By Channing Hamilton ATLANTA — Today’s seniors housing market is a tough one, characterized by an inflationary environment and high operational costs. Amid the challenges the industry currently faces, owner-operators within the sector must focus on controlling expenses, such as labor and insurance, to maintain profitability — and earlier is better when it comes to planning to mitigate these expenses. Eric Mendelsohn, CEO and president of National Health Investors, a REIT that specializes in seniors housing, emphasized the importance of labor market analysis in the underwriting stage of operations. “Labor is a key element of expense structure in the building,” he said. “Before, we could give it a cursory look. Now, it’s important to really drill down into a market. “We pay closer attention to labor expense and availability,” he continued. “We’ll see what our competitors are paying, and then see what other industries such as retail and fast food in the area are paying. If Target and TGI Fridays are unable to find labor, that’s an indicator that you’re going to have a problem.” Mendelsohn’s remarks came during the keynote address at the 10th annual InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast, a networking and information conference hosted by France Media’s InterFace …
