in the Code concerning, among other things, the ownership of our outstanding common stock, the nature of our assets, the sources of our income, and the amount of our distributions to stockholders. In addition, if it is determined that GAHR III lost, in any year prior to the REIT Merger, its qualification as a REIT without being entitled to any relief under the statutory provisions to preserve REIT status, we, as a “successor” to GAHR III under the REIT rules, will not be able to qualify as a REIT to the extent we are unable to avail ourselves of any relief under the statutory provisions to preserve REIT status. The REIT qualification requirements are extremely complex, and interpretations of the U.S. federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT are limited. In addition, the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control may affect our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in operating in compliance with the REIT rules in such manner as to allow us to maintain our qualification as a REIT. At any time, new laws, interpretations or court decisions may change the U.S. federal tax laws relating to, or the U.S. federal income tax consequences of, qualification as a REIT. It is possible that future economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations may cause our board to determine that it
is not in our best interest to maintain our qualification as a REIT, and to revoke our REIT election, which it may do without stockholder approval.
If we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT for any taxable year, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our REIT taxable income at the corporate rate and could also be subject to increased state and local taxes. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year of losing our REIT status unless the Internal Revenue Services, or IRS, grants us relief under certain statutory provisions. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions would no longer qualify for the distributions paid deduction, and we would no longer be required to make distributions to our stockholders. If this occurs, we might be required to raise debt or equity capital or sell some investments in order to pay the applicable tax.
As a result of all these factors, our failure to maintain our qualification as a REIT could impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital, could materially and adversely affect the trading price of our common stock and would substantially reduce our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
TRSs are subject to corporate-level taxes and our dealings with TRSs may be subject to a 100% excise tax.
A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRSs. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a TRS. A corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35.0% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20.0% (25.0% for taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2018) of the gross value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. A TRS may hold assets and earn income that would not be qualifying assets or income if held or earned directly by a REIT, including gross income from operations pursuant to management contracts. We lease our properties that are “qualified health care properties” to one or more TRSs which, in turn, contract with independent third-party management companies to operate those “qualified health care properties” on behalf of those TRSs. In addition, we may use one or more TRSs generally to hold properties for sale in the ordinary course of a trade or business or to hold assets or conduct activities that we cannot conduct directly as a REIT. A TRS is subject to applicable U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income tax on its taxable income, as well as limitations on the deductibility of its interest expenses. In addition, the Code imposes a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.
If our “qualified health care properties” are not properly leased to a TRS or the operators of those “qualified health care properties” do not qualify as EIKs, we could fail to qualify as a REIT.
In general, under the REIT rules, we cannot directly operate any properties that are “qualified health care properties” and can only indirectly participate in the operation of “qualified health care properties” on an after-tax basis by leasing those properties to independent health care facility operators or to TRSs. A “qualified health care property” is any real property (and any personal property incident to that real property) which is, or is necessary or incidental to the use of, a hospital, nursing facility, assisted living facility, congregate care facility, qualified continuing care facility or other licensed facility which extends medical or nursing or ancillary services to patients and is operated by a provider of those services that is eligible for participation in the Medicare program with respect to that facility. Furthermore, rent paid by a lessee of a “qualified health care property” that is a “related party tenant” of ours will not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs. However, a TRS that leases “qualified health care properties” from us will not be treated as a “related party tenant” with respect to our “qualified health care properties” that are managed by an EIK. If we incorrectly classified a property as a “qualified health care property” and leased it to a TRS, any rental income therefrom would likely not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs.
An EIK is an independent contractor that, at the time such contractor enters into a management or other agreement with a TRS to operate a “qualified health care property,” is actively engaged in the trade or business of operating “qualified health care properties” for any person not related to us or the TRS. Among other requirements to qualify as an independent contractor, an operator must not own, directly or indirectly (or applying attribution provisions of the Code), more than 35.0% of the shares of our outstanding stock (by value), and no person or group of persons can own more than 35.0% of the shares of our outstanding stock and 35.0% of the ownership interests of the operator (taking into account only owners of more than 5.0% of our shares and, with respect to ownership interest in such operators that are publicly traded, only holders of more than 5.0% of such ownership interests). The ownership attribution rules that apply for purposes of the 35.0% thresholds are complex. There can be no assurance that the amount of our shares beneficially owned by our operators and their owners will not exceed the above thresholds. If a healthcare facility operator at one of our properties that uses the RIDEA structure was determined to not be an EIK, any rental income we receive from the TRS with respect to such property would likely not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs.
If our leases with TRSs are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we likely would fail to qualify as a REIT.
To qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income tests, under which specified percentages of our gross income must be derived from certain sources, such as “rents from real property.” Rent paid by TRSs pursuant to the lease of our “qualified health care properties” will constitute a substantial portion of our gross income. For that rent to qualify as “rents from real property” for purposes of the REIT gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not be treated as service contracts, joint ventures or some other type of arrangement. If our leases are not respected as true leases for U. S. federal income tax purposes, we may fail to qualify as a REIT.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability or reduce our operating flexibility.
