Brookdale Senior Living Inc. - Annual Report: 2016 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

[X]	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016

or

[ ]	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number 001-32641

BROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

111 Westwood Place, Suite 400

Brentwood, Tennessee 37027

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes [X] No [ ]

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes [ ] No [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [X] No [ ]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes [X] No [ ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. [X]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes [ ] No [X]

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2016, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $2.6 billion. The market value calculation was determined using a per share price of $15.44, the price at which the registrant's common stock was last sold on the New York Stock Exchange on such date. For purposes of this calculation only, shares held by non-affiliates excludes only those shares beneficially owned by the registrant's executive officers, directors and stockholders owning 10% or more of the Company's outstanding common stock.

As of February 10, 2017, 185,448,112 shares of the registrant's common stock, $0.01 par value, were outstanding (excluding unvested restricted shares).

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Certain sections of the registrant's Definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those regarding our intent, belief or expectations, including, but not limited to, statements relating to our strategy, our operational, sales, marketing and branding initiatives, our portfolio optimization and growth initiatives and our expectations regarding their effect on our results; our expectations regarding the economy, the senior living industry, senior housing construction, supply and competition, occupancy and pricing and the demand for senior housing; our expectations regarding our revenue, cash flow, operating income, expenses, capital expenditures, including expected levels and reimbursements and the timing thereof, development, expansion, renovation, redevelopment and repositioning opportunities, including Program Max opportunities, and their projected costs, cost savings and synergies, and our liquidity and leverage; our plans and expectations with respect to disposition, lease restructuring, financing, re-financing and venture transactions and opportunities (including assets currently held for sale and the transactions with HCP, Inc. ("HCP") and affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P. (collectively, "Blackstone")), including the timing thereof and their effects on our results; our expectations regarding taxes, capital deployment and returns on invested capital, Adjusted EBITDA, Cash From Facility Operations and Adjusted Free Cash Flow (as those terms are defined in this Annual Report on Form 10-K); our expectations regarding returns to shareholders, our share repurchase program and the payment of dividends; our ability to secure financing or repay, replace or extend existing debt at or prior to maturity; our ability to remain in compliance with all of our debt and lease agreements (including the financial covenants contained therein); our expectations regarding changes in government reimbursement programs and their effect on our results; our plans to expand our offering of ancillary services (therapy, home health and hospice); our plans to acquire additional operating companies, senior housing communities and ancillary services companies (including home health agencies); and our ability to anticipate, manage and address industry trends and their effect on our business. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "potential," "intend," "expect," "endeavor," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "overestimate," "underestimate," "believe," "project," "predict," "continue," "plan," "target" or other similar words or expressions. Although we believe that expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained and actual results and performance could differ materially from those projected. Factors which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and future prospects or which could cause events or circumstances to differ from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risk associated with the current global economic situation and its impact upon capital markets and liquidity; changes in governmental reimbursement programs; the risk of overbuilding and new supply; our inability to extend (or refinance) debt (including our credit and letter of credit facilities and our outstanding convertible notes) as it matures; the risk that we may not be able to satisfy the conditions precedent to exercising the extension options associated with certain of our debt agreements; events which adversely affect the ability of seniors to afford our monthly resident fees or entrance fees; the conditions of housing markets in certain geographic areas; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow to cover required interest and long-term operating lease payments; the effect of our indebtedness and long-term operating leases on our liquidity; the risk of loss of property pursuant to our mortgage debt and long-term lease obligations; the possibilities that changes in the capital markets, including changes in interest rates and/or credit spreads, or other factors could make financing more expensive or unavailable to us; our determination from time to time to purchase any shares under our share repurchase program; our ability to fund any repurchases; our ability to effectively manage our growth; our ability to maintain consistent quality control; delays in obtaining regulatory approvals; the risk that we may not be able to expand, redevelop and reposition our communities in accordance with our plans; our ability to complete acquisition, disposition, lease restructuring, financing, re-financing and venture transactions (including assets currently held for sale and the transactions with HCP and Blackstone) on agreed upon terms or at all, including in respect of the satisfaction of closing conditions, the risk that regulatory approvals are not obtained or are subject to unanticipated conditions, and uncertainties as to the timing of closing; our ability to successfully integrate acquisitions; competition for the acquisition of assets; our ability to obtain additional capital on terms acceptable to us; a decrease in the overall demand for senior housing; our vulnerability to economic downturns; acts of nature in certain geographic areas; terminations of our resident agreements and vacancies in the living spaces we lease; early terminations or non-renewal of management agreements; increased competition for skilled personnel; increased wage pressure and union activity; departure of our key officers; increases in market interest rates; environmental contamination at any of our communities; failure to comply with existing environmental laws; an adverse determination or resolution of complaints filed against us; the cost and difficulty of complying with increasing and evolving regulation; as well as other risks detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in such SEC filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements, which reflect our management's views as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

PART I

Item 1.

Business.

Unless otherwise specified, references to "Brookdale," "we," "us," "our" or "the Company" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K mean Brookdale Senior Living Inc. together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

Our Business

As of December 31, 2016, we are the largest operator of senior living communities in the United States based on total capacity, with 1,055 communities in 47 states and the ability to serve approximately 103,000 residents. We offer our residents access to a full continuum of services across the most attractive sectors of the senior living industry. We operate independent living, assisted living and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers ("CCRCs"). Through our ancillary services programs, we also offer a range of outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services to residents of many of our communities and to seniors living outside of our communities.

As of December 31, 2016, we owned or leased 902 communities (77,284 units) and provided management services with respect to 153 communities (26,090 units) for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest. As of December 31, 2016, we operated 129 retirement center communities (24,339 units), 851 assisted living communities (58,477 units) and 75 CCRCs (20,558 units).  The majority of our units are located in campus settings or communities containing multiple services, including CCRCs.  As of December 31, 2016, our ancillary services platform included networks in 28 states with the ability to provide home health services to approximately 61.7% of our units, outpatient therapy to approximately 18.0% of our units and hospice services to approximately 18.3% of our units.  During the year ended December 31, 2016, we generated approximately 82.1% of our resident fee revenues from private pay customers. For the year ended December 31, 2016, 37.9% of our resident and management fee revenues were generated from owned communities, 49.1% from leased communities, 11.3% from our ancillary services business and 1.7% from management fees from communities we operate on behalf of third parties or unconsolidated ventures.

We intend to be the leading provider of senior living solutions, and we believe that we are positioned to take advantage of favorable demographic trends over time. We also believe that we operate in the most attractive sectors of the senior living industry with opportunities to increase our revenues through providing a combination of housing, hospitality services, ancillary services and health care services. Our senior living communities offer residents a supportive home-like setting, assistance with activities of daily living ("ADLs") (such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting and transferring/walking) and, in certain communities, licensed skilled nursing services. We also provide ancillary services, including outpatient therapy, home health services and hospice services, to our residents. By providing residents with a range of service options as their needs change, we provide greater continuity of care, enabling seniors to "age-in-place" and thereby maintain residency with us for a longer period of time. The ability of residents to age-in-place is also beneficial to our residents and their families who are concerned with care decisions for their elderly relatives.

Strategy

During 2014, we acquired Emeritus Corporation ("Emeritus"), a senior living service provider focused on operating residential style communities throughout the United States. At the closing of the merger, the size of our consolidated portfolio increased by 493 communities, significantly increasing our scale and providing us entry into 10 new states. Following the acquisition, we have executed on our plans to integrate legacy Emeritus locations into our systems and infrastructure platform. In 2015, we completed the final cutover waves of integration activities, and we now have a common system and infrastructure platform in place.

With integration activities largely completed, during 2016 we undertook a comprehensive review of our organizational effectiveness as part of updating our strategy.  During 2016, we completed this review and adopted a refined strategy:  to achieve consistent operational excellence in our core businesses.  Execution on our strategy is intended to maximize the value of our existing platform and to build the foundation for further growth.

We have identified five key priorities for which we have developed initiatives or are developing initiatives to support our strategy and have created a transformation process to develop cross-functional initiatives directly tied to key priorities. These five priorities include:

•

Enhance our customer and associate experience.  With this priority, we are simplifying the role of the executive directors of our communities to allow them to focus on our customers and associates, improving our model for recruiting and retaining community associates, implementing new talent development and training programs, and will continue to implement an expanded system to gauge and improve the quality of our relationships with our customers and associates.

•

Improve our marketing and sales processes.  We have designed and begun implementation of a network sales model, have begun to design and implement a new lead management system, and have begun segmenting our communities to align operating standards with optimal market positions.  We will continue to leverage our brand recognition while pursuing a multi-layered marketing approach, which includes customized marketing campaigns in markets and communities with the highest potential.  Our network sales model is designed to better coordinate our sales efforts among our communities within a given market.  Our community segmentation efforts are intended to identify optimal levels of price, service offerings, amenities and programs to be offered in our communities based on local demand so that we can adjust our operating standards to create differentiated value to meet the needs of our customers.

•

Simplify our organization.  We are actively identifying and executing on initiatives to simplify our organization in order to align our structure around our customers' priorities while improving our operational effectiveness and efficiency.  Through our realignment efforts, we have reduced spans and layers in our organization to increase accountability and bring decision making closer to our customers.  We also plan to continue to establish corporate shared service centers of excellence to reduce costs and improve our effectiveness.  We expect that our organizational simplification and streamlining efforts will lead to opportunities for general and administrative expense efficiencies.

•

Optimize our portfolio and leverage scale.  Our initiatives will focus on maximizing the value and performance of our ancillary services business, optimizing our community portfolio, capturing synergies from our scale, and making strategic and cost effective capital expenditure investments.  Through our ongoing portfolio optimization initiative, we intend to dispose of owned and leased communities and restructure leases in order to simplify and streamline our business, to increase the quality and durability of our cash flow, to improve our liquidity, and to reduce our debt and lease leverage.  Disposals of owned assets may take the form of outright sales or contributions into ventures in which we would have an ownership interest, and we may desire to retain management rights on disposed assets.  We also intend to restructure existing leases, including those with approaching maturities, which may take the form of non-renewal of leases, negotiation of revised lease terms, termination of leases in favor of venture structures in which we would have an interest and, to a lesser degree, the purchase of leased communities, particularly where we have favorable purchase options.  Our criteria for identifying communities and transactions as part of this initiative include the market value of communities and their underlying performance, lease terms, capital requirements, location, market dynamics, physical plant condition and proximity to other communities in our portfolio.  We expect to continue our capital expenditure programs, including our Program Max initiative through which we intend to expand, renovate, redevelop and reposition our communities where economically advantageous.

•	Innovate for growth.  We intend to evaluate, test and implement innovations that enhance customer and associate experience and to explore models to drive new economics.

While our focus will be on executing our refined strategy, we plan to continue to evaluate and, where opportunities arise, selectively purchase existing operating companies, senior living communities, including those that we currently lease or manage, and ancillary services companies.  Such acquisitions may be pursued on our own, or through our investments in ventures.

We believe that successful execution upon our strategy and the initiatives supporting our strategy will enable us to grow stockholder value and better fulfill our mission by satisfying more customers, building improved relationships between us, our associates and our customers, and by improving our occupancy, revenue, expenses, and liquidity, by increasing the quality and durability of our cash flow, and by reducing our debt and lease leverage.

Portfolio Optimization Activities During 2016

During fiscal 2016, we entered into or completed several transactions as part of our efforts to optimize our portfolio through disposing of owned and leased communities and restructuring leases in order to simplify and streamline our business, to increase the quality and durability of our cash flow, to improve our liquidity and to reduce our debt and lease leverage.  The transactions included our entering into agreements to sell 51 owned communities and completing the dispositions of 51 owned communities and extinguishment of $94.5 million of related mortgage debt.  We also entered into agreements to terminate triple net leases with respect to 97 communities, seven of which were terminated during 2016.  Four of such communities were contributed to an existing unconsolidated venture in which we have an equity interest, and we expect 64 of such communities to be contributed to a venture in which we will have an equity interest.  Each of these transactions are summarized below.  We will continue to actively explore additional opportunities to optimize our portfolio through disposing of owned and leased communities, restructuring leases and investing in our Program Max initiative.

Dispositions of Owned Communities

We began 2016 with 17 of our owned communities (1,623 units) classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2015. During the year ended December 31, 2016, we entered into agreements to sell an additional 51 communities (3,219 units) and completed the dispositions of 51 owned communities (3,356 units).  These transactions are summarized below.

•

During the three months ended March 31, 2016, we sold seven of the 17 communities held for sale as of December 31, 2015 for an aggregate sales price of $46.7 million. The results of operations of these communities are reported in the Assisted Living (six communities; 389 units) and CCRCs – Rental (one community; 359 units) segments within the consolidated financial statements through the respective disposition dates.  The remaining 10 communities were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016.

•

During the three months ended June 30, 2016, we entered into an agreement with a third party to sell a 12-state portfolio of 44 owned communities for an aggregate sales price of $252.5 million. During the three months ended September 30, 2016, we sold 32 of these communities (1,771 units) for an aggregate sales price of $177.5 million.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we sold nine of these communities (444 units) for an aggregate sales price of $47.7 million. The results of operations of these 41 communities are reported within the Assisted Living segment within the consolidated financial statements through the respective disposition dates.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, the agreement was amended to remove one community (63 units) from the portfolio, and the aggregate sales price of the portfolio was decreased by $4.7 million.  The remaining two communities (175 units) within the portfolio were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016.

•

During 2016, we identified seven additional owned communities (766 units) as held for sale.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we sold three of these communities (393 units) for an aggregate sales price of $33.0 million.  The results of operations of these three communities are reported in the Assisted Living (one community; 20 units), CCRCs – Rental (one community; 276 units) and Retirement Center (one community; 97 units) segments through the respective disposition dates.  The remaining four communities (373 units) were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016.

As of December 31, 2016, $97.8 million was recorded as assets held for sale and $60.5 million of mortgage debt was included in the current portion of long-term debt within our consolidated balance sheet with respect to the 16 communities held for sale as of such date.  This debt will either be repaid with the proceeds from the sales or be assumed by the prospective purchasers. The results of operations of the 16 communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements:  Assisted Living (13 communities; 1,126 units) and CCRCs – Rental (three communities; 297 units).  The 16 communities had resident fee revenue of $47.2 million and facility operating expenses of $42.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The closings of the sales of the unsold communities classified as held for sale are subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, and are expected to occur in the next 12 months; however, there can be no assurance that the transactions will close or, if they do, when the actual closings will occur.

Dispositions and Restructurings of Leased Communities

On November 1, 2016, we announced that we had entered into agreements to, among other things, terminate triple-net leases with respect to 97 communities, four of which would be contributed to an existing unconsolidated venture in which we hold an equity interest and 64 of which would be owned by a venture in which we expect to acquire a non-controlling interest. The transactions include the following components:

•

HCP and Blackstone entered into an agreement pursuant to which HCP has agreed to sell 64 communities (5,967 units)—which are currently leased to us at above market rates and have a remaining average lease term of approximately 12 years—to Blackstone for a purchase price of $1.125 billion. Separately, we entered into an agreement with Blackstone pursuant to which we have agreed to form a venture (the "Blackstone Venture") into which Blackstone will contribute the 64 communities and into which we expect to contribute a total of approximately $170.0 million to purchase a 15% equity interest, terminate the above market leases, and fund our share of anticipated closing costs and working capital. Following closing, we will manage the communities on behalf of the venture. We expect the Blackstone Venture transactions to close during the three months ended March 31, 2017. The results of operations of the 64 communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements: Assisted Living (48 communities; 3,364 units), Retirement Centers (nine communities; 1,180 units) and CCRCs-Rental (seven communities; 1,423 units).  The 64 communities had resident fee revenue of $264.7 million, facility operating expenses of $182.0 million and cash lease payments of $88.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

•

We and HCP agreed to terminate triple-net leases with respect to eight communities (867 units). HCP agreed to contribute immediately thereafter four of such communities, consisting of 527 units, to an existing unconsolidated venture with HCP in which we have a 10% equity interest.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, the triple-net leases with respect to seven communities (773 units) were terminated and HCP contributed four of the communities to the existing unconsolidated venture. The triple-net lease with respect to the remaining community was terminated during January 2017. The results of operations of the eight communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements: Assisted Living (six communities; 514 units), Retirement Centers (one community; 109 units) and CCRCs-Rental (one community; 244 units).  The eight communities had resident fee revenue of $41.1 million, facility operating expenses of $30.6 million and cash lease payments of $11.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

•

We and HCP agreed to terminate triple-net leases with respect to 25 communities (2,031 units), which we expect to occur in stages through the end of fiscal 2017. The results of operations of the 25 communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements: Assisted Living (23 communities; 1,759 units) and CCRCs-Rental (two communities; 272 units).  The 25 communities had resident fee revenue of $72.2 million, facility operating expenses of $58.6 million and cash lease payments of $18.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The closings of the various pending transactions with HCP and Blackstone are subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions, including (where applicable) the receipt of regulatory approvals; however, there can be no assurance that the transactions will close or, if they do, when the actual closings will occur.

