Host Lisa McCracken welcomes Courtney Nickels, managing director and COO of healthcare at Artemis Real Estate Partners, for a candid conversation about why senior housing is now center stage for investors heading into 2026. Drawing on her career-long focus in healthcare real estate, Nickels discusses how accelerating demand and historically low new supply are driving strong rent growth, occupancy above pre-COVID levels, and expectations for continued double-digit NOI growth—even as labor remains the top headwind to watch.​

The discussion also explores the wave of new equity and debt capital coming into seniors housing, rising competition for deals, and what it takes to succeed in an operationally complex, local, and people-centric business. Nickels outlines Artemis’ disciplined, scalable strategy across the capital stack and care continuum—from active adult through assisted living and memory care—with an emphasis on private-pay, continuum of care communities, strong local and regional operator partnerships, selective development, and maintaining appropriate risk-adjusted returns in what she believes will be a defining year for the sector.

Want to join the conversation? Follow NIC on LinkedIn.

We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think of NIC Chats by giving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Senior housing lending may be experiencing significant momentum, but seasoned lender and NIC Board member, Imran Javaid, brings a disciplined perspective to today’s capital markets. In this episode, Head of Research & Analytics, Lisa McCracken, talks with Javaid, Managing Director for BMO’s U.S. for-profit healthcare team, about the sector’s sharp turnaround from the COVID doldrums, why robust debt availability has not translated into a construction boom, and how cautious assumptions around cap rates, exit strategies, and rent levels are shaping both senior housing and skilled nursing finance.

They also discuss the influx of new capital, including family offices, and why aligning with the right operator and product in each market remains critical in a still-fragmented industry where most operators manage 10 or fewer communities. Along the way, Javaid offers practical advice for emerging operators on building credibility with lenders and equity partners, reflects on lessons from COVID, and explains what needs to change before construction lending meaningfully loosens and new development accelerates.

Want to join the conversation? Follow NIC on LinkedIn.

We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think of NIC Chats by giving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Vikas Gupta, chief investment officer of Omega Healthcare Investors, joins the NIC Chats podcast to explore why he believes it “feels like one of the best times” for skilled nursing and senior housing. Drawing on more than two decades in the industry, Gupta discusses occupancy and reimbursement tailwinds, lingering labor and staffing mandate pressures, and why it’s a good—if still challenging—time to be a skilled nursing operator or investor.

He explains Omega’s shift into RIDEA for senior housing, why they are open to turnaround opportunities and “good bones” buildings, and how the team vets and “tiers” operators based on market fit, performance, and financial sophistication. The conversation also covers Omega’s capital structure, growth in UK care homes, selective development and replacement projects in the U.S. and Canada, and Gupta’s bullish but cautious outlook for 2026 as an energized sector moves further past COVID and into its next cycle.

Want to join the conversation? Follow NIC on LinkedIn.

We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think of NIC Chats by giving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.