In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made in the provisions of U.S. federal and state income tax laws applicable to investments similar to an investment in shares of our common stock. Additional changes to the tax laws are likely to continue to occur, and we cannot assure our stockholders that any such changes will not adversely affect our taxation and our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT or the taxation of a stockholder. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on an investment in shares of our common stock or on the market price thereof or the resale potential of our assets. Our stockholders are urged to consult with their tax advisor with respect to the impact of recent legislation on their investment in our stock and the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in shares of our common stock.
Although REITs generally receive better tax treatment than entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate to elect to be treated for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes as a regular corporation. As a result, our charter provides our board with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election and cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, without the vote of our stockholders. Our board has fiduciary duties to us and our stockholders and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in the best interests of our stockholders.
In certain circumstances, we may be subject to U.S. federal, state and foreign income taxes even if we maintain our qualification as a REIT, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Even if we maintain our qualification as a REIT, we may be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, state income taxes or foreign income taxes. For example, net income from a “prohibited transaction” will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not be able to make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. We may also decide to retain capital gains we earn from the sale or other disposition of our property and pay income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, our stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability. We may also be subject to state and local taxes or foreign taxes on our income or property, either directly or at the level of the companies through which we indirectly own our assets. Any U.S. federal, state or foreign taxes we pay will reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Dividends payable by REITs generally do not qualify for the reduced tax rates on dividend income as compared to regular corporations, which could adversely affect the value of our shares.
The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate for certain qualified dividends payable to domestic stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates generally is 20.0%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, are generally not eligible for these reduced rates for qualified dividends except to the extent the REIT dividends are attributable to “qualified dividends” received by the REIT itself. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, U.S. individuals, trusts and estates are permitted a deduction for certain pass-through business income, including “qualified REIT dividends” (generally, dividends received by a REIT stockholder that are not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income), allowing them to deduct up to 20.0% of such amounts, subject to certain limitations. Although the reduced U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to dividend income from regular corporate dividends does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends paid by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to qualified dividends from C corporations could cause investors who are individuals, trusts and estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay qualified dividends, which could adversely affect the market price of the shares of common stock of REITs, including our shares of common stock.
Dividends on, and gains recognized on the sale of, shares by a tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income.
If (1) we are a “pension-held REIT,” (2) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred (or is deemed to have incurred) debt to purchase or hold our shares or (3) a holder of our shares is a certain type of tax-exempt stockholder, dividends on, and gains recognized on the sale of, shares by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Code.
Characterization of our sale-leaseback transactions may be challenged, which could jeopardize our REIT status or require us to make an unexpected distribution.
We have participated, and may continue to participate, in sale-leaseback transactions in which we purchase real estate investments and lease them back to the sellers of such properties. We believe we have structured and intend to structure any of our sale-leaseback transactions such that the lease will be characterized as a “true lease” and so that we will be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, we cannot assure our stockholders that the IRS will not take the position that specific sale-leaseback transactions that we treated as leases be re-characterized as financing arrangements or loans for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In the event that any such sale-leaseback transaction is re-characterized as a financing transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to such real estate investment would be disallowed or significantly reduced. If a sale-leaseback transaction is so re-characterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT asset tests, income tests or distribution requirements and, consequently, lose our REIT status or be required to elect to distribute an additional distribution of the increased taxable income to avoid the loss of REIT status. This distribution would be paid to all stockholders at the time of declaration rather than the stockholders existing in the taxable year affected by the re-characterization.
Complying with the REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of shares of our common stock. We may be required to make distributions to our stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution, or we may be required to raise debt or equity capital or forego otherwise attractive investments in order to comply with the REIT tests. We may need to borrow funds to meet the REIT distribution requirements even if market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will have access to such capital on favorable terms at the desired times, or at all. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements could materially and adversely affect us and may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing our financial results.
If the Operating Partnership fails to maintain its status as a partnership and were to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, its income may be subject to taxation, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to stockholders and likely result in a loss of our REIT status.
We intend to maintain the status of our operating partnership as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, if the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of our operating partnership as a partnership for such purposes, it would be taxable as a corporation. In such event, this would reduce the amount of distributions that our operating partnership could make to us. This would also likely result in us losing REIT status, and, if so, becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our own income. This would substantially reduce any cash available to pay distributions. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which our operating partnership owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership and is otherwise not disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such partnership or limited liability company would be subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to our operating partnership. Such a recharacterization of an underlying partnership or limited liability company could also threaten our ability to maintain our status as a REIT.
Foreign purchasers of shares of our common stock may be subject to FIRPTA tax upon the sale of their shares of our common stock or upon the payment of a capital gains dividend.
