The once hot senior housing sector now under full COVID-19 assault

If an industry could be dubbed a confirmed coronavirus case, that industry would be the senior housing sector. After coming off a record year of more than $7 billion in private transactions during 2019 and entering 2020 with strong investor interest, the coronavirus struck senior care facilities with magnum force, killing 10,000 of its residents as of this writing and revealing a host of problems dogging the business, including crowded facilities, overwhelmed staff members and a shortage of personal protective equipment.

One particularly dire situation was found at the Canterbury Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Richmond, Va., which has seen at least 40 of its residents die. When site administrators tested the facility’s full population to assess the scale of the situation, they were horrified to find the virus pervasive and many residents asymptomatic.

The feds are now requiring nursing homes to report to patients and their families when there are COVID-19 ca