Program Max Initiative

During fiscal 2016, we also made progress on our Program Max initiative under which we expand, renovate, redevelop and reposition certain of our existing communities where economically advantageous. For the year ended December 31, 2016, we invested $23.9 million on Program Max projects, net of $19.9 million of third party lessor reimbursements, which included the completion of 8 expansion or conversion projects which resulted in 237 additional units.  We currently have 10 Program Max projects that have been approved, most of which have begun construction and are expected to generate 129 net new units.

The Senior Living Industry

In addition, there continue to be various federal and state legislative and regulatory proposals to implement cost containment measures that would limit payments to healthcare providers in the future. We cannot predict what action, if any, Congress will take on reimbursement policies of the Medicare program or what future rule changes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") will implement. Changes in the reimbursement policies of the Medicare program could have an adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

To help fund the expansion of health care coverage to previously uninsured people, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the "Affordable Care Act") outlines certain reductions in Medicare reimbursements for various health care providers, including home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities, as well as other changes to Medicare payment methodologies. Among other changes, the Affordable Care Act calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to "rebase" reimbursements for home health, which has resulted in a decrease in home health reimbursement that began in 2014 and is being phased-in over a four year period through 2017, and to establish productivity adjustments reducing the reimbursement rates that we would have otherwise received. For home health in 2017, CMS has implemented a net 0.7% reimbursement reduction, consisting of a 2.8% market basket inflation increase, less a 0.3% productivity reduction, a 2.3% rebasing adjustment, and a 0.9% reduction to account for industry wide case-mix growth. We expect the total effect of the changes for 2017 to reduce our reimbursement by approximately 3.2%.

Our History

We were formed as a Delaware corporation in June 2005 for the purpose of combining two leading senior living operating companies, Brookdale Living Communities, Inc. ("BLC") and Alterra Healthcare Corporation ("Alterra"). BLC and Alterra had been operating independently since 1986 and 1981, respectively. On November 22, 2005, we completed our initial public offering of common stock, and on July 25, 2006, we acquired American Retirement Corporation ("ARC"), another leading senior living provider that had been operating independently since 1978. On September 1, 2011, we completed the acquisition of Horizon Bay, the then-ninth largest operator of senior living communities in the United States.

On July 31, 2014, we completed the merger contemplated by that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 20, 2014, by and among Emeritus Corporation, a Washington corporation, Brookdale Senior Living Inc., and Broadway Merger Sub Corporation, a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of ours, pursuant to which the subsidiary merged with and into Emeritus, with Emeritus continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours. At the time of the merger, Emeritus was the second largest operator of senior living communities in the United States.

Our Communities and Service Offerings

We offer a variety of senior living housing and service alternatives in communities located across the United States. Our communities consist of retirement center communities, assisted living communities, rental CCRCs and entry fee CCRCs. We manage certain of our communities for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest pursuant to management agreements. In addition, through our ancillary services programs, we provide outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services to residents of many of our communities and to seniors living outside of our communities.

Retirement Centers

Our retirement center communities are primarily designed for middle to upper income seniors generally age 75 and older who desire an upscale residential environment providing the highest quality of service.  The majority of our retirement center communities consist of both independent and assisted living units in a single community, which allows residents to "age-in-place" by providing them with a continuum of senior independent and assisted living services. While the number varies depending upon the particular community, as of December 31, 2016 approximately 78.2% of all of the units at our retirement center communities are independent living units, with the balance of units licensed for assisted living.

Our retirement center communities are large multi-story buildings containing on average 189 units with extensive common areas and amenities. Residents may choose from studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, depending upon the specific community.  Each retirement center community provides residents with basic services such as meal service, 24-hour emergency response, housekeeping, concierge services, transportation and recreational activities. Most of these communities also offer custom tailored supplemental care services at an additional charge, which may include medication reminders, check-in services and escort and companion services.

In addition to the basic services, our retirement center communities that include assisted living also provide residents with supplemental care service options to provide assistance with ADLs. The levels of care provided to residents vary from community to community depending, among other things, upon the licensing requirements and healthcare regulations of the state in which the community is located.

Residents in our retirement center communities are able to maintain their residency for an extended period of time due to the range of service options available to residents (not including skilled nursing) as their needs change.  Residents with cognitive or physical frailties and higher level service needs are accommodated with supplemental services in their own units or, in certain communities, are cared for in a more structured and supervised environment on a separate wing or floor. These communities also generally have a dedicated assisted living staff, including nurses at the majority of communities, and separate assisted living dining rooms and activity areas.

Retirement center communities that we own or lease are included in our Retirement Centers segment, and retirement center communities for which we provide management services for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest are included in our Management Services segment. As of December 31, 2016, our Retirement Center segment consisted of 93 retirement center communities with 17,094 units, representing 16.5% of our total senior living capacity, and 36 retirement center communities with 7,275 units were included in our Management Services segment, representing 7.0% of our total senior living capacity. In the aggregate, these retirement center communities represented 23.5% of our total senior living capacity.

Assisted Living

Our assisted living communities offer housing and 24-hour assistance with ADLs to mid-acuity frail and elderly residents. Our assisted living communities include both freestanding, multi-story communities with more than 50 beds and smaller, freestanding single story communities with less than 50 beds. Depending upon the specific location, the community may include (i) private studio, one-bedroom and one-bedroom deluxe apartments, or (ii) individual rooms for one or two residents in wings or "neighborhoods" scaled to a single-family home, which includes a living room, dining room, patio or enclosed porch, laundry room and personal care area, as well as a caregiver work station.

We also operate memory care communities, which are freestanding assisted living communities specially designed for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias requiring the attention, personal care and services needed to help cognitively impaired residents maintain a higher quality of life. Our memory care communities have from 8 to 75 beds and some are part of a campus setting which includes a freestanding assisted living community.

All residents at our assisted living and memory care communities receive the basic care level, which includes ongoing health assessments, three meals per day and snacks, coordination of special diets planned by a registered dietitian, assistance with coordination of physician care, social and recreational activities, housekeeping and personal laundry services. In some locations we offer our residents exercise programs and programs designed to address issues associated with early stages of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. In addition, we offer at additional cost, higher levels of personal care services to residents at these communities who are very physically frail or experiencing early stages of Alzheimer's disease or other dementia and who require more frequent or intensive physical assistance or increased personal care and supervision due to cognitive impairments.

As a result of their progressive decline in cognitive abilities, residents at our memory care communities typically require higher levels of personal care and services and therefore pay higher monthly service fees. Specialized services include assistance with ADLs, behavior management and an activities program, the goal of which is to provide a normalized environment that supports residents' remaining functional abilities. Whenever possible, residents participate in all facets of daily life at the residence, such as assisting with meals, laundry and housekeeping.

Assisted living communities (including memory care communities) that we own or lease are included in our Assisted Living segment, and assisted living communities for which we provide management services for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest are included in our Management Services segment. As of December 31, 2016, our Assisted Living segment consisted of 768 assisted living communities with 50,686 units, representing 49.0% of our total senior living capacity, and 83 assisted living communities with 7,791 units were included in our Management Services segment, representing 7.5% of our total senior living capacity. In the aggregate, these assisted living communities represented 56.6% of our total senior living capacity.

As of December 31, 2016, we provide memory care services at 540 of our communities, aggregating 13,436 memory care units across our segments. These communities include 120 freestanding memory care communities with 4,666 units included in our Assisted Living segment.

CCRCs

Our CCRCs are large communities that offer a variety of living arrangements and services to accommodate all levels of physical ability and health. Most of our CCRCs have independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing available on one campus or within the immediate market, and some also include memory care/Alzheimer's service areas.

CCRCs that we own or lease are included in our CCRCs - Rental segment, and CCRCs for which we provide management services for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest are included in our Management Services segment. As of December 31, 2016, our CCRCs - Rental segment included 41 CCRCs with 9,534 units, representing 9.2% of our total senior living capacity, and 34 CCRCs with 11,024 units were included in our Management Services segment, representing 10.7% of our total senior living capacity. In the aggregate, these CCRCs represented 19.9% of our total senior living capacity.

Twenty of our CCRCs, of which 17 are included in the Management Services segment, allow for residents in the independent living apartment units to pay a one-time upfront entrance fee, typically $100,000 to $400,000 or more, which is partially refundable in certain circumstances. We refer to these communities as entry fee CCRCs. The amount of the entrance fee varies depending upon the type and size of the dwelling unit, the type of contract plan selected, whether the contract contains a lifecare benefit (i.e., a healthcare discount) for the resident, the amount and timing of the refund, and other variables. These agreements are subject to regulations in various states. In addition to their initial entrance fee, residents under all of our entrance fee agreements also pay a monthly service fee, which entitles them to the use of certain amenities and services. Since entrance fees are paid upon initial occupancy, the monthly fees are generally less than fees at a comparable rental community. The refundable portion of a resident's entrance fee is generally refundable within a certain number of months or days following contract termination or upon the sale of the unit, or in some agreements, upon the resale of a comparable unit or 12 months after the resident vacates the unit. In addition, some entrance fee agreements entitle the resident to a refund of the original entrance fee paid plus a percentage of the appreciation of the unit upon resale. As of December 31, 2016, our CCRCs - Rental segment included three entry fee CCRCs with 1,164 units, representing less than one percent of our total senior living capacity, and 17 entry fee CCRCs with 8,070 units were included in our Management Services segment, representing 11.1% of our total senior living capacity.

Brookdale Ancillary Services

Through our ancillary services programs, we currently provide outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services, as well as education and wellness programs, to residents of many of our communities and to seniors living outside of our communities. These programs are focused on wellness and physical fitness to allow residents to maintain maximum independence. These services provide many continuing education opportunities for seniors and their families through health fairs, seminars, and other consultative interactions. The therapy services we provide include physical, occupational, speech and other specialized therapy and home health services. The home health services we provide include skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, home health aide services, and social services as needed. These services may be reimbursed under the Medicare program or paid directly by residents from private pay sources, and revenues are recognized as services are provided. We believe that our ancillary services offerings are unique in the senior living industry and that we have a significant advantage over our competitors with respect to providing ancillary services because of our established infrastructure and experience.

Our Brookdale Ancillary Services segment includes the outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services provided to residents of many of our communities and to seniors living outside of our communities. The Brookdale Ancillary Services segment does not include the inpatient therapy services provided in our skilled nursing units, which are included in the CCRCs - Rental segment. During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we significantly reduced the number of outpatient therapy clinics located in our communities as lower reimbursement rates and lower utilization made the business less attractive.

Management Services

We operate certain of our communities pursuant to management agreements. In some of these cases, the community is owned by third parties and, in other cases, the community is owned in an unconsolidated venture in which we have an ownership interest. Under the management agreements for these communities, we receive management fees as well as reimbursed expenses, which represent the reimbursement of certain expenses we incur on behalf of the owners.

The majority of our management agreements are long-term agreements. In most cases, either party to the agreements may terminate upon the occurrence of an event of default caused by the other party. In addition, in some cases, subject to our rights, if any, to cure deficiencies, community owners may terminate us as manager if any licenses or certificates necessary for operation are revoked, if we do not satisfy certain designated performance thresholds or if the community is sold to an unrelated third party (in which case we may be entitled to receive a contractual termination fee). Also, in some instances, a community owner may terminate the management agreement relating to a particular community if we are in default under other management agreements relating to other communities owned by the same owner or its affiliates. Certain of our management agreements, both with unconsolidated ventures and with entities owned by third parties, provide that an event of default under the debt instruments applicable to the ventures or the entities owned by third parties that is caused by us may also be considered an event of default by us under the relevant management agreement, giving the non-Brookdale party to the management agreement the right to pursue the remedies provided for in the management agreement, potentially including termination of the management agreement. Further, in the event of default on a loan, the lender may have the ability to terminate us as manager. With respect to communities held in unconsolidated ventures, in some cases, the management agreement can be terminated in connection with the sale by the venture partner of its interest in the venture or the sale of properties by the venture.

For the year ended December 31, 2016, approximately 50.6% of our management fees revenue was derived from unconsolidated ventures in which HCP owns a controlling interest, and approximately 35.9% of our management fees revenue was derived from our unconsolidated CCRC venture in which we share control with HCP. Early termination or non-renewal of, or renewal on less-favorable terms, of our management agreements (including our management agreements with such unconsolidated ventures) could cause a loss in revenues and could negatively impact our results of operations and cash flows.

As of December 31, 2016, the 153 communities and 26,090 units in our Management Services segment represented 25.3% of our total senior living capacity. As of that date, we operated nine communities, representing 1,070 units, for third parties and 144 communities, representing 25,020 units, for unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest. As of December 31, 2016, these communities consisted of 36 retirement center communities (7,275 units), 83 assisted living communities (7,791 units) and 34 CCRCs (11,024 units).

Competitive Strengths

We believe our nationwide network of senior living communities and ancillary services networks are well positioned to benefit from the growth and increasing demand in the industry. Some of our most significant competitive strengths are:

•	Skilled management team with extensive experience. Our senior management team and our Board of Directors have extensive experience in the senior living, healthcare and real estate industries, including the acquisition, operation and management of a broad range of senior living assets.

•	Geographically diverse, high-quality, purpose-built communities. As of December 31, 2016, we are the largest operator of senior living communities in the United States based on total capacity, with 1,055 communities in 47 states and the ability to serve approximately 103,000 residents.

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Ability to provide a broad spectrum of care. Given our diverse mix of retirement centers, assisted living communities and CCRCs, as well as our ancillary services offerings, we are able to meet a wide range of our customers' needs. We believe that we are one of the few companies in the senior living industry with this capability and the only company that does so at scale on a national basis. We believe that our multiple product offerings create marketing synergies and cross-selling opportunities.

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The size of our business allows us to realize cost and operating efficiencies. The size of our business allows us to realize cost savings and economies of scale in the procurement of goods and services. Our scale also allows us to achieve increased efficiencies with respect to various corporate functions. We intend to utilize our expertise and size to capitalize on economies of scale resulting from our national platform. Our geographic footprint and centralized infrastructure provide us with a significant operational advantage over local and regional operators of senior living communities. In connection with our formation transactions and our acquisitions, we negotiated new contracts for food, insurance and other goods and services. In addition, we have and will continue to consolidate corporate functions such as accounting, finance, human resources, legal, information technology and marketing.

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Significant experience in providing ancillary services. Through our ancillary services programs, we provide a range of home health, hospice, outpatient therapy, education, wellness and other ancillary services to residents of certain of our communities and to seniors outside our communities.  Having therapy clinics located in, and home health agencies that provide services to, our senior living communities is a distinct competitive difference.  We have significant experience in providing these ancillary services and expect to receive additional revenues as we expand our ancillary service offerings to additional communities and to seniors outside of our communities.

Segments

As of December 31, 2016, we had five reportable segments: Retirement Centers; Assisted Living; CCRCs – Rental; Brookdale Ancillary Services and Management Services. These segments were determined based on the way that our chief operating decision maker organizes our business activities for making operating decisions, assessing performance, developing strategy and allocating capital resources.

Operating results from our five business segments are discussed further in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Operations

Operations Overview

We have implemented intensive standards, policies and procedures and systems, including detailed staff manuals and training materials, which we believe have contributed to high levels of customer service. We have centralized accounting, finance and other operating functions in our support centers so that, consistent with our operating philosophy, community-based personnel can focus on resident care, family connections and efficient operations.  Our operating procedures include securing national vendor contracts to obtain lower pricing for certain services such as food, energy and insurance, implementing effective budgeting and financial controls at each community, and establishing standardized training and operations procedures.  We have also established company-wide policies and procedures relating to, among other things: resident care; community design and community operations; billing and collections; accounts payable; finance and accounting; risk management; development of employee training materials and programs; marketing activities; the hiring and training of management and other community-based personnel; compliance with applicable local and state regulatory requirements; and implementation of our acquisition, development and leasing plans.

Consolidated Corporate Operations Support

We have developed a centralized support infrastructure and services platform, which provides us with a significant operational advantage over local and regional operators of senior living communities. The size of our business also allows us to achieve increased efficiencies with respect to various corporate functions such as human resources, finance, accounting, legal, information technology and marketing. We are also able to realize cost efficiencies in the purchasing of food, supplies, insurance, benefits, and other goods and services. In addition, we have established centralized operations groups to support all of our product lines and communities in areas such as training, regulatory affairs, asset management, dining and procurement.

