Welltower Just Dropped $386 Million on Nine Florida Nursing Homes — and Maine Is Selling Off 15 More

Miami, Florida — One of the country’s largest health care real estate investment trusts just deepened its bet on South Florida skilled nursing. Welltower has acquired nine nursing homes across the region for a combined $386 million, according to reports from local business journals.

The shopping spree wasn’t a single transaction. It was a string of deals closed within days of each other, and the price tags show how quickly institutional capital is moving back into the space.

Where the Money Went

The biggest single purchase was the 294-bed Unity Health and Rehabilitation Center in Miami, which changed hands for $74.3 million. Three Broward County facilities owned by companies managed by a Brooklyn-based operator brought in another $160 million. Welltower also picked up two Palm Beach County facilities for $48.2 million and the 120-bed Palms Care Center and Rehab in Lauderdale Lakes for $45 million. One more South Florida property rounded out the week at $35 million.

That kind of velocity matters for an industry that spent years watching investors pull back. Operators looking to sell — or expand — are finding willing buyers again, and the competition for well-run Florida portfolios is clearly real.

Maine Puts 15 Homes on the Block

Nearly 1,400 miles north, a different kind of transaction is underway. North Country Associates, a Maine-based operator, is selling 15 of its nursing homes to Vantage Point Capital, a New York firm. Utah-based Tide Group will run the facilities, which employ roughly 1,400 people and care for about 1,000 residents.

The sale still needs state approval and isn’t expected to close until early next year. North Country will hold onto five other facilities serving older adults and people with intellectual disabilities.

Deals like this one have become more common as smaller regional operators weigh rising labor costs and thin margins against the resources larger owners can bring. It’s a pattern playing out across the country — just last month, one of the nation’s largest operators touted its own string of acquisitions across Florida and beyond.

One Small Closure, One Big Question

Meanwhile, in Paxton, Illinois, a public building commission is weighing whether to buy a shuttered 76-bed nursing home from Accolade Healthcare for $275,000 — mostly as a possible courthouse expansion site. The building has sat empty since 2018 and needs extensive repairs from vandalism, mold and years of deferred maintenance. Accolade’s president says he’d also consider leasing it if the county covered renovations.

It’s a modest deal on its face. But every closed nursing home, even one that’s been dark for eight years, represents beds that won’t come back easily — and communities that have to decide what fills the space instead.