Assisted Living Feasibility Study in Colorado

Big tickets, light share

Colorado assisted living borrows large sums in a small number of loans. The median loan of $825,000 is 1.09x the national median for homes without on-site nursing, and half of the approvals run from $539,000 to $1.6 million. The file holds 53 approvals across FY2017 to FY2026 totaling $64.5 million. Colorado ranks 13 of 50 among states for the class, but care homes sit 19 of 39 among Colorado asset types and the 0.75x location quotient says Colorado approvals feature them less than the national mix does. Outcomes track Colorado and the class closely, so the useful fact is ticket size in a thin market.

Programs and lenders

Nearly all lending goes through 7(a), with 51 loans against 2 for 504, and franchising is 7.5% of loans. Atop the lender table sits Wells Fargo Bank National Association at 8 loans and $6.0 million, ahead of Bank of Hope with 7 loans and $8.0 million, a notably higher average. Jefferson County holds 15 loans and Arapahoe County 10, with Denver, El Paso and Mesa counties at 4 each. Annual counts swung from 2 loans in FY2020, FY2024 and FY2026 to 9 in FY2017, while FY2017 also supplied the biggest dollar year at $12.1 million.

Colorado shows 7.0% cancelled among its approvals through FY2024, and counting every undisbursed loan leaves it at 7.0%. A charge-off rate is absent: the early funded cohort fell below 30 loans, and a missing rate is not a clean record.

The industry code isolates homes with no nurse on site; memory care appears nowhere as a separate line. Homes that do employ nurses go to other class pages on this site, so a Colorado project that adds nursing is not captured in this cell, and a memory care unit sits wherever the borrower chose to file it.

What the study must test

A Colorado assisted living study should open with the resident market: seniors in the catchment who can pay private rates, the number of licensed beds already open nearby, and the typical monthly charge. Occupancy takes time to build, so the study should show a lease-up path with a slower case. Staffing is a major test, because caregivers are the main cost and licensing sets the ratio. On construction or conversion cost, the $825,000 median is a benchmark, and projects well above it need evidence of rate support. The lender will look at coverage of the loan payment at stabilized census, and the appraisal will rest on income from beds, so the study should document the expected census and rates.