Community Staffing and Training

Each community has an Executive Director responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the community, including quality of care and service, social services and financial performance. Each Executive Director receives specialized training from us. In addition, a portion of each Executive Director's compensation is directly tied to the operating performance of the community and key care and service quality measures.  As part of our refined strategy, we intend to simplify the role of our Executive Directors to allow them to focus on our customers and associates.  We believe that the quality of our communities, coupled with our competitive compensation philosophy, has enabled us to attract high-quality, professional community Executive Directors.

Depending upon the size of the community, each Executive Director is supported by a community staff member who is directly responsible for day-to-day care of the residents and either community staff or regional support to oversee the community's sales, marketing and community outreach programs. Other key positions supporting each community may include individuals responsible for food service, healthcare services, therapy services, activities, housekeeping, and engineering.

We believe that quality of care and operating efficiency can be maximized by direct resident and staff contact. Employees involved in resident care, including the administrative staff, are trained in the support and care needs of the residents and emergency response techniques. We have adopted formal training and evaluation procedures to help ensure quality care for our residents. We have extensive policy and procedure manuals and hold frequent training sessions for management and staff at each site.

Quality Assurance

We maintain quality assurance programs at each of our communities through our corporate and regional staff. Our quality assurance programs are designed to achieve a high degree of resident and family member satisfaction with the care and services that we provide. Our quality control measures include, among other things, community inspections conducted by corporate staff on a regular basis. These inspections cover the appearance of the exterior and grounds; the appearance and cleanliness of the interior; the professionalism and friendliness of staff; quality of resident care (including assisted living services, nursing care, therapy and home health programs); the quality of activities and the dining program; observance of residents in their daily living activities; and compliance with government regulations. Our quality control measures also include the survey of residents and family members on a regular basis to monitor their perception of the quality of services provided to residents.

In order to foster a sense of community as well as to respond to residents' needs and desires, at many of our communities, we have established a resident council or other resident advisory committee that meets monthly with the Executive Director of the community. Separate resident committees also exist at many of these communities for food service, activities, marketing and hospitality. These committees promote resident involvement and satisfaction and enable community management to be more responsive to the residents' needs and desires.

Marketing and Sales

Our marketing efforts are intended to create awareness of our Brookdale brand, our communities, our products and our services among potential residents and their family members and among referral sources, including hospital discharge planners, physicians, clergy, area agencies for the elderly, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and social workers. Our marketing staff develops overall strategies for promoting our communities and monitors the success of our multi-layered marketing efforts, including outreach programs. In addition to direct contacts with prospective referral sources, we also rely on internet inquiries, contact centers, print advertising, e-mail and digital marketing, social media, direct mail, signage and special events, health fairs and community receptions. Certain resident referral programs have been established and promoted within the limitations of federal and state laws at many communities.

As part of our refined strategy, we will continue to leverage our brand recognition while pursuing a multi-layered marketing approach.  We also have designed and begun implementation of a network sales model, have begun to design and implement a new lead management system, and have begun segmenting our communities to align their operating standards with their optimal market position.  With our network sales model, a lead sales associate in many of our markets will be responsible for better coordinating our sales efforts among our communities within a given market.  Our community segmentation efforts are intended to identify optimal levels of price, service offerings, amenities and programs to be offered based on local demand and supply so that we can adjust our operating standards to create differentiated value to meet the needs of our customers.

Competition

Customers

Our target retirement center residents are senior citizens age 75 and older who desire or need a more supportive living environment. A number of our retirement center residents relocate to one of our communities in order to be in a metropolitan area that is closer to their adult children.

Our target assisted living residents are predominantly senior citizens age 80 and older who require daily assistance with two or more ADLs. Residents typically enter an assisted living community due to a relatively immediate need for services that might have been triggered by a medical event or need.

Our target CCRC residents are senior citizens who are seeking a community that offers a variety of services and a continuum of care so that they can "age-in-place." These residents generally first enter the community as a resident of an independent living unit and may later move into an assisted living or skilled nursing area as their needs change.

Seasonality

Our seniors housing business has typically experienced some seasonality, which we experience in certain regions more than others, due to weather patterns, geography and higher incidence and severity of illnesses during winter months.  Although our seasonal pattern varies from year to year, our average monthly occupancy generally begins to decline sequentially during the fourth quarter of the year, and we generally expect average monthly occupancy to begin to increase during the second quarter each year.

Employees

As of December 31, 2016, we had approximately 50,100 full-time employees and approximately 27,500 part-time employees, of which 615 work in our Brentwood, Tennessee (a suburb of Nashville) headquarters office, 638 work in our Milwaukee, Wisconsin office and 1,033 work in our smaller regional support offices and a variety of field-based management positions. We currently consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

Government Regulation

The regulatory environment surrounding the senior living industry continues to intensify in the number and type of laws and regulations affecting it. In addition, federal, state and local officials are increasingly focusing their efforts on enforcement of these laws and regulations. This is particularly true for large for-profit, multi-community providers like us. Some of the laws and regulations that impact our industry include: state and local laws impacting licensure, protecting consumers against deceptive practices, and generally affecting the communities' management of property and equipment and how we otherwise conduct our operations, such as fire, health and safety laws and regulations and privacy laws; federal and state laws designed to protect Medicare and Medicaid, which mandate what are allowable costs, pricing, quality of services, quality of care, food service, resident rights (including abuse and neglect) and fraud; federal and state residents' rights statutes and regulations; Anti-Kickback and physicians referral ("Stark") laws; and safety and health standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We are unable to predict the future course of federal, state and local legislation or regulation. Changes in the regulatory framework could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Many senior living communities are also subject to regulation and licensing by state and local health and social service agencies and other regulatory authorities. Although requirements vary from state to state, these requirements may address, among others, the following: personnel education, training and records; community services, including administration of medication, assistance with self-administration of medication and the provision of nursing, home health and therapy services; staffing levels; monitoring of resident wellness; physical plant specifications; furnishing of resident units; food and housekeeping services; emergency evacuation plans; professional licensing and certification of staff prior to beginning employment; and resident rights and responsibilities, including in some states the right to receive health care services from providers of a resident's choice that are not our employees. In several of the states in which we operate or may operate, we are prohibited from providing certain higher levels of senior care services without first obtaining the appropriate licenses. In addition, in several of the states in which we operate or intend to operate, assisted living communities, home health agencies and/or skilled nursing facilities require a certificate of need before the community can be opened or the services at an existing community can be expanded. Senior living communities may also be subject to state and/or local building, zoning, fire and food service codes and must be in compliance with these local codes before licensing or certification may be granted. These laws and regulatory requirements could affect our ability to expand into new markets and to expand our services and communities in existing markets. In addition, if any of our presently licensed communities operates outside of its licensing authority, it may be subject to penalties, including closure of the community.

The intensified regulatory and enforcement environment impacts providers like us because of the increase in the number of inspections or surveys by governmental authorities and consequent citations for failure to comply with regulatory requirements. Unannounced surveys or inspections may occur annually or bi-annually, or following a regulator's receipt of a complaint about the community. From time to time in the ordinary course of business, we receive deficiency reports from state regulatory bodies resulting from such inspections or surveys. Most inspection deficiencies are resolved through an agreed-to plan of corrective action relating to the community's operations, but the reviewing agency typically has the authority to take further action against a licensed or certified community, which could result in the imposition of fines, imposition of a provisional or conditional license, suspension or revocation of a license, suspension or denial of admissions, loss of certification as a provider under federal health care programs or imposition of other sanctions, including criminal penalties. Loss, suspension or modification of a license may also cause us to default under our loan or lease agreements and/or trigger cross-defaults. Sanctions may be taken against providers or facilities without regard to the providers' or facilities' history of compliance. We may also expend considerable resources to respond to federal and state investigations or other enforcement action under applicable laws or regulations. To date, none of the deficiency reports received by us has resulted in a suspension, fine or other disposition that has had a material adverse effect on our revenues. However, any future substantial failure to comply with any applicable legal and regulatory requirements could result in a material adverse effect to our business as a whole. In addition, states Attorneys General vigorously enforce consumer protection laws as those laws relate to the senior living industry. State Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Units may also investigate assisted living communities even if the community or any of its residents do not receive federal or state funds.

Regulation of the senior living industry is evolving at least partly because of the growing interests of a variety of advocacy organizations and political movements attempting to standardize regulations for certain segments of the industry, particularly assisted living. Our operations could suffer if future regulatory developments, such as federal assisted living laws and regulations, as well as mandatory increases in the scope and severity of deficiencies determined by survey or inspection officials or increase the number of citations that can result in civil or criminal penalties. Certain current state laws and regulations allow enforcement officials to make determinations on whether the care provided by one or more of our communities exceeds the level of care for which the community is licensed. A finding that a community is delivering care beyond its license might result in the immediate transfer and discharge of residents, which may create market instability and other adverse consequences. Furthermore, certain states may allow citations in one community to impact other communities in the state. Revocation or suspension of a license, or a citation, at a given community could therefore impact our ability to obtain new licenses or to renew existing licenses at other communities, which may also cause us to be in default under our loan or lease agreements and trigger cross-defaults or may also trigger defaults under certain of our credit agreements, or adversely affect our ability to operate and/or obtain financing in the future. If a state were to find that one community's citation will impact another of our communities, this will also increase costs and result in increased surveillance by the state survey agency. If regulatory requirements increase, whether through enactment of new laws or regulations or changes in the enforcement of existing rules, including increased enforcement brought about by advocacy groups, in addition to federal and state regulators, our operations could be adversely affected. In addition, any adverse finding by survey and inspection officials may serve as the basis for false claims lawsuits by private plaintiffs and may lead to investigations under federal and state laws, which may result in civil and/or criminal penalties against the community or individual.

There are various extremely complex federal and state laws governing a wide array of referrals, relationships and arrangements and prohibiting fraud by health care providers, including those in the senior living industry, and governmental agencies are devoting increasing attention and resources to such anti-fraud initiatives. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 expanded the penalties for health care fraud. In addition, with respect to our participation in federal health care reimbursement programs, the government or private individuals acting on behalf of the government may bring an action under the False Claims Act alleging that a health care provider has defrauded the government and seek treble damages for false claims and the payment of additional monetary civil penalties. Recently, other health care providers have faced enforcement action under the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act allows a private individual with knowledge of fraud to bring a claim on behalf of the federal government and earn a percentage of the federal government's recovery. Because of these incentives, so-called "whistleblower" suits have become more frequent. Also, if any of our communities exceeds its level of care, we may be subject to private lawsuits alleging "transfer trauma" by residents. Such allegations could also lead to investigations by enforcement officials, which could result in penalties, including the closure of communities. The violation of any of these regulations may result in the imposition of fines or other penalties that could jeopardize our business.

Additionally, we operate communities that participate in federal and/or state health care reimbursement programs, including state Medicaid waiver programs for assisted living communities, the Medicare skilled nursing facility benefit program and other healthcare programs such as therapy and home health services, or other federal and/or state health care programs. Consequently, we are subject to federal and state laws that prohibit anyone from presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for reimbursement which are false, fraudulent or are for items or services that were not provided as claimed. Similar state laws vary from state to state and we cannot be sure that these laws will be interpreted consistently or in keeping with past practices. Violation of any of these laws can result in loss of licensure, claims for recoupment, civil or criminal penalties and exclusion of health care providers or suppliers from furnishing covered items or services to beneficiaries of the applicable federal and/or state health care reimbursement program. Loss of licensure may also cause us to default under our leases and loan agreements and/or trigger cross-defaults.

We are also subject to certain federal and state laws that regulate financial arrangements by health care providers, such as the Federal Anti-Kickback Law, the Stark laws and certain state referral laws. The Federal Anti-Kickback Law makes it unlawful for any person to offer or pay (or to solicit or receive) "any remuneration ... directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind" for referring or recommending for purchase any item or service which is eligible for payment under the Medicare and/or Medicaid programs. Authorities have interpreted this statute very broadly to apply to many practices and relationships between health care providers and sources of patient referral. If we were to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Law, we may face criminal penalties and civil sanctions, including fines and possible exclusion from government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which may also cause us to default under our leases and loan agreements and/or trigger cross-defaults. Adverse consequences may also result if we violate federal Stark laws related to certain Medicare and Medicaid physician referrals. While we endeavor to comply with all laws that regulate the licensure and operation of our senior living communities, it is difficult to predict how our revenues could be affected if we were subject to an action alleging such violations. We are also subject to federal and state laws designed to protect the confidentiality of patient health information. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, has issued rules pursuant to HIPAA relating to the privacy of such information. Rules that became effective April 14, 2003 govern our use and disclosure of health information at certain HIPAA covered communities. We established procedures to comply with HIPAA privacy requirements at these communities. We were required to be in compliance with the HIPAA rule establishing administrative, physical and technical security standards for health information by April 2005. To the best of our knowledge, we are in compliance with these rules.

Environmental Matters

Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real property, such as us, may be held liable in certain circumstances for the costs of investigation, removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances, including, among others, petroleum and materials containing asbestos, that could be located on, in, at or under a property, regardless of how such materials came to be located there. Additionally, such an owner or operator of real property may incur costs relating to the release of hazardous or toxic substances, including government fines and payments for personal injuries or damage to adjacent property. The cost of any required investigation, remediation, removal, mitigation, compliance, fines or personal or property damages and our liability therefore could exceed the property's value and/or our assets' value. In addition, the presence of such substances, or the failure to properly dispose of or remediate the damage caused by such substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell such property, to attract additional residents and retain existing residents, to borrow using such property as collateral or to develop or redevelop such property. In addition, such laws impose liability for investigation, remediation, removal and mitigation costs on persons who disposed of or arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances at third-party sites. Such laws and regulations often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence, release or disposal of such substances as well as without regard to whether such release or disposal was in compliance with law at the time it occurred. Moreover, the imposition of such liability upon us could be joint and several, which means we could be required to pay for the cost of cleaning up contamination caused by others who have become insolvent or otherwise judgment proof.

We do not believe that we have incurred such liabilities that would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations are subject to regulation under various federal, state and local environmental laws, including those relating to: the handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of medical waste products generated at our communities; identification and warning of the presence of asbestos-containing materials in buildings, as well as removal of such materials; the presence of other substances in the indoor environment; and protection of the environment and natural resources in connection with development or construction of our properties.

Some of our communities generate infectious or other hazardous medical waste due to the illness or physical condition of the residents, including, for example, blood-contaminated bandages, swabs and other medical waste products and incontinence products of those residents diagnosed with an infectious disease. The management of infectious medical waste, including its handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal, is subject to regulation under various federal, state and local environmental laws. These environmental laws set forth the management requirements for such waste, as well as related permit, record-keeping, notice and reporting obligations. Each of our communities has an agreement with a waste management company for the proper disposal of all infectious medical waste. The use of such waste management companies does not immunize us from alleged violations of such medical waste laws for operations for which we are responsible even if carried out by such waste management companies, nor does it immunize us from third-party claims for the cost to cleanup disposal sites at which such wastes have been disposed. Any finding that we are not in compliance with environmental laws could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

Federal regulations require building owners and those exercising control over a building's management to identify and warn, via signs and labels, their employees and certain other employers operating in the building of potential hazards posed by workplace exposure to installed asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials in their buildings. The regulations also set forth employee training, record-keeping requirements and sampling protocols pertaining to asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials. Significant fines can be assessed for violation of these regulations. Building owners and those exercising control over a building's management may be subject to an increased risk of personal injury lawsuits by workers and others exposed to asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials. The regulations may affect the value of a building containing asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials in which we have invested. Federal, state and local laws and regulations also govern the removal, encapsulation, disturbance, handling and/or disposal of asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials when such materials are in poor condition or in the event of construction, remodeling, renovation or demolition of a building. Such laws may impose liability for improper handling or a release to the environment of asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials and may provide for fines to, and for third parties to seek recovery from, owners or operators of real properties for personal injury or improper work exposure associated with asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials.

The presence of mold, lead-based paint, contaminants in drinking water, radon and/or other substances at any of the communities we own or may acquire may lead to the incurrence of costs for remediation, mitigation or the implementation of an operations and maintenance plan. Furthermore, the presence of mold, lead-based paint, contaminants in drinking water, radon and/or other substances at any of the communities we own or may acquire may present a risk that third parties will seek recovery from the owners, operators or tenants of such properties for personal injury or property damage. In some circumstances, areas affected by mold may be unusable for periods of time for repairs, and even after successful remediation, the known prior presence of extensive mold could adversely affect the ability of a community to retain or attract residents and could adversely affect a community's market value.

We believe that we are in material compliance with applicable environmental laws.

We are unable to predict the future course of federal, state and local environmental regulation and legislation. Changes in the environmental regulatory framework (including legislative or regulatory efforts designed to address climate change, such as the proposed "cap and trade" legislation) could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, because environmental laws vary from state to state, expansion of our operations to states where we do not currently operate may subject us to additional restrictions on the manner in which we operate our communities.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, are available free of charge through our web site as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, at the following address: www.brookdale.com. The information within, or that can be accessed through, the web site is not part of this report.