A foreign person disposing of a U.S. real property interest, including shares of stock of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of U.S. real property interests, is generally subject to withholding pursuant to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, as amended, or FIRPTA, on the amount received from the disposition. However, foreign pension plans and certain foreign publicly traded entities are exempt from FIRPTA withholding. Further, such FIRPTA tax does not apply to the disposition of stock in a REIT if the REIT is “domestically controlled.” A REIT is “domestically controlled” if less than 50.0% of the REIT’s stock, by value, has been owned directly or indirectly by persons who are not qualifying U.S. persons during a continuous five-year period ending on the date of disposition or, if shorter, during the entire period of the REIT’s existence. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will qualify as a “domestically controlled” REIT. If we were to fail to so qualify, amounts received by foreign investors on a sale of shares of our common stock would be subject to FIRPTA tax, unless the shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market and the foreign investor did not at any time during a specified period directly or indirectly own more than 10.0% of the value of our outstanding common stock.
Additionally, a foreign stockholder will likely be subject to FIRPTA upon the payment of any distribution by us that is attributable to gain from sales or exchanges of U.S. real property interests, unless the shares of our common stock are regularly traded on a U.S. established securities market and the foreign investor did not own at any time during the 1-year period ending on the date of such distribution more than 10.0% of such class of common stock.
If the REIT Merger does not qualify as a tax-free reorganization, there may be adverse tax consequences.
The REIT Merger was intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code. The closing of the REIT Merger was conditioned on the receipt by us and GAHR III of an opinion of counsel to the effect that the REIT Merger will qualify as a tax-free reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code. However, these legal opinions will not be binding on the IRS or on the courts. If, for any reason, the REIT Merger were to fail to qualify as a tax-free reorganization, then there would be adverse tax implications to us and our stockholders, which could materially and adversely affect us.
Employee Benefit Plan, IRA, and Other Tax-Exempt Investor Risks
If a stockholder that is a benefit plan or IRA fails to meet the fiduciary and other standards under ERISA or the Code as a result of an investment in shares of our common stock, such stockholder could be subject to civil and, if the failure is willful, criminal penalties.
There are special considerations that apply to benefit plans and IRAs investing in shares of our common stock. Stockholders that are benefit plans and IRAs should consider whether, among other things:
•their investment is consistent with their fiduciary obligations under ERISA and the Code;
•their investment is made in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the benefit plan or IRA, including any investment policy;
•their investment satisfies the prudence and diversification requirements of ERISA;
•their investment will not impair the liquidity of the benefit plan or IRA;
•their investment will not produce UBTI for the benefit plan or IRA; and
•they will be able to value the assets of the benefit plan or IRA annually in accordance with ERISA, the Code and the applicable provisions of the benefit plan or IRA.
ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code prohibit certain transactions that involve (i) benefit plans or IRAs, and (ii) any person who is a “party-in-interest” or “disqualified person” with respect to such a benefit plan or IRA. Consequently, the fiduciary or owner of a benefit plan or an IRA contemplating an investment in our common stock should consider whether we, any other person associated with the issuance of the common stock, or any of our or their affiliates is or might become a “party-in-interest” or “disqualified person” with respect to the benefit plan or IRA and, if so, whether an exemption from such prohibited transaction rules is applicable. In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor plan asset regulations provide that, subject to certain exceptions, the assets of an entity in which a plan holds an equity interest may be treated as assets of the investing plan, in which event investment made by and certain other transactions entered into by such entity would be subject to the prohibited transaction rules. To avoid our assets from being considered “plan assets,” our charter prohibits “benefit plan investors” from owning 25% or more of the shares of our common stock prior to the time that the common stock qualifies as a class of publicly-offered securities, within the meaning of the plan assets regulation. However, we cannot assure our stockholders that those provisions in our charter will be effective in limiting benefit plan investors’ ownership to less than the 25% limit. Due to the complexity of these rules and the potential penalties that may be imposed, it is important that stockholders that are benefit plans and IRAs consult with their own advisors regarding the potential applicability of ERISA, the Code and any similar applicable law.
Stockholders that are benefit plans and IRAs may be limited in their ability to withdraw required minimum distributions as a result of an investment in shares of our common stock.
If benefit plans or IRAs invest in our common stock, the Code may require such plan or IRA to withdraw required minimum distributions in the future. Our stock will be highly illiquid, and our share repurchase plan only offers limited liquidity. If a benefit plan or IRA requires liquidity, it may generally sell its shares, but such sale may be at a price less than the price at which such plan or IRA initially purchased its shares of our common stock. If a benefit plan or IRA fails to make required minimum distributions, it may be subject to certain taxes and tax penalties.
Specific rules apply to foreign, governmental and church plans.
As a general rule, certain employee benefit plans, including foreign pension plans, governmental plans established or maintained in the United States (as defined in Section 3(32) of ERISA), and certain church plans (as defined in Section 3(33) of ERISA), are not subject to ERISA’s requirements and are not “benefit plan investors” within the meaning of the plan assets regulation. Any such plan that is qualified and exempt from taxation under Sections 401(a) and 501(a) of the Code may nonetheless be subject to the prohibited transaction rules set forth in Section 503 of the Code and, under certain circumstances in the case of church plans, Section 4975 of the Code. Also, some foreign plans and governmental plans may be subject to foreign, state, or local laws which are, to a material extent, similar to the provisions of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code. Each fiduciary of a plan subject to any such similar law should make its own determination as to the need for, and the availability of, any exemption relief.