A state-by-state Report series on continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) may only be two states in, but it’s already revealing the different impacts local market pressures are having on the industry as a whole.

CCRCs in Virginia, for instance, are unusual in some ways but healthy overall, according to a newly released report from Ziegler and My LifeSite.

Ziegler, a Chicago-based specialty investment bank, and My LifeSite, an online provider of consumer-focused resources related to CCRCs, recently released the second report in a state-by-state series analyzing a state’s entry-fee CCRCs. The latest report, focused on Virginia, is meant to serve as a benchmarking report for CCRCs, as well as to help organizations and consumers compare certifications, tax statuses, financial ratios, price ranges and more. 

In many ways, Virginia’s 48 licensed CCRCs are like those found in other U.S. states—their entry fee ranges and monthly rents tend to be similar, for instance. But in some ways, Virginia’s CCRCs are notably different from those found elsewhere, according to Lisa McCracken, Ziegler’s senior vice president of senior living research and development.

For example, the overwhelming majority—90%—of Virginia’s CCRCs are not-for-profit, and almost half—46%—of Virginia CCRCs are single-site organizations, the report says. In Maryland, by contrast, just 85% of the CCRCs are not-for-profit, and only about 36% of CCRCs nationally are single-site organizations, McCracken told Senior Housing News.

“Virginia is definitely a state that is comprised of a lot of single site CCRCs,” McCracken said.

Just because Virginia has a large number of single-site CCRCs doesn’t mean that the state’s supply of CCRCs is unhealthy or vulnerable, McCracken said.

“I think it shows that the Virginia CCRCs are healthy—having more single-site CCRCs doesn’t necessarily make them any more vulnerable,” she said.

CCRC monthly fees in Virginia ranged from an average high of $4,595 to an average low of $2,337, the report says. Meanwhile, entry fees in Virginia ranged from an average low of $150,240 to an average high of $540,289. This is a fairly usual range, McCracken said.

“The ranges, from the high to the low to the mid, are not too different from what we usually see, or from what we expected,” she explained.

An individual state’s makeup of CCRCs can reveal a lot about that particular state—where it’s been and where it’s going, McCracken added.

“A lot of the CCRC makeup in any given state is really driven by the history in that state, and certainly the regulatory environment,” McCracken said. For her, this idea was confirmed when comparing the Virginia CCRC report to Ziegler and My LifeSite’s previous Maryland CCRC report.

“When you see that there are a number of newer CCRCs in Virginia that have opened in the last 10 years, and you see that’s not the case in Maryland… it really stood out to me that Maryland is a more difficult regulatory environment to grow and develop new locations in,” McCracken said. “The numbers really brought that to light.”

There are plans to release four or five new state-based reports in the next year, Brad Breeding, president of My LifeSite, told SHN. As for the latest report on Virginia, the conclusion is clear.

“The takeaway is that Virginia CCRCs are strong, healthy and typical in a number of respects,” McCracken said.

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