We have posted our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of our Audit, Compensation, Investment and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees on our web site at www.brookdale.com. In addition, our Code of Ethics for Chief Executive and Senior Financial Officers, which applies to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, Treasurer and Controller is also available on our website. Our corporate governance materials are available in print free of charge to any stockholder upon request to our Corporate Secretary, Brookdale Senior Living Inc., 111 Westwood Place, Suite 400, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

The following table sets forth certain information concerning our executive officers as of February 14, 2017:

Daniel A. Decker has been investing in the senior living industry for more than 20 years. He joined our Board of Directors in October 2015 as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, and was appointed as Executive Chairman of the Board in November 2016.  Mr. Decker is the President and owner of CoastWood Senior Housing Partners, LLC, an investment firm specializing in seniors housing and related services, which he founded in 2006. In January 2013, CoastWood joined with KKR and Beecken Petty O'Keefe & Company to acquire the operations of Sunrise Senior Living, one of the leading operators of assisted living properties in the United States.  The group sold its interest in Sunrise in 2014.  Prior to forming CoastWood, Mr. Decker was a partner from 1990 to 2006 at The Hampstead Group, LLC, a private equity firm with a focus on real estate related, operating intensive businesses such as lodging and seniors housing.  Mr. Decker was an attorney at the law firm of Decker, Hardt, Kopf, Harr, Munsch & Dinan (now known as Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C.) from 1985 to 1990, which he co-founded in 1985, and was an attorney at Winstead PC from 1980 to 1985.  Mr. Decker served on the Boards of Directors of Sentio Healthcare Properties, Inc. (a public, non-listed REIT) from March 2013 until September 2015, during which time he served as a member of the Investment Committee, and Health Care REIT, Inc. from October 2011 until August 2012, during which time he served as a member of the Audit, Investment, Nominating/Corporate Governance and Planning Committees.

T. Andrew Smith has over 25 years of experience in seniors housing, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and capital markets transactions, corporate finance and healthcare. Mr. Smith has served as our Chief Executive Officer since February 2013, as our President since March 2016, and as a member of our Board of Directors since June 2014. From October 2006 to February 2013, Mr. Smith served as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. In addition to his role in managing our legal affairs, Mr. Smith was responsible for the management and oversight of our corporate development functions (including acquisitions and expansion and development activity); corporate finance (including capital structure, debt and lease transactions and lender/lessor relations); strategic planning; and risk management. Prior to joining Brookdale, Mr. Smith served as a member of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC's corporate and securities group and as chair of the firm's healthcare group. During his tenure at Bass, Berry & Sims (1985 to 2006), Mr. Smith represented American Retirement Corporation as outside General Counsel. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Nashville Health Care Council, Argentum and the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC) and as a member of the executive board of the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA).

Labeed S. Diab joined Brookdale as Chief Operating Officer in November 2015.  Prior to joining Brookdale, Mr. Diab served in operational leadership roles for the Walmart US division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. since 2009, most recently serving as its President of Health and Wellness since 2014, its President of Midwest Division from 2011 to 2014, and its Vice President and General Manager from 2009 to 2011.  Prior to that, Mr. Diab served as Regional Vice President of Aramark's Health Care Division from 2006 to 2009 and as Regional Vice President for Rite Aid Corporation from 2003 to 2006.  Mr. Diab began his career as a Pharmacy Manager with American Stores Company and later in regional roles with CVS Caremark.  Mr. Diab is a Registered Pharmacist.  He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Argentum.

Lucinda M. Baier joined Brookdale as Chief Financial Officer in December 2015.  Ms. Baier has more than fifteen years of executive leadership experience in accounting, taxation, finance and treasury functions, having most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Navigant Consulting, Inc., a specialized global expert services firm, since March 2013 and its Executive Vice President since February 2013.  Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of Central Parking System, Inc., a leading firm in parking management and marketing, from August 2011 to October 2012, having previously served as its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since September 2010.  Ms. Baier served from July 2008 to February 2010 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Movie Gallery, Inc., and served from 2006 until July 2008 as Chief Financial Officer of World Kitchen, LLC.  In addition, Ms. Baier served as a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. from 2007 until 2016.  Ms. Baier is a Certified Public Accountant.

Bryan D. Richardson became our Executive Vice President in July 2006 and our Chief Administrative Officer in January 2008.  Mr. Richardson also served as our Chief Accounting Officer from September 2006 through April 2008. Previously, Mr. Richardson served as Executive Vice President – Finance and Chief Financial Officer of ARC since April 2003 and previously served as its Senior Vice President – Finance since April 2000. Mr. Richardson was formerly with a national graphic arts company from 1984 to 1999 serving in various capacities, including Senior Vice President of Finance of a digital prepress division from May 1994 to October 1999, and Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer from 1989 to 1994. Mr. Richardson was previously with the national public accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Cedric T. Coco joined Brookdale as Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer in October 2016 after serving in various human resources roles for Lowe's Companies Inc. since 2008, and most recently as Senior Vice President of Human Resources, where he led the human resources generalists for Lowe's stores, distribution centers and customer support centers, in addition to leading talent acquisition, employee relations, diversity, and succession planning. Prior to Lowe's, Mr. Coco gained nearly two decades of experience in human resources, learning and development and organization performance at Microsoft Corporation, KLA-Tencor Corporation and General Electric Company, where he held numerous leadership roles in engineering, business development, sales, general management and organizational learning.

Mary Sue Patchett became our Executive Vice President – Community and Field Operations in November 2015 after having served as Division President since February 2013 and as Divisional Vice President since joining Brookdale in September 2011 in connection with our Horizon Bay acquisition.  Ms. Patchett has over 30 years of senior care and housing experience serving in leadership roles. Previously, Ms. Patchett served as Chief Operating Officer of Horizon Bay from January 2011 through August 2011 and as Senior Vice President of Operations from March 2008 through December 2011. Prior to joining Horizon Bay, she was President and owner of Patchett & Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm for senior housing and other healthcare companies, from 2005 until March 2008. Ms. Patchett had previously served as Divisional Vice President for Alterra for over six years and started in senior living with nine years in numerous leadership positions at Sunrise Senior Living. Ms. Patchett has served on numerous industry boards and is serving on the advisory board of Florida Argentum as its past chair.

H. Todd Kaestner became our Executive Vice President – Corporate Development in July 2006. Previously, Mr. Kaestner served as Executive Vice President – Corporate Development of ARC since September 1993. Mr. Kaestner served in various capacities for ARC's predecessors since 1985, including Vice President – Development from 1988 to 1993 and Chief Financial Officer from 1985 to 1988.

George T. Hicks became our Executive Vice President – Finance in July 2006 and our Treasurer in January 2016.  Prior to July 2006, Mr. Hicks served as Executive Vice President – Finance and Internal Audit, Secretary and Treasurer of ARC since September 1993. Mr. Hicks had served in various capacities for ARC's predecessors since 1985, including Chief Financial Officer from September 1993 to April 2003 and Vice President – Finance and Treasurer from November 1989 to September 1993.

Item 1A.

Risk Factors.

Risks Related to Our Business

Due to the dependency of our revenues on private pay sources, events which adversely affect the ability of seniors to afford our monthly resident fees or entrance fees (including downturns in the economy, housing market, consumer confidence or the equity markets and unemployment among resident family members) could cause our occupancy rates, revenues, results of operations and cash flow to decline.

Costs to seniors associated with independent and assisted living services are not generally reimbursable under government reimbursement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Only seniors with income or assets meeting or exceeding the comparable median in the regions where our communities are located typically can afford to pay our monthly resident fees. Economic downturns, softness in the housing market, higher levels of unemployment among resident family members, lower levels of consumer confidence, stock market volatility and/or changes in demographics could adversely affect the ability of seniors to afford our resident fees or entrance fees. If we are unable to retain and/or attract seniors with sufficient income, assets or other resources required to pay the fees associated with independent and assisted living services and other service offerings, our occupancy rates, revenues, results of operations and cash flow could decline.

The inability of seniors to sell real estate may delay their moving into our communities, which could negatively impact our occupancy rates, revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

Downturns in the housing markets, such as the one we experienced beginning in 2007, could adversely affect the ability (or perceived ability) of seniors to afford our entrance fees and resident fees as our customers frequently use the proceeds from the sale of their homes to cover the cost of our fees. Specifically, if seniors have a difficult time selling their homes or their homes' values decrease, these difficulties could impact their ability to relocate into our communities or finance their stays at our communities with private resources. If national or local housing markets experience protracted volatility, our occupancy rates, revenues, results of operations and cash flow could be negatively impacted.

We rely on reimbursement from governmental programs for a portion of our revenues, and will be subject to changes in reimbursement levels, which could adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

We rely on reimbursement from governmental programs for a portion of our revenues, and we cannot assure you that reimbursement levels will not decrease in the future, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow. Beginning October 1, 2011, we were impacted by a reduction in the reimbursement rates for Medicare skilled nursing patients and home health patients, as well as a negative change in the allowable method for delivering therapy services to skilled nursing patients (resulting in increased therapy labor expense). In addition, certain per person annual limits on Medicare reimbursement for therapy services became effective in 2006, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions are currently scheduled to expire on December 31, 2017. If these exceptions are modified or not extended beyond that date, our revenues, results of operations and cash flow relating to our outpatient therapy services could be materially adversely impacted.

Effective October 1, 2012, certain Medicare Part B therapy services exceeding a specified threshold are subject to a pre-payment manual medical review process. The review process has had an adverse effect on the provision and billing of services for patients and could negatively impact therapist productivity. These Medicare Part B therapy cap exception requirements, including the applicable pre-approval requirements, could also negatively impact the revenues, results of operations and cash flow relating to our outpatient therapy services business. Pursuant to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which was signed by the President on April 16, 2015, the manual review process will be replaced with a new review program to be developed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

To help fund the expansion of health care coverage to previously uninsured people, the Affordable Care Act outlines certain reductions in Medicare reimbursements for various health care providers, including home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities, as well as other changes to Medicare payment methodologies. Among other changes, the Affordable Care Act calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to "rebase" reimbursements for home health, which has resulted in a decrease in home health reimbursement that began in 2014 and is being phased-in over a four year period through 2017, and to establish productivity adjustments reducing the reimbursement rates that we would have otherwise received. For home health in 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") has implemented a net 0.7% reimbursement reduction, consisting of a 2.8% market basket inflation increase, less a 0.3% productivity reduction, a 2.3% rebasing adjustment, and a 0.9% reduction to account for industry wide case-mix growth. We expect the total effect of the changes for 2017 to reduce our reimbursement by approximately 3.2%.

On June 8, 2016, the CMS announced that it is implementing a 3-year Medicare pre-claim review demonstration for home health services in the states of Illinois, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Massachusetts. CMS began the pre-claim review demonstration in Illinois in August 2016, will begin the demonstration in Florida in April 2017, and is expected to announce in coming months staggered start dates for the other states. We derive a significant portion of our home health revenue from these states. The pre-claim review is a process through which a request for provisional affirmation of coverage is submitted for review before a final claim is submitted for payment. The pre-claim review demonstration may result in an increase in administrative costs or reimbursement delays related to home health services in such states, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flow.

In addition, there continue to be various federal and state legislative and regulatory proposals to implement cost containment measures that would limit payments to healthcare providers in the future. We cannot predict what action, if any, Congress will take on reimbursement policies of the Medicare program or what future rule changes the CMS will implement. Changes in the reimbursement policies of the Medicare program could have an adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

The impact of ongoing health care reform efforts on our business cannot accurately be predicted.

The health care industry in the United States is subject to fundamental changes due to ongoing health care reform efforts and related political, economic and regulatory influences. Notably, the Affordable Care Act resulted in expanded health care coverage to millions of previously uninsured people beginning in 2014 and has resulted in significant changes to the U.S. health care system. To help fund this expansion, the Affordable Care Act outlines certain reductions in Medicare reimbursements for various health care providers, including home health networks and skilled nursing facilities, as well as certain other changes to Medicare payment methodologies. This comprehensive health care legislation has resulted and will continue to result in extensive rulemaking by regulatory authorities, and also may be altered, amended, repealed or replaced.  It is difficult to predict the full impact of the Affordable Care Act due to the complexity of the law and implementing regulations, as well our inability to foresee how CMS and other participants in the health care industry will respond to the choices available to them under the law.  We also cannot accurately predict whether any new or pending legislative proposals will be adopted or, if adopted, what effect, if any, these proposals would have on our business. Similarly, while we can anticipate that some of the rulemaking that will be promulgated by regulatory authorities will affect us and the manner in which we are reimbursed by the federal health care programs, we cannot accurately predict today the impact of those regulations on our business. The provisions of the legislation and other regulations implementing the provisions of the Affordable Care Act or any amended or replacement legislation may increase our costs, decrease our revenues, expose us to expanded liability or require us to revise the ways in which we conduct our business.

In addition to its impact on the delivery and payment for health care, the Affordable Care Act and the implementing regulations have resulted and may continue to result in increases to our costs to provide health care benefits to our employees. We also may be required to make additional employee-related changes to our business as a result of provisions in the Affordable Care Act or any amended or replacement legislation impacting the provision of health insurance by employers, which could result in additional expense and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow.

Overbuilding and increased competition may adversely affect our occupancy, revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

The senior living industry is highly competitive. We compete with numerous other companies that provide long-term care alternatives such as home healthcare agencies, therapy services, life care at home, community-based service programs, retirement communities, convalescent centers and other independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing providers, including not-for-profit entities. In general, regulatory and other barriers to competitive entry in the independent living and assisted living sectors of the senior living industry are not substantial. In addition, over the last several years there has been an increase in the construction of new senior housing assets, and beginning in the third quarter of 2016 we began experiencing an adverse change in the competitive environment for our consolidated senior housing portfolio, with significant new competition opening in a number of our markets. We expect this elevated rate of new openings to continue through most of fiscal 2017, and we expect that the senior living industry may become more competitive in the future. Such new competition that we have encountered or may encounter could limit our ability to attract new residents, raise or maintain resident fees or expand our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our occupancy, revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

Disruptions in the financial markets could affect our ability to obtain financing or to extend or refinance debt as it matures, which could negatively impact our liquidity, financial condition and the market price of our common stock.

In recent years, the United States stock and credit markets have experienced significant price volatility, dislocations and liquidity disruptions, which caused market prices of many stocks to fluctuate substantially and the spreads on prospective debt financings to widen considerably. These circumstances materially impacted liquidity in the financial markets, making terms for certain financings less attractive, and in some cases resulted in the unavailability of financing. Continued uncertainty in the stock and credit markets may negatively impact our ability to access additional financing (including any refinancing or extension of our existing debt) on reasonable terms, which may negatively affect our business.

As of December 31, 2016, we had three principal corporate-level debt obligations: our $400.0 million secured credit facility, our $316.3 million 2.75% convertible senior notes due June 15, 2018 and separate letter of credit facilities providing for up to $64.5 million of letters of credit in the aggregate. If we are unable to extend (or refinance, as applicable) any of our debt or credit or letter of credit facilities prior to their scheduled maturity dates, our liquidity and financial condition could be adversely impacted. In addition, even if we are able to extend or refinance our other maturing debt or credit or letter of credit facilities, the terms of the new financing may not be as favorable to us as the terms of the existing financing.

A prolonged downturn in the financial markets may cause us to seek alternative sources of potentially less attractive financing, and may require us to further adjust our business plan accordingly. These events also may make it more difficult or costly for us to raise capital, including through the issuance of common stock. Disruptions in the financial markets could have an adverse effect on us and our business. If we are not able to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, we also may have to delay or abandon some or all of our portfolio optimization or growth initiatives, which could adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

General economic factors could adversely affect our financial performance and other aspects of our business.

General economic conditions, such as inflation, commodity costs, fuel and other energy costs, costs of labor, insurance and healthcare, interest rates, and tax rates, affect our facility operating, facility lease, general and administrative and other expenses, and we have no control or limited ability to control such factors. In addition, current global economic conditions and uncertainties, the potential for failures or realignments of financial institutions, and the related impact on available credit may affect us and our business partners, landlords, counterparties and residents or prospective residents in an adverse manner including, but not limited to, reducing access to liquid funds or credit, increasing the cost of credit, limiting our ability to manage interest rate risk, increasing the risk that certain of our business partners, landlords or counterparties would be unable to fulfill their obligations to us, and other impacts which we are unable to fully anticipate.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to cover required interest and lease payments, this would result in defaults of the related debt or leases and cross-defaults under our other debt or lease documents, which would adversely affect our capital structure, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

We have significant indebtedness and lease obligations, and we intend to continue financing our communities through mortgage financing, long-term leases and other types of financing, including borrowings under our line of credit and future credit facilities we may obtain. We cannot give any assurance that we will generate sufficient cash flow from operations to cover required interest, principal and lease payments. Any non-payment or other default under our financing arrangements could, subject to cure provisions, cause the lender to foreclose upon the community or communities securing such indebtedness or, in the case of a lease, cause the lessor to terminate the lease, each with a consequent loss of revenue and asset value to us. Furthermore, in some cases, indebtedness is secured by both a mortgage on a community (or communities) and a guaranty by us and/or one or more of our subsidiaries. In the event of a default under one of these scenarios, the lender could avoid judicial procedures required to foreclose on real property by declaring all amounts outstanding under the guaranty immediately due and payable, and requiring the respective guarantor to fulfill its obligations to make such payments. The realization of any of these scenarios would have an adverse effect on our financial condition and capital structure. Additionally, a foreclosure on any of our properties could cause us to recognize taxable income, even if we did not receive any cash proceeds in connection with such foreclosure. Further, because many of our outstanding debt and lease documents contain cross-default and cross-collateralization provisions, a default by us related to one community could affect a significant number of our communities and their corresponding financing arrangements and leases. In the event of such a default, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the lender or lessor on terms acceptable or favorable to us, or at all, which would have a negative impact on our capital structure and financial condition.

Our indebtedness and long-term leases could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to operate our business.

Our level of indebtedness and our long-term leases could adversely affect our future operations and/or impact our stockholders for several reasons, including, without limitation:

•	We may have little or no cash flow apart from cash flow that is dedicated to the payment of any interest, principal or amortization required with respect to outstanding indebtedness and lease payments with respect to our long-term leases;

•	Increases in our outstanding indebtedness, leverage and long-term leases will increase our vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic and industry conditions, as well as to competitive pressure;

•	Increases in our outstanding indebtedness may limit our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, expansions, repositionings, new developments, acquisitions, general corporate and other purposes; and

•	Our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders may be limited.

Our ability to make payments of principal and interest on our indebtedness and to make lease payments on our leases depends upon our future cash flow performance, which will be subject to general economic conditions, industry cycles and financial, business and other factors affecting our operations, many of which are beyond our control. Our business might not continue to generate cash flow at or above current levels. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our debt or to make lease payments on our leases, we may be required, among other things, to seek additional financing in the debt or equity markets, refinance or restructure all or a portion of our indebtedness or leases, sell selected assets, reduce or delay planned capital expenditures or delay or abandon desirable acquisitions. These measures might not be sufficient to enable us to service our debt or to make lease payments on our leases. The failure to make required payments on our debt or leases could result in an adverse effect on our future ability to generate revenues and our results of operations and cash flow. Any contemplated financing, refinancing, restructuring, or sale of assets might not be available on economically favorable terms to us. In addition, certain of our debt agreements contain extension options. If we are not able to satisfy the conditions precedent to exercising these extension options our liquidity and financial condition could be negatively impacted.

Our existing credit facilities, mortgage loans and lease arrangements contain covenants that limit or restrict our operations and activities (including our ability to borrow additional funds and engage in certain transactions without consent of the applicable lender or lessor), and any default under such facilities, loans or arrangements could result in the acceleration of indebtedness, termination of the leases or cross-defaults under our other debt or lease documents, any of which would negatively impact our liquidity and interfere with our portfolio optimization and growth initiatives.

Our outstanding indebtedness and leases contain restrictions and covenants and require us to maintain or satisfy specified financial ratios and coverage tests, including maintaining prescribed net worth levels, leverage ratios and debt service and lease coverage ratios on a consolidated basis, and on a community or communities basis based on the debt or lease securing the communities. In addition, certain of our leases require us to maintain lease coverage ratios on a lease portfolio basis (each as defined in the leases) and maintain stockholders' equity or tangible net worth amounts. The debt service coverage ratios are generally calculated as revenues less operating expenses, including an implied management fee and a reserve for capital expenditures, divided by the debt (principal and interest) or lease payment. Net worth is generally calculated as stockholders' equity as calculated in accordance with GAAP, and in certain circumstances, reduced by intangible assets or liabilities or increased by deferred gains from sale-leaseback transactions and deferred entrance fee revenue. These restrictions and covenants may interfere with our ability to obtain financing or to engage in other business activities, which may inhibit our ability to pursue our portfolio optimization and growth initiatives.  If we fail to comply with any of these requirements, then the related indebtedness could become immediately due and payable. We cannot assure you that we could pay this debt if it became due. In addition, certain of our outstanding indebtedness and leases limit or restrict, among other things, our ability and our subsidiaries' ability to borrow additional funds, engage in a change in control transaction, dispose of all or substantially all of our or their assets, or engage in mergers or other business combinations without consent of the applicable lender or lessor.

Our credit facilities, mortgage loans and leases are secured by our communities and, in certain cases, a guaranty by us and/or one or more of our subsidiaries. Therefore, an event of default under the outstanding indebtedness or leases, subject to cure provisions in certain instances, would give the respective lenders or lessors, as applicable, the right to declare all amounts outstanding to be immediately due and payable, terminate the lease, foreclose on collateral securing the outstanding indebtedness and leases, and restrict our ability to make additional borrowings under the outstanding indebtedness or continue to operate the properties subject to the lease. Many of our outstanding debt and lease documents contain cross-default provisions so that a default under one of these instruments would cause a default under other debt and lease documents.

The substantial majority of our lease arrangements are structured as master leases. Under a master lease, we may lease a large number of geographically dispersed properties through an indivisible lease. As a result, it is difficult to restructure the composition of the portfolio or economic terms of the lease without the consent of the landlord. Failure to comply with Medicare or Medicaid provider requirements is a default under several of our master lease and debt financing instruments. In addition, an event of default related to an individual property or limited number of properties within a master lease portfolio would result in a default on the entire master lease portfolio and could further trigger cross-default provisions in other outstanding debt and lease documents.  In the event of such a default, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the lessor on terms acceptable or favorable to us, or at all, which would have a negative impact on our capital structure, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow, and could interfere with our ability to pursue our portfolio optimization and growth initiatives.

Certain of our master leases and management agreements also contain radius restrictions, which limit our ability to own, develop or acquire new communities within a specified distance from certain existing communities covered by such agreements. These radius restrictions could negatively affect our ability to expand, develop or acquire senior housing communities and operating companies.

Mortgage debt and lease obligations expose us to increased risk of loss of property, which could harm our ability to generate future revenues and could have an adverse tax effect.

Mortgage debt and lease obligations increase our risk of loss because defaults on indebtedness secured by properties or pursuant to the terms of the lease may result in foreclosure actions initiated by lenders or lessors and ultimately our loss of the property securing any loans for which we are in default or cause the lessor to terminate the lease. For tax purposes, a foreclosure of any of our properties would be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we would recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but would not receive any cash proceeds, which could negatively impact our results of operations and cash flow. Further, our mortgage debt and leases generally contain cross-default and cross-collateralization provisions and a default on one community could affect a significant number of our communities, financing arrangements and leases.

In addition, our leases generally provide for renewal or extension options and, in certain cases, purchase options. These options generally are based upon prescribed formulas but, in certain cases, may be at fair market value. We expect to renew, extend or exercise purchase options with respect to our leases in the normal course of business; however, there can be no assurance that these rights will be exercised in the future or that we will be able to satisfy the conditions precedent to exercising any such renewal, extension or purchase options. Furthermore, the terms of any such options that are based on fair market value are inherently uncertain and could be unacceptable or unfavorable to us depending on the circumstances at the time of exercise. If we are not able to renew or extend our existing leases, or purchase the communities subject to such leases, at or prior to the end of the existing lease terms, or if the terms of such options are unfavorable or unacceptable to us, our business, results of operations and cash flow could be adversely affected.

Increases in market interest rates could significantly increase the costs of our unhedged debt and lease obligations, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow.

Our unhedged floating-rate debt and lease payment obligations and any unhedged floating-rate debt incurred in the future, exposes us to interest rate risk. Therefore, increases in prevailing interest rates could increase our payment obligations, which would negatively impact our results of operations and cash flow.

Increases in the cost and availability of labor, including increased competition for or a shortage of skilled personnel, increased wage pressures or increased union activity, would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and cash flow.

Our success depends on our ability to retain and attract skilled management personnel who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of each of our communities. Each community has an Executive Director responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the community, including quality of care, social services and financial performance. Depending upon the size of the community, each Executive Director is supported by a community staff member who is directly responsible for day-to-day care of the residents and either community staff or regional support to oversee the community's sales, marketing and community outreach programs. Other key positions supporting each community may include individuals responsible for food service, healthcare services, therapy services, activities, housekeeping and engineering.

We compete with various health care service providers, including other senior living providers, in retaining and attracting qualified and skilled personnel. Increased competition for or a shortage of nurses, therapists or other trained personnel, or general inflationary pressures may require that we enhance our pay and benefits package to compete effectively for such personnel.  In addition, we have experienced and may continue to experience wage pressures due to minimum wage increases mandated by state and local laws and the increase to the salary thresholds for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which were adopted by the Department of Labor in May 2016.  The changes to the thresholds for overtime exemptions were to be effective December 1, 2016, but were temporarily enjoined by a U.S. District Court prior to their implementation.  It is unclear whether the changes adopted by the Department of Labor ultimately will become effective as adopted, amended, replaced or repealed.  We may not be able to offset such added costs resulting from competitive, inflationary or regulatory pressures by increasing the rates we charge to our residents or our service charges, which would negatively impact our results of operations and cash flow. Turnover rates and the magnitude of the shortage of nurses, therapists or other trained personnel varies substantially from market to market. If we fail to attract and retain qualified and skilled personnel, our ability to conduct our business operations effectively, our overall operating results and cash flow could be harmed.

In addition, efforts by labor unions to unionize any of our community personnel could divert management attention, lead to increases in our labor costs and/or reduce our flexibility with respect to certain workplace rules. New election rules promulgated by the National Labor Relations Board went into effect in April 2015 and substantially changed – and expedited – the union election process, thereby limiting the time available for us to attempt to persuade employees to vote against representation. If we experience an increase in organizing activity, if onerous collective bargaining agreement terms are imposed upon us, or if we otherwise experience an increase in our staffing and labor costs, our results of operations and cash flow would be negatively affected.

We have a history of losses and we may not be able to achieve profitability.

We have incurred net losses in every year since our formation in June 2005. Given our history of losses, there can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve and/or maintain profitability in the future. If we do not effectively manage our cash flow and business operations going forward or otherwise achieve profitability, our stock price could be adversely affected.

If we are unable to execute on our plans to dispose of owned communities and restructure existing leases, we may not realize an increase in the quality and durability of our cash flow, the improvement of our liquidity or reductions of our debt and lease leverage.

Through our portfolio optimization initiative, we intend to dispose of owned and leased communities and restructure leases in order to simplify and streamline our business, to increase the quality and durability of our cash flow, to improve our liquidity and to reduce our debt and lease leverage.

As of December 31, 2016, we had identified 16 communities as held for sale, and we continue to actively pursue the disposition of owned assets according to our disposition criteria, either through outright sales or contributions to ventures in which we would have an interest.  The closings of such dispositions generally are subject to closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals, and we cannot assure you that such transactions will close or, if they do, when the actual closings will occur.  The sales price for pending or future dispositions may not meet our expectations due to the underlying performance of such communities or conditions beyond our control, and we may be required to take impairment charges in connection with such sales if the carrying amounts of such assets exceed the proposed sales prices, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We also plan to restructure existing leases, which may take the form of non-renewal of leases, negotiation of revised lease terms, termination of leases in favor of venture structures in which we would have an interest and, to a lesser degree, the purchase of the leased communities.  As of December 31, 2016, transactions to terminate triple-net leases with respect to 90 communities leased from HCP, Inc. were pending, 64 of which affiliates of Blackstone have agreed to purchase and contribute to a venture in which we expect to acquire a non-controlling interest.  The closings of such transactions generally are subject to closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals, and we cannot assure you that our pending or future transactions, including our pending transactions with HCP and affiliates of Blackstone, will close or, if they do, when the actual closings will occur.  Further, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in identifying and negotiating the restructuring of leases with counterparties on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all.  We may be required to pay significant amounts to restructure leases and we may be required to take charges in connection with restructuring of leases, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to execute on our plans to dispose of owned communities and restructure existing leases, we may not realize improvements to our liquidity, an increase in the quality and durability of our cash flow, and reductions to our debt and lease leverage.  Such dispositions and lease restructurings likely will result in reductions to our revenue and may result in reductions to our results of operations and cash flow.  Further, if we are unable to reduce our general and administrative expense with respect to completed dispositions and lease terminations in accordance with our expectations, we may not realize the expected benefits of such transactions, which could negatively impact our anticipated results of operations and cash flow.

We may need additional capital to fund our operations and execute on our portfolio optimization and growth initiatives, and we may not be able to obtain it on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

Execution on our portfolio optimization and growth initiatives, including our plans to continue expansion of our business through the expansion, renovation, redevelopment and repositioning of our existing communities, the development of new communities and the acquisition of operating companies, senior living communities and ancillary services companies will require additional capital, particularly if we were to accelerate our lease restructuring, development or acquisition plans. Financing may not be available to us or may be available to us only on terms that are not favorable. In addition, certain of our outstanding indebtedness and long-term leases restrict, among other things, our ability to incur additional debt. If we are unable to raise additional funds or obtain them on terms acceptable to us, we may have to delay or abandon some or all of our plans to restructure leases and grow our business. Further, if additional funds are raised through the issuance of additional equity securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders would be diluted. Any newly issued equity securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock.

We are heavily dependent on mortgage financing provided by Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") (collectively, the "Agency Lenders"). The Agency Lenders are currently operating under a conservatorship begun in 2008, conducting business under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Reform efforts related to the Agency Lenders may make such financing sources less available or unavailable in the future and may cause us to seek alternative sources of potentially less attractive financing. There can be no assurance that such alternative sources will be available.

If we are unable to expand, renovate, reposition or redevelop our communities in accordance with our plans, our anticipated revenues, results of operations and cash flow could be adversely affected.

We are currently working on projects that will expand, renovate, reposition or redevelop a number of our existing senior living communities. These projects are in various stages of development and are subject to a number of factors over which we have little or no control. These factors include the necessity of arranging separate leases, mortgage loans or other financings to provide the capital required to complete these projects; difficulties or delays in obtaining zoning, land use, building, occupancy, licensing, certificate of need and other required governmental permits and approvals; failure to complete construction of the projects on budget and on schedule; failure of third-party contractors and subcontractors to perform under their contracts; shortages of labor or materials that could delay projects or make them more expensive; adverse weather conditions that could delay completion of projects; increased costs resulting from general economic conditions or increases in the cost of materials; and increased costs as a result of changes in laws and regulations. We cannot assure you that we will elect to undertake or complete all of our proposed expansion, renovation, repositioning and redevelopment projects, or that we will not experience delays in completing those projects. In addition, we may incur substantial costs prior to achieving stabilized occupancy for each such project and cannot assure you that these costs will not be greater than we have anticipated. We also cannot assure you that any of our expansion, renovation, repositioning or redevelopment projects will be economically successful. Our failure to achieve our expansion, renovation, repositioning and redevelopment plans could adversely impact our anticipated revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

We may encounter difficulties in acquiring communities at attractive prices or integrating acquisitions with our operations, which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

We will continue to selectively target strategic acquisitions as opportunities arise. To the extent we do identify and complete any future acquisition opportunities, the process of identifying potential acquisition candidates, completing acquisition transactions and integrating acquired communities into our existing operations may result in unforeseen operating difficulties, divert managerial attention or require significant financial or other resources. These acquisitions and other future acquisitions may require us to incur additional indebtedness and contingent liabilities, and may result in unforeseen expenses or compliance issues, which may adversely affect our revenue growth, results of operations and cash flow. Moreover, any future acquisitions may not generate any additional income for us or provide any benefit to our business. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will be able to locate and acquire communities at attractive prices in locations that are compatible with our strategy or that competition for the acquisition of communities will not increase. Finally, when we are able to locate communities and enter into definitive agreements to acquire or lease them, we cannot assure you that the transactions will be completed. Failure to complete transactions after we have entered into definitive agreements may result in significant expenses to us.

If we do not effectively manage our growth and successfully integrate new or recently-acquired or initiated operations into our existing operations, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.

Our growth has and will continue to place significant demands on our current management resources. Our ability to manage our growth effectively and to successfully integrate new or recently-acquired or initiated operations (including expansions, developments, acquisitions and the expansion of our ancillary services programs) into our existing business will require us to continue to expand our operational, financial and management information systems and to continue to retain, attract, train, motivate and manage key employees. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in attracting qualified individuals to the extent necessary, and management may expend significant time and energy attracting the appropriate personnel to manage assets we purchase in the future and our expansion and development activities. Also, the additional communities and expansion activities will require us to maintain consistent quality control measures that allow our management to effectively identify deviations that result in delivering care and services that are substandard, which may result in litigation and/or loss of licensure or certification. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, successfully integrate new or recently-acquired or initiated operations into our existing business, or maintain consistent quality control measures, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Unforeseen costs associated with the acquisition of communities could negatively affect our results of operations and cash flow.

We plan to continue to selectively target strategic acquisitions of operating companies, senior living communities and ancillary services companies as opportunities arise. Despite our extensive underwriting and due diligence procedures, operating companies and communities that we have previously acquired or may acquire in the future may generate unexpectedly low or no returns or may not meet a risk profile that our investors find acceptable. In addition, we might encounter unanticipated difficulties and expenditures relating to any of the acquired operating companies and communities, including contingent liabilities, or newly acquired communities or operating companies might require significant management attention that would otherwise be devoted to our ongoing business. For example, a community may require capital expenditures in excess of budgeted amounts, or it may experience management turnover that is higher than we project. These costs may negatively affect our future results of operations and cash flow.

Competition for the acquisition of strategic assets from buyers with greater financial resources or lower costs of capital than us or that have lower return expectations than we do could limit our ability to compete for strategic acquisitions and therefore to grow our business effectively.

Several publicly-traded and non-traded real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and private equity firms have similar asset acquisition objectives as we do, along with greater financial resources and/or lower costs of capital than we are able to obtain. This may increase competition for acquisitions that would be suitable to us. There is significant competition among potential acquirers in the senior living industry, including publicly-traded and non-traded REITs and private equity firms, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully complete acquisitions, which could limit our ability to grow our business effectively. Partially as a result of tax law changes enacted through RIDEA, we now compete more directly with the various publicly-traded healthcare REITs for the acquisition of senior housing properties.

Delays in obtaining regulatory approvals could hinder our plans to expand our ancillary services programs, which could negatively impact our anticipated revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

We plan to expand our offering of ancillary services (including therapy, home health and hospice) to additional markets. In the current environment, it is difficult to obtain certain required regulatory approvals. Delays in obtaining required regulatory approvals could impede our ability to expand to additional markets in accordance with our plans, which could negatively impact our anticipated revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

Our investment in our entrance fee CCRC venture with HCP is susceptible to risks associated with the lifecare benefits offered to the residents of the venture's lifecare entrance fee communities, and we are also susceptible to such risks for our owned and/or operated entrance fee CCRCs.

As of December 31, 2016, we managed lifecare entrance fee communities as part of our entrance fee CCRC venture with HCP, and we owned and/or operated three other lifecare communities. Residents of these communities typically receive a limited lifecare benefit and pay an upfront entrance fee upon occupancy, of which a portion is generally refundable, with an additional monthly service fee while living in the community. This limited lifecare benefit is typically (a) a certain number of free days in the community's health center during the resident's lifetime, (b) a discounted rate for such services, or (c) a combination of the two. The lifecare benefit varies based upon the extent to which the resident's entrance fee is refundable. The pricing of entrance fees, refundability provisions, monthly service fees, and lifecare benefits are determined utilizing actuarial projections of the expected morbidity and mortality of the resident population. In the event the entrance fees and monthly service payments established for these communities are not sufficient to cover the cost of lifecare benefits granted to residents, our interest in the results of operations and cash flow of these communities and the venture could be adversely affected.

Residents of these entrance fee communities are guaranteed a living unit and nursing care at the community during their lifetime, even if the resident exhausts his or her financial resources and becomes unable to satisfy his or her obligations to the community. In addition, in the event a resident requires nursing care and there is insufficient capacity for the resident in the nursing facility at the community where the resident lives, the community must contract with a third party to provide such care. Although we screen potential residents to ensure that they have adequate assets, income, and reimbursements from government programs and third parties to pay their obligations to the entrance fee communities during their lifetime, we cannot assure you that such assets, income, and reimbursements will be sufficient in all cases. If insufficient, we or the entrance fee CCRC venture, as applicable, would have rights of set-off against the refundable portions of the residents' deposits, and would also seek available reimbursement under Medicaid or other available programs. To the extent that the financial resources of some of the residents are not sufficient to pay for the cost of facilities and services provided to them, or in the event that these communities must pay third parties to provide nursing care to residents of these communities, our interest in the results of operations and cash flow of these communities and the venture would be adversely affected.

Early termination or non-renewal of our management agreements could cause a loss in revenues and negatively impact our results of operations and cash flow.

We operate certain of our communities pursuant to management agreements. In some of these cases, the controlling financial interest in the community is held by third parties and, in other cases, the community is owned by an unconsolidated venture in which we have an ownership interest. At December 31, 2016, we managed 153 communities, representing approximately 25% of our capacity, for third parties or unconsolidated ventures. The majority of our management agreements are long-term agreements. In most cases, either party to the agreements may terminate upon the occurrence of an event of default caused by the other party. In addition, in some cases, subject to our rights, if any, to cure deficiencies, community owners may terminate us as manager if any licenses or certificates necessary for operation are revoked, if we do not satisfy certain designated performance thresholds or if the community is sold to an unrelated third party (in which case we may be entitled to receive a contractual termination fee). Also, in some instances, a community owner may terminate the management agreement relating to a particular community if we are in default under other management agreements relating to other communities owned by the same owner or its affiliates. Certain of our management agreements, both with unconsolidated ventures and with entities owned by third parties, provide that an event of default under the debt instruments applicable to the ventures or the entities owned by third parties that is caused by us may also be considered an event of default by us under the relevant management agreement, giving the non-Brookdale party to the management agreement the right to pursue the remedies provided for in the management agreement, potentially including termination of the management agreement. Further, in the event of default on a loan, the lender may have the ability to terminate us as manager. With respect to communities held in unconsolidated ventures, in some cases, the management agreement can be terminated in connection with the sale by the venture partner of its interest in the venture or the sale of properties by the venture. Early termination of our management agreements or non-renewal or renewal on less-favorable terms could cause a loss in revenues and could negatively impact our results of operations and cash flow.

The geographic concentration of our communities could leave us vulnerable to an economic downturn, regulatory changes or acts of nature in those areas, resulting in a decrease in our revenues or an increase in our costs, or otherwise negatively impacting our results of operations and cash flow.

We have a high concentration of communities in various geographic areas, including the states of California, Florida and Texas. As a result of this concentration, the conditions of local economies and real estate markets, changes in governmental rules and regulations, particularly with respect to assisted living communities, acts of nature and other factors that may result in a decrease in demand for senior living services in these states could have an adverse effect on our revenues, costs, results of operations and cash flow. In addition, given the location of our communities, we are particularly susceptible to revenue loss, cost increase or damage caused by other severe weather conditions or natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes or tornados. Any significant loss due to a natural disaster may not be covered by insurance and may lead to an increase in the cost of insurance.

Termination of our resident agreements and vacancies in the living spaces we lease could adversely affect our occupancy, revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

State regulations governing assisted living communities require written resident agreements with each resident. Several of these regulations also require that each resident have the right to terminate the resident agreement for any reason on reasonable notice. Consistent with these regulations, many of our assisted living resident agreements allow residents to terminate their agreements upon 0 to 30 days' notice. Unlike typical apartment leasing or independent living arrangements that involve lease agreements with specified leasing periods of up to a year or longer, in many instances we cannot contract with our assisted living residents to stay in those living spaces for longer periods of time. Our retirement center resident agreements generally provide for termination of the lease upon death or allow a resident to terminate his or her lease upon the need for a higher level of care not provided at the community. If multiple residents terminate their resident agreements at or around the same time, our occupancy, revenues, results of operations and cash flow could be adversely affected. In addition, because of the demographics of our typical residents, including age and health, resident turnover rates in our communities are difficult to predict. As a result, the living spaces we lease may be unoccupied for a period of time, which could adversely affect our occupancy, revenues, results of operations and cash flow.

Departure of our key officers could harm our business.

We are dependent on the efforts of our executive officers. The unforeseen loss or limited availability of the services of any of our executive officers, or our inability to recruit and retain qualified personnel in the future, could, at least temporarily, have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and be negatively perceived in the capital markets.

Environmental contamination at any of our communities could result in substantial liabilities to us, which may exceed the value of the underlying assets and which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real property, such as us, may be held liable in certain circumstances for the costs of investigation, removal or remediation of, or related to the release of, certain hazardous or toxic substances, that could be located on, in, at or under a property, regardless of how such materials came to be located there. The cost of any required investigation, remediation, removal, mitigation, compliance, fines or personal or property damages and our liability therefore could exceed the property's value and/or our assets' value. In addition, the presence of such substances, or the failure to properly dispose of or remediate the damage caused by such substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell such property, to attract additional residents and retain existing residents, to borrow using such property as collateral or to develop or redevelop such property. In addition, such laws impose liability, which may be joint and several, for investigation, remediation, removal and mitigation costs on persons who disposed of or arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances at third party sites. Such laws and regulations often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence, release or disposal of such substances as well as without regard to whether such release or disposal was in compliance with law at the time it occurred. Although we do not believe that we have incurred such liabilities as would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, we could be subject to substantial future liability for environmental contamination that we have no knowledge about as of the date of this report and/or for which we may not be at fault.

Failure to comply with existing environmental laws could result in increased expenditures, litigation and potential loss to our business and in our asset value, which would have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

Our operations are subject to regulation under various federal, state and local environmental laws, including those relating to: the handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of medical waste products generated at our communities; identification and warning of the presence of asbestos-containing materials in buildings, as well as removal of such materials; the presence of other substances in the indoor environment; and protection of the environment and natural resources in connection with development or construction of our properties.

Some of our communities generate infectious or other hazardous medical waste due to the illness or physical condition of the residents. Each of our communities has an agreement with a waste management company for the proper disposal of all infectious medical waste, but the use of such waste management companies does not immunize us from alleged violations of such laws for operations for which we are responsible even if carried out by such waste management companies, nor does it immunize us from third-party claims for the cost to cleanup disposal sites at which such wastes have been disposed.

Federal regulations require building owners and those exercising control over a building's management to identify and warn their employees and certain other employers operating in the building of potential hazards posed by workplace exposure to installed asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials in their buildings. Significant fines can be assessed for violation of these regulations. Building owners and those exercising control over a building's management may be subject to an increased risk of personal injury lawsuits. Federal, state and local laws and regulations also govern the removal, encapsulation, disturbance, handling and/or disposal of asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials when such materials are in poor condition or in the event of construction, remodeling, renovation or demolition of a building. Such laws may impose liability for improper handling or a release to the environment of asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials and may provide for fines to, and for third parties to seek recovery from, owners or operators of real properties for personal injury or improper work exposure associated with asbestos-containing materials and potential asbestos-containing materials.

The presence of mold, lead-based paint, contaminants in drinking water, radon and/or other substances at any of the communities we own or may acquire may lead to the incurrence of costs for remediation, mitigation or the implementation of an operations and maintenance plan and may result in third party litigation for personal injury or property damage. Furthermore, in some circumstances, areas affected by mold may be unusable for periods of time for repairs, and even after successful remediation, the known prior presence of extensive mold could adversely affect the ability of a community to retain or attract residents and could adversely affect a community's market value.

Although we believe that we are currently in material compliance with applicable environmental laws, if we fail to comply with such laws in the future, we would face increased expenditures both in terms of fines and remediation of the underlying problem(s), potential litigation relating to exposure to such materials, and potential decrease in value to our business and in the value of our underlying assets. Therefore, our failure to comply with existing environmental laws would have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

We are unable to predict the future course of federal, state and local environmental regulation and legislation. Changes in the environmental regulatory framework (including legislative or regulatory efforts designed to address climate change, such as the proposed "cap and trade" legislation) could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, because environmental laws vary from state to state, expansion of our operations to states where we do not currently operate may subject us to additional restrictions on the manner in which we operate our communities.

Risks Related to Pending Litigation

Complaints filed against us could, if adversely determined, subject us to a material loss.

We have been and are currently involved in litigation and claims incidental to the conduct of our business that are comparable to other companies in the senior living and healthcare industries. Certain claims and lawsuits allege large damage amounts and may require significant costs to defend and resolve. Similarly, the senior living and healthcare industries are continuously subject to scrutiny by governmental regulators, which could result in litigation related to regulatory compliance matters. As a result, we maintain general liability and professional liability insurance policies in amounts and with coverage and deductibles we believe are adequate, based on the nature and risks of our business, historical experience and industry standards. Our current policies are written on a claims-made basis and provide for deductibles for each claim. Accordingly, we are, in effect, self-insured for claims that are less than the deductible amounts. If we experience a greater number of losses than we anticipate, or if certain claims are not ultimately covered by insurance, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Industry

We face periodic and routine reviews, audits and investigations under our contracts with government agencies, and these audits could have adverse findings that may negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

As a result of our participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, we are subject to various governmental reviews, audits and investigations to verify our compliance with these programs and applicable laws and regulations. We also are subject to audits under various government programs, including but not limited to the RAC and ZPIC programs, in which third party firms engaged by CMS conduct extensive reviews of claims data and medical and other records to identify potential improper payments under the Medicare program. Our costs to respond to and defend reviews, audits and investigations may be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our business and consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flow. Moreover, an adverse review, audit or investigation could result in:

•	required refunding or retroactive adjustment of amounts we have been paid pursuant to the federal or state programs;

•	state or federal agencies imposing fines, penalties and other sanctions (including payment suspensions) on us;

•	loss of our right to participate in the Medicare program or state programs;

•	damage to our business and reputation in various markets; or

•	significant investment of time and money even if eventually favorably determined.

These results could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

The cost and difficulty of complying with increasing and evolving regulation and enforcement could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and cash flow.

The regulatory environment surrounding the senior living industry continues to evolve and intensify in the amount and type of laws and regulations affecting it, many of which vary from state to state. In addition, many senior living communities are subject to regulation and licensing by state and local health and social service agencies and other regulatory authorities. In several of the states in which we operate or may operate, we are prohibited from providing certain higher levels of senior care services without first obtaining the appropriate licenses. Also, in several of the states in which we operate or intend to operate, assisted living communities and/or skilled nursing facilities require a certificate of need before the community can be opened or the services at an existing community can be expanded. Furthermore, federal, state and local officials are increasingly focusing their efforts on enforcement of these laws, particularly with respect to large for-profit, multi-community providers like us. These requirements and the increased enforcement thereof, could affect our ability to expand into new markets, to expand our services and communities in existing markets and, if any of our presently licensed communities were to operate outside of its licensing authority, may subject us to penalties including closure of the community. Future regulatory developments as well as mandatory increases in the scope and severity of deficiencies determined by survey or inspection officials could cause our operations to suffer. We are unable to predict the future course of federal, state and local legislation or regulation. If regulatory requirements increase, whether through enactment of new laws or regulations or changes in the enforcement of existing rules, our business, results of operations and cash flow could be adversely affected.

The intensified regulatory and enforcement environment impacts providers like us because of the increase in the number of inspections or surveys by governmental authorities and consequent citations for failure to comply with regulatory requirements. We also expend considerable resources to respond to federal and state investigations or other enforcement action. From time to time in the ordinary course of business, we receive deficiency reports from state and federal regulatory bodies resulting from such inspections or surveys. Although most inspection deficiencies are resolved through an agreed-to plan of corrective action, the reviewing agency typically has the authority to take further action against a licensed or certified facility, which could result in the imposition of fines, imposition of a provisional or conditional license, suspension or revocation of a license, suspension or denial of admissions, loss of certification as a provider under federal health care programs or imposition of other sanctions, including criminal penalties. Furthermore, certain states may allow citations in one community to impact other communities in the state. Revocation of a license at a given community could therefore impact our ability to obtain new licenses or to renew existing licenses at other communities, which may also cause us to be in default under our leases, trigger cross-defaults, trigger defaults under certain of our credit agreements or adversely affect our ability to operate and/or obtain financing in the future. If a state were to find that one community's citation would impact another of our communities, this would also increase costs and result in increased surveillance by the state survey agency. To date, none of the deficiency reports received by us has resulted in a suspension, fine or other disposition that has had a material adverse effect on our revenues. However, the failure to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements in the future could result in a material adverse effect to our business as a whole.

There are various extremely complex federal and state laws governing a wide array of referral relationships and arrangements and prohibiting fraud by health care providers, including those in the senior living industry, and governmental agencies are devoting increasing attention and resources to such anti-fraud initiatives. Some examples are the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, and the False Claims Act, which gives private individuals the ability to bring an action on behalf of the federal government. The violation of any of these laws or regulations may result in the imposition of fines or other penalties that could increase our costs and otherwise jeopardize our business. Under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, or DRA 2005, every entity that receives at least $5.0 million annually in Medicaid payments must have established written policies for all employees, contractors or agents, providing detailed information about false claims, false statements and whistleblower protections under certain federal laws, including the federal False Claims Act, and similar state laws. Failure to comply with this compliance requirement may potentially give rise to potential liability. DRA 2005 also creates an incentive for states to enact false claims laws that are comparable to the federal False Claims Act.

Additionally, we provide services and operate communities that participate in federal and/or state health care reimbursement programs, which makes us subject to federal and state laws that prohibit anyone from presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for reimbursement which are false, fraudulent or are for items or services that were not provided as claimed. Similar state laws vary from state to state and we cannot be sure that these laws will be interpreted consistently or in keeping with past practice. Violation of any of these laws can result in loss of licensure, civil or criminal penalties and exclusion of health care providers or suppliers from furnishing covered items or services to beneficiaries of the applicable federal and/or state health care reimbursement program. Loss of licensure may also cause us to default under our leases and/or trigger cross-defaults.

We are also subject to certain federal and state laws that regulate financial arrangements by health care providers, such as the Federal Anti-Kickback Law, the Stark laws and certain state referral laws. Authorities have interpreted the Federal Anti-Kickback Law very broadly to apply to many practices and relationships between health care providers and sources of patient referral. This could result in criminal penalties and civil sanctions, including fines and possible exclusion from government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which may also cause us to default under our leases and/or trigger cross-defaults. Adverse consequences may also result if we violate federal Stark laws related to certain Medicare and Medicaid physician referrals. While we endeavor to comply with all laws that regulate the licensure and operation of our business, it is difficult to predict how our revenues could be affected if we were subject to an action alleging such violations.

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act and fire, safety and other regulations may require us to make unanticipated expenditures, which could increase our costs and therefore adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

All of our communities are required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. The ADA has separate compliance requirements for "public accommodations" and "commercial properties," but generally requires that buildings be made accessible to people with disabilities. Compliance with ADA requirements could require removal of access barriers and non-compliance could result in imposition of government fines or an award of damages to private litigants.

We must also comply with the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits us from discriminating against individuals on certain bases in any of our practices if it would cause such individuals to face barriers in gaining residency in any of our communities. Additionally, the Fair Housing Act and other state laws require that we advertise our services in such a way that we promote diversity and not limit it. We may be required, among other things, to change our marketing techniques to comply with these requirements.

In addition, we are required to operate our communities in compliance with applicable fire and safety regulations, building codes and other land use regulations and food licensing or certification requirements as they may be adopted by governmental agencies and bodies from time to time. Like other health care facilities, senior living communities are subject to periodic survey or inspection by governmental authorities to assess and assure compliance with regulatory requirements. Surveys occur on a regular (often annual or bi-annual) schedule, and special surveys may result from a specific complaint filed by a resident, a family member or one of our competitors. We may be required to make substantial capital expenditures to comply with those requirements.

Capital expenditures we have made to comply with any of the above to date have been immaterial, however, the increased costs and capital expenditures that we may incur in order to comply with any of the above would result in a negative effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Significant legal actions and liability claims against us in excess of insurance limits could subject us to increased operating costs and substantial uninsured liabilities, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The senior living and healthcare services businesses entail an inherent risk of liability, particularly given the demographics of our residents, including age and health, and the services we provide. In recent years, we, as well as other participants in our industry, have been subject to an increasing number of claims and lawsuits alleging that our services have resulted in resident injury or other adverse effects. Many of these lawsuits involve large damage claims and significant legal costs. Many states continue to consider tort reform and how it will apply to the senior living industry. We may continue to be faced with the threat of large jury verdicts in jurisdictions that do not find favor with large senior living or healthcare providers. We maintain liability insurance policies in amounts and with the coverage and deductibles we believe are adequate based on the nature and risks of our business, historical experience and industry standards. We have formed a wholly-owned "captive" insurance company for the purpose of insuring certain portions of our risk retention under our general and professional liability insurance programs. There can be no guarantee that we will not have any claims that exceed our policy limits in the future.

If a successful claim is made against us and it is not covered by our insurance or exceeds the policy limits, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In some states, state law may prohibit or limit insurance coverage for the risk of punitive damages arising from professional liability and general liability claims and/or litigation. As a result, we may be liable for punitive damage awards in these states that either are not covered or are in excess of our insurance policy limits. Also, the above deductibles, or self-insured retention, are accrued based on an actuarial projection of future liabilities. If these projections are inaccurate and if there are an unexpectedly large number of successful claims that result in liabilities in excess of our self-insured retention, our operating results could be negatively affected. Claims against us, regardless of their merit or eventual outcome, also could have a material adverse effect on our ability to attract residents or expand our business and could require our management to devote time to matters unrelated to the day-to-day operation of our business. We also have to renew our policies every year and negotiate acceptable terms for coverage, exposing us to the volatility of the insurance markets, including the possibility of rate increases. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain liability insurance in the future or, if available, that such coverage will be available on acceptable terms.

Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure

Anti-takeover provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated by-laws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that you may consider favorable or prevent the removal of our current board of directors and management.

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated by-laws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that you may consider favorable or prevent the removal of our current board of directors and management. We have a number of anti-takeover devices in place that will hinder takeover attempts, including:

•	a staggered board of directors consisting of three classes of directors, each of whom serve three-year terms;

•	removal of directors only for cause, and only with the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the voting interest of stockholders entitled to vote;

•	blank-check preferred stock;

•	provisions preventing stockholders from calling special meetings or acting by written consent;

•	advance notice requirements for stockholders with respect to director nominations and actions to be taken at annual meetings; and

•	no provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation for cumulative voting in the election of directors, which means that the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock can elect all the directors standing for election.

Additionally, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which restricts certain business combinations with interested stockholders in certain situations, will not apply to us.

We are a holding company with no operations and rely on our operating subsidiaries to provide us with funds necessary to meet our financial obligations.

We are a holding company with no material direct operations. Our principal assets are the equity interests we directly or indirectly hold in our operating subsidiaries. As a result, we are dependent on loans, distributions and other payments from our subsidiaries to generate the funds necessary to meet our financial obligations. Our subsidiaries are legally distinct from us and have no obligation to make funds available to us.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

The market price and trading volume of our common stock may be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders.

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our common stock declines significantly, you may be unable to resell your shares at or above your purchase price. We cannot assure you that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our common stock include:

•	variations in our quarterly results of operations and cash flow;

•	changes in our operating performance and liquidity guidance;

•	the contents of published research reports about us or the senior living industry or the failure of securities analysts to cover our common stock;

•	additions or departures of key management personnel;

•	any increased indebtedness we may incur or lease obligations we may enter into in the future;

•	actions by institutional stockholders;

•	changes in market valuations of similar companies;

•	announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;

•	speculation or reports by the press or investment community with respect to us or the senior living industry in general;

•	proxy contests or other shareholder activism;

•	increases in market interest rates that may lead purchasers of our shares to demand a higher yield;

•	downturns in the real estate market or changes in market valuations of senior living communities;

•	changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations affecting the senior living industry or enforcement of these laws and regulations, or announcements relating to these matters; and

•	general market and economic conditions.

Future offerings of debt or equity securities by us may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by offering additional debt or equity securities, including commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes, convertible securities, series of preferred shares or shares of our common stock. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and preferred stock, and lenders with respect to other borrowings, would receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Additional equity offerings may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our common stock, or both. Shares of our preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, holders of our common stock bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their share holdings in us.

We may issue all of the shares of our common stock that are authorized but unissued (and not otherwise reserved for issuance under our stock incentive or purchase plans or pursuant to the conversion or exercise features of our convertible senior notes and warrants) without any action or approval by our stockholders. We may issue shares of common stock in connection with acquisitions of existing operating companies, senior living communities and ancillary services companies. Any shares issued in connection with our acquisitions or otherwise would dilute the holdings of our current stockholders.

The market price of our common stock could be negatively affected by sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public markets.

At December 31, 2016, approximately 185.5 million shares of our common stock were outstanding (excluding unvested restricted shares). All of the shares of our common stock are freely transferable, except for any shares held by our "affiliates," as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, or any shares otherwise subject to the limitations of Rule 144.

In addition, as of December 31, 2016, approximately 4.6 million shares of restricted common stock were outstanding under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan and our Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan, and we had availability to issue approximately 4.6 million additional shares under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan, our Associate Stock Purchase Plan, and our Director Stock Purchase Plan.  The shares of our common stock issued or issuable pursuant to these plans are or will be registered under the Securities Act, and once any restrictions imposed on the shares and options granted under these plans expire, such shares of common stock will be available for sale into the public markets.

Our ability to use net operating loss carryovers to reduce future tax payments will be limited.

Section 382 of the Internal Revenue code contains rules that limit the ability of a company that undergoes an ownership change, which is generally any change in ownership of 50% of its stock over a three-year period, to utilize its net operating loss carryforward and certain built-in losses recognized in years after the ownership change. These rules generally operate by focusing on ownership changes involving stockholders owning directly or indirectly 5% or more of the stock of a company and any change in ownership arising from a new issuance of stock by the company. We have determined that an ownership change occurred within the second quarter of 2010, and, therefore, losses carried into the change period have been subject to an annual limitation. The annual limitation is equal to the product of the applicable long term tax exempt rate and the value of our stock immediately before the ownership change, adjusted for certain items. The annual limitation may be increased by certain built-in gains existing at the time of change. The acquisition of Emeritus Corporation also resulted in an ownership change and created an annual limitation on Emeritus' net operating losses.

Item 1B.

Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2.

Properties.

Facilities

At December 31, 2016, we operated 1,055 communities across 47 states, with the capacity to serve approximately 103,000 residents. Of the communities we operated at December 31, 2016, we owned 363, we leased 539 pursuant to operating, capital and financing leases, and 153 were managed by us for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest.

The following table sets forth certain information regarding our communities at December 31, 2016:

(1)

Includes the impact of managed properties.

(2)

Represents occupancy at December 31, 2016.

Substantially all of our owned properties are subject to mortgages.

Corporate Offices

Our main corporate offices are all leased, including our 143,065 square foot headquarters facility in Brentwood, Tennessee (a suburb of Nashville) and our 184,122 square foot shared service facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  We also lease smaller regional support offices in Chicago and Tampa.

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings.

The information contained in Note 17 to the consolidated financial statements contained in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5.

Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, or the NYSE, under the symbol "BKD". The following table sets forth the range of high and low sales prices of our common stock for each quarter for the last two fiscal years.

The closing sale price of our common stock as reported on the NYSE on February 10, 2017 was $15.15 per share. As of that date, there were approximately 377 holders of record of our common stock.

Dividend Policy

On December 30, 2008, our Board of Directors voted to suspend our quarterly cash dividend indefinitely and no dividends were declared since that time. Although we anticipate that, in the longer-term, we may pay regular quarterly dividends to the holders of our common stock, over the near term we anticipate deploying capital to reduce our debt and lease leverage, to make strategic and cost effective capital expenditure investments and to grow our business.  Accordingly, we do not expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.

Our ability to pay and maintain cash dividends in the future will be based on many factors, including then-existing contractual restrictions or limitations, our ability to execute our strategy, our ability to negotiate favorable lease and other contractual terms, anticipated operating expense levels, the level of demand for our units, occupancy rates, entrance fee sales results, the rates we charge, our liquidity position and actual results that may vary substantially from estimates. Some of the factors are beyond our control and a change in any such factor could affect our ability to pay or maintain dividends. We can give no assurance as to our ability to pay or maintain dividends in the future. As we have done in the past, we may also pay dividends in the future that exceed our net income for the relevant period as calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Share Price Performance Graph

The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total return for Brookdale common stock with the comparable cumulative return of the S&P 500 index and the S&P Health Care Index.  The graph assumes that a person invested $100 in Brookdale stock and each of the indices on December 31, 2011 and that dividends are reinvested.  The comparisons in this graph are not intended to forecast or be indicative of possible future performance of Brookdale shares or such indices.

The performance graph and related information shall not be deemed to be filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and do not constitute soliciting material and shall not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any other filing by the Company under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

The following table contains information regarding purchases of our common stock made during the quarter ended December 31, 2016 by or on behalf of the Company or any ''affiliated purchaser,'' as defined by Rule 10b-18(a)(3) of the Exchange Act: 

(1)

Shares purchased include 750,000 shares purchased in open market transactions pursuant to the publicly announced repurchase program summarized in footnote 2 below and the following number of shares withheld to satisfy tax liabilities due upon the vesting of restricted stock: November 2016—5,508 shares; and December 2016—12,203 shares.  The average price paid per share for such share withholding is based on the closing price per share on the vesting date of the restricted stock or, if such date is not a trading day, the trading day immediately prior to such vesting date.

(2)

On November 1, 2016, the Company announced that its Board of Directors had approved a new share repurchase program that authorizes the Company to purchase up to $100.0 million in the aggregate of its common stock, which replaced and terminated the prior repurchase authorization approved by the Board in 2011 that had remaining availability of approximately $82.4 million at the time of termination. No shares were purchased pursuant to the prior authorization during the three months ended December 31, 2016. The new share repurchase program is intended to be implemented through purchases made from time to time using a variety of methods, which may include open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or block trades, or by any combination of such methods, in accordance with applicable insider trading and other securities laws and regulations. The size, scope and timing of any purchases will be based on business, market and other conditions and factors, including price, regulatory and contractual requirements, and capital availability. The repurchase program does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of common stock and the program may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time at the Company's discretion without prior notice. Shares of stock repurchased under the program will be held as treasury shares. As of December 31, 2016, approximately $90.4 million remained available under the new share repurchase authorization.

Item 6.

Selected Financial Data.

This selected financial data should be read in conjunction with the information contained in "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our historical consolidated financial statements and related notes included in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." Our historical statement of operations data and balance sheet data as of and for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 have been derived from our audited financial statements.  The results of operations for any particular period are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period.

Our results reflect our acquisition of Emeritus subsequent to July 31, 2014, the closing date of the merger.  On August 29, 2014, we completed several transactions with HCP, including our entering into an unconsolidated venture (the "CCRC Venture") with HCP in which we obtained a 51% ownership interest and to which we contributed all but two of our legacy Brookdale entry fee CCRCs, our entering into an unconsolidated venture (the "HCP 49 Venture") with HCP in which we obtained a 20% ownership interest and to which HCP contributed 49 communities leased and historically operated by Emeritus, and our amending and restating the terms of certain existing triple net leases between us and HCP (including those acquired in the Emeritus merger).  Our results reflect our previously existing ownership, lease and/or management interests through August 29, 2014, and reflect our venture and management interests and amended lease terms subsequent to such date.  We contributed all but two of our legacy Brookdale entry fee CCRCs to the CCRC Venture on August 29, 2014, at which time the contributed CCRCs were deconsolidated. The results of the entry fee CCRCs contributed the CCRC Venture are reported in the CCRCs –Entry Fee segment for the time periods prior to being contributed to the CCRC Venture.  See Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements for more information regarding our acquisition of Emeritus and our transactions with HCP.

(1)	Period end units operated excludes equity homes. Weighted average units operated represents the average units operated during the period, excluding equity homes.

(2)

RevPOR, or average monthly senior housing resident fee revenues per occupied unit, is defined by the Company as resident fee revenues, excluding Brookdale Ancillary Services segment revenue and entrance fee amortization, for the corresponding portfolio for the period divided by the weighted average number of occupied units in the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the number of months in the period.

Item 7.

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the information contained in "Item 6. Selected Financial Data" and our historical consolidated financial statements and related notes included in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." In addition to historical information, this discussion and analysis may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which could cause actual results to differ materially from management's expectations. Please see additional risks and uncertainties described in "Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995" for more information. Factors that could cause such differences include those described in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Executive Overview and Recent Developments

As of December 31, 2016, we are the largest operator of senior living communities in the United States based on total capacity, with 1,055 communities in 47 states and the ability to serve approximately 103,000 residents. We offer our residents access to a full continuum of services across the most attractive sectors of the senior living industry.  We operate independent living, assisted living and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers ("CCRCs").  Through our ancillary services programs, we also offer a range of outpatient therapy, home health and hospice services to residents of many of our communities and to seniors living outside of our communities.

As of December 31, 2016, we owned or leased 902 communities (77,284 units) and provided management services with respect to 153 communities (26,090 units) for third parties or unconsolidated ventures in which we have an ownership interest. As of December 31, 2016, we operated 129 retirement center communities (24,339 units), 851 assisted living communities (58,477 units) and 75 CCRCs (20,558 units).  The majority of our units are located in campus settings or communities containing multiple services, including CCRCs.  As of December 31, 2016, our ancillary services platform included networks in 28 states with the ability to provide home health services to approximately 61.7% of our units, outpatient therapy to approximately 18.0% of our units and hospice services to approximately 18.3% of our units.  During the year ended December 31, 2016, we generated approximately 82.1% of our resident fee revenues from private pay customers. For the year ended December 31, 2016, 37.9% of our resident and management fee revenues were generated from owned communities, 49.1% from leased communities, 11.3% from our ancillary services business and 1.7% from management fees from communities we operate on behalf of third parties or unconsolidated ventures.

We intend to be the leading provider of senior living solutions, and we believe that we are positioned to take advantage of favorable demographic trends over time. We also believe that we operate in the most attractive sectors of the senior living industry with opportunities to increase our revenues through providing a combination of housing, hospitality services, ancillary services and health care services. Our senior living communities offer residents a supportive home-like setting, assistance with activities of daily living (such as eating, bathing, dressing, toileting and transferring/walking) and, in certain communities, licensed skilled nursing services. We also provide ancillary services, including outpatient therapy, home health services and hospice services, to our residents.  By providing residents with a range of service options as their needs change, we provide greater continuity of care, enabling seniors to "age-in-place" and thereby maintain residency with us for a longer period of time. The ability of residents to age-in-place is also beneficial to our residents and their families who are concerned with care decisions for their elderly relatives.

Strategy

During 2014, we acquired Emeritus Corporation ("Emeritus"), a senior living service provider focused on operating residential style communities throughout the United States.  At the closing of the merger, the size of our consolidated portfolio increased by 493 communities, significantly increasing our scale and providing us entry into 10 new states.  Following the acquisition, we have executed on our plans to integrate legacy Emeritus locations into our systems and infrastructure platform.  In 2015, we completed the final cutover waves of integration activities, and we now have a common system and infrastructure platform in place.

With integration activities largely completed, during 2016 we undertook a comprehensive review of our organizational effectiveness as part of updating our strategy.  During 2016, we completed this review and adopted a refined strategy: to achieve consistent operational excellence in our core businesses.  Execution on our strategy is intended to maximize the value of our existing platform and to build the foundation for further growth.

We have identified five key priorities for which we have developed initiatives and are developing initiatives to support our strategy and have created a transformation process to develop cross-functional initiatives directly tied to key priorities.  These five priorities include:

•

Enhance our customer and associate experience.  With this priority, we are simplifying the role of the executive directors of our communities to allow them to focus on our customers and associates, improving our model for recruiting and retaining community associates, implementing new talent development and training programs, and will continue to implement an expanded system to gauge and improve the quality of our relationships with our customers and associates.

•

Improve our marketing and sales processes.  We have designed and begun implementation of a network sales model, have begun to design and implement a new lead management system, and have begun segmenting our communities to align operating standards with optimal market positions.  We will continue to leverage our brand recognition while pursuing a multi-layered marketing approach, which includes customized marketing campaigns in markets and communities with the highest potential.  Our network sales model is designed to better coordinate our sales efforts among our communities within a given market.  Our community segmentation efforts are intended to identify optimal levels of price, service offerings, amenities and programs to be offered in our communities based on local demand so that we can adjust our operating standards to create differentiated value to meet the needs of our customers.

•

Simplify our organization.  We are actively identifying and executing on initiatives to simplify our organization in order to align our structure around our customers' priorities while improving our operational effectiveness and efficiency.  Through our realignment efforts, we have reduced spans and layers in our organization to increase accountability and bring decision making closer to our customers.  We also plan to continue to establish corporate shared service centers of excellence to reduce costs and improve our effectiveness.  We expect that our organizational simplification and streamlining efforts will lead to opportunities for general and administrative expense efficiencies.

•

Optimize our portfolio and leverage scale.  Our initiatives will focus on maximizing the value and performance of our ancillary services business, optimizing our community portfolio, capturing synergies from our scale, and making strategic and cost effective capital expenditure investments.  Through our ongoing portfolio optimization initiative, we intend to dispose of owned and leased communities and restructure leases in order to simplify and streamline our business, to increase the quality and durability of our cash flow, to improve our liquidity and to reduce our debt and lease leverage.  Disposals of owned assets may take the form of outright sales or contributions into ventures in which we would have an ownership interest, and we may desire to retain management rights on disposed assets.  We also intend to restructure existing leases, including those with approaching maturities, which may take the form of non-renewal of leases, negotiation of revised lease terms, termination of leases in favor of venture structures in which we would have an interest and, to a lesser degree, the purchase of leased communities, particularly where we have favorable purchase options.  Our criteria for identifying communities and transactions as part of this initiative include the market value of communities and their underlying performance, lease terms, capital requirements, location, market dynamics, physical plant condition and proximity to other communities in our portfolio.  We expect to continue our capital expenditure programs, including our Program Max initiative through which we intend to expand, renovate, redevelop and reposition our communities where economically advantageous.

•	Innovate for growth.  We intend to evaluate, test and implement innovations that enhance customer and associate experience and to explore models to drive new economics.

While our focus will be on executing our refined strategy, we plan to continue to evaluate and, where opportunities arise, selectively purchase existing operating companies, senior living communities, including those that we currently lease or manage, and ancillary services companies.  Such acquisitions may be pursued on our own, or through our investments in ventures.

We believe that successful execution upon our strategy and the initiatives supporting our strategy will enable us to grow stockholder value and better fulfill our mission by satisfying more customers, building improved relationships between us, our associates and our customers, and by improving our occupancy, revenue, expenses, and liquidity, by increasing the quality and durability of our cash flow, and by reducing our debt and lease leverage.

Portfolio Optimization Activities

During fiscal 2016, we entered into or completed several transactions as part of our efforts to optimize our portfolio through disposing of owned and leased communities and restructuring leases in order to simplify and streamline our business, to increase the quality and durability of our cash flow, to improve our liquidity and to reduce our debt and lease leverage. The transactions included our entering into agreements to sell 51 owned communities, and completing the dispositions of 51 owned communities and the extinguishment of $94.5 million of related mortgage debt.  We also entered into agreements to terminate triple net leases with respect to 97 communities, seven of which were terminated during 2016.  Four of such communities were contributed to an existing unconsolidated venture in which we have an equity interest, and we expect 64 of such communities to be contributed to a venture in which we will have an equity interest.  Each of these transactions are summarized below.  We will continue to actively explore additional opportunities to optimize our portfolio through disposing of owned and leased communities, restructuring leases and investing in our Program Max initiative.

Dispositions of Owned Communities

We began 2016 with 17 of our owned communities (1,623 units) classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2015. During the year ended December 31, 2016, we entered into agreements to sell an additional 51 communities (3,219 units) and completed the dispositions of 51 owned communities (3,356 units).  These transactions are summarized below.

•

During the three months ended March 31, 2016, we sold seven of the 17 communities held for sale as of December 31, 2015 for an aggregate sales price of $46.7 million. The results of operations of these communities are reported in the Assisted Living (six communities; 389 units) and CCRCs – Rental (one community; 359 units) segments within the consolidated financial statements through the respective disposition dates. The remaining 10 communities were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016.

•

During the three months ended June 30, 2016, we entered into an agreement with a third party to sell a 12-state portfolio of 44 owned communities for an aggregate sales price of $252.5 million. During the three months ended September 30, 2016, we sold 32 of these communities (1,771 units) for an aggregate sales price of $177.5 million.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we sold nine of these communities (444 units) for an aggregate sales price of $47.7 million. The results of operations of these 41 communities are reported within the Assisted Living segment within the consolidated financial statements through the respective disposition dates.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, the agreement was amended to remove one community (63 units) from the portfolio, and the aggregate sales price of the portfolio was decreased by $4.7 million.  The remaining two communities (175 units) within the portfolio were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016.

•

During 2016, we identified seven additional owned communities (766 units) as held for sale.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we sold three of these communities (393 units) for an aggregate sales price of $33.0 million.  The results of operations of these three communities are reported in the Assisted Living (one community; 20 units), CCRCs – Rental (one community; 276 units) and Retirement Center (one community; 97 units) segments through the respective disposition dates.  The remaining four communities (373 units) were classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016.

As of December 31, 2016, $97.8 million was recorded as assets held for sale and $60.5 million of mortgage debt was included in the current portion of long-term debt within our consolidated balance sheet with respect to the 16 communities held for sale as of such date.  This debt will either be repaid with the proceeds from the sales or be assumed by the prospective purchasers. The results of operations of the 16 communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements:  Assisted Living (13 communities; 1,126 units) and CCRCs – Rental (three communities; 297 units).  The 16 communities had resident fee revenue of $47.2 million and facility operating expenses of $42.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The closings of the sales of the unsold communities classified as held for sale are subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions, and are expected to occur in the next 12 months; however, there can be no assurance that the transactions will close or, if they do, when the actual closings will occur.

Dispositions and Restructurings of Leased Communities

On November 1, 2016, we announced that we had entered into agreements to, among other things, terminate triple-net leases with respect to 97 communities, four of which would be contributed to an existing unconsolidated venture in which we hold an equity interest and 64 of which would be owned by a venture in which we expect to acquire a non-controlling interest. The transactions include the following components:

•

HCP, Inc. ("HCP") and affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors VIII L.P. (collectively, "Blackstone") entered into an agreement pursuant to which HCP has agreed to sell 64 communities (5,967 units)—which are currently leased to us at above market rates and have a remaining average lease term of approximately 12 years—to Blackstone for a purchase price of $1.125 billion. Separately, we entered into an agreement with Blackstone pursuant to which we have agreed to form a venture (the "Blackstone Venture") into which Blackstone will contribute the 64 communities and into which we expect to contribute a total of approximately $170.0 million to purchase a 15% equity interest, terminate the above market leases, and fund our share of anticipated closing costs and working capital. Following closing, we will manage the communities on behalf of the venture. We expect the Blackstone Venture transactions to close during the three months ended March 31, 2017. The results of operations of the 64 communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements: Assisted Living (48 communities; 3,364 units), Retirement Centers (nine communities; 1,180 units) and CCRCs-Rental (seven communities; 1,423 units).  The 64 communities had resident fee revenue of $264.7 million, facility operating expenses of $182.0 million and cash lease payments of $88.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

•

We and HCP agreed to terminate triple-net leases with respect to eight communities (867 units). HCP agreed to contribute immediately thereafter four of such communities, consisting of 527 units, to an existing unconsolidated venture with HCP in which we have a 10% equity interest.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, the triple-net leases with respect to seven communities (773 units) were terminated and HCP contributed four of the communities to the existing unconsolidated venture. The triple-net lease with respect to the remaining community was terminated during January 2017. The results of operations of the eight communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements: Assisted Living (six communities; 514 units), Retirement Centers (one community; 109 units) and CCRCs-Rental (one community; 244 units).  The eight communities had resident fee revenue of $41.1 million, facility operating expenses of $30.6 million and cash lease payments of $11.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

•

We and HCP agreed to terminate triple-net leases with respect to 25 communities (2,031 units), which we expect to occur in stages through the end of fiscal 2017. The results of operations of the 25 communities are reported in the following segments within the consolidated financial statements: Assisted Living (23 communities; 1,759 units) and CCRCs-Rental (two communities; 272 units).  The 25 communities had resident fee revenue of $72.2 million, facility operating expenses of $58.6 million and cash lease payments of $18.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The closings of the various pending transactions with HCP and Blackstone are subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions, including (where applicable) the receipt of regulatory approvals; however, there can be no assurance that the transactions will close or, if they do, when the actual closings will occur.  The transactions related to the Blackstone Venture may require us to record a significant charge in fiscal 2017 for the amount by which the approximately $63.0 million expected initial carrying value of the investment in the Blackstone Venture exceeds its fair value. Additionally, it is expected that these transactions related to the Blackstone Venture may require us to record a significant increase to our existing tax valuation allowance. We have recorded valuation allowances of $264.3 million at December 31, 2016 against our $369.5 million of federal and state net operating carryforwards and tax credits.  The actual amount of charges related to the transactions related to the Blackstone Venture and the increase to the valuation allowance will be determined following the closing of the transactions related to the Blackstone Venture. See Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements for more information regarding potential charges and an increase to our tax valuation allowance.

Program Max Initiative

During fiscal 2016, we also made progress on our Program Max initiative under which we expand, renovate, redevelop and reposition certain of our existing communities where economically advantageous. For the year ended December 31, 2016, we invested $23.9 million on Program Max projects, net of $19.9 million of third party lessor reimbursements, which included the completion of 8 expansion or conversion projects which resulted in 237 additional units. We currently have 10 Program Max projects that have been approved, most of which have begun construction and are expected to generate 129 new units.

Liquidity

During the year ended December 31, 2016, we increased our liquidity position by $389.4 million to $584.0 million as of December 31, 2016 compared to $194.6 million as of December 31, 2015.  Total liquidity as of December 31, 2016 included $216.4 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and $367.6 million of availability on our secured credit facility.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, the CCRC Venture obtained non-recourse mortgage financing on certain communities, and we received distributions of $221.6 million of the net proceeds from such financing.  In January 2017, we completed the sale of a 10% ownership interest (one-half of our interest) in the HCP 49 Venture for $26.8 million of net cash proceeds.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, we used net proceeds from dispositions of owned communities to extinguish $94.5 million of related mortgage debt, and we used net proceeds from dispositions of owned communities and community financings, distributions from the CCRC Venture and cash flows from operations to repay the outstanding balance on our secured credit facility, including the $100.0 million term loan, which reduced the total commitment amount to $400.0 million.  We plan to use proceeds from our distribution from the CCRC Venture and our sale of one-half our interest in the HCP 49 Venture to fund our anticipated contribution of approximately $170.0 million to purchase a 15% equity interest in the Blackstone Venture, which we expect to close during the three months ending March 31, 2017.

Share Repurchase Program

On November 1, 2016, we announced that our Board of Directors had approved a new share repurchase program that authorizes us to purchase up to $100.0 million in the aggregate of our common stock, which replaced and terminated the prior repurchase authorization approved by the Board in 2011.  Pursuant to this authorization, in 2016 we repurchased 750,000 shares at a weighted average price paid per share of $12.83, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $9.6 million.  As of December 31, 2016, approximately $90.4 million remains available under this share repurchase authorization.

Competitive Developments

During fiscal 2016, we focused on growing our occupancy while increasing rate over the prior year. Beginning in the third quarter of fiscal 2016, we experienced an adverse change in the competitive environment for our consolidated senior housing portfolio, with significant new competition opening in several of our markets. We have addressed such competition through our increased use of discounts and incentives (which has impacted rate growth in certain markets), additional local marketing efforts, additional associate retention efforts and, where appropriate, capital projects. Despite these efforts, our occupancy has not met our expectations, particularly in mid-sized markets facing new competition. We expect the elevated rate of new openings to continue through most of fiscal 2017.

Summary of Operating Results

The table below presents a summary of our operating results and certain other financial metrics for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 and the amount and percentage of increase or decrease of each applicable item (dollars in millions).

(1)

We changed our definition and calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and Cash From Facility Operations when we reported results for the second quarter of 2016 and the third quarter of 2016.  Prior period amounts of Adjusted EBITDA and Cash From Facility Operations included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been recast to conform to the new definitions. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for important information regarding these measures, including a description of the changes to such definitions.

During 2016, total revenues increased to $5.0 billion, an increase of $16.4 million, or 0.3%, over our total revenues for the prior year. Resident fees for 2016 decreased $8.5 million, or 0.2%, from the prior year. Management fees increased $10.6 million, or 17.6%, from the prior year, and reimbursed costs incurred on behalf of managed communities increased $14.3 million, or 2.0%. The decrease in resident fees during 2016 was primarily due to disposition activity, through sales and lease terminations, since the beginning of the prior year and a 130 basis point decrease in occupancy at the 876 communities we owned or leased during both full periods.  The decrease in resident fees was partially offset by a 3.1% increase in senior housing average monthly revenue per occupied unit (RevPOR) compared to the prior year.  The increase in management fees during the year was primarily a result of an increase in incentive fees earned under the terms of our management agreements.

During 2016, facility operating expenses were $2.8 billion, an increase of $10.5 million, or 0.4%, as compared to the prior year.  The increase in facility operating expenses was primarily due to an increase in salaries and wages arising from wage rate increases.  The increase was partially offset by the impact of disposition activity, through sales and lease terminations, since the beginning of the prior year and a $35.4 million decrease in insurance expense from changes in estimates due to general liability and professional liability and workers compensation claims experience.

Net income (loss) attributable to Brookdale Senior Living Inc. common stockholders for the year ended December 31, 2016 was ($404.4) million, compared to net income (loss) attributable to Brookdale Senior Living Inc. common stockholders of ($457.5) million for the prior year.  Net income (loss) for the year was ($404.6) million, a decrease of 11.6% compared to net income (loss) of ($458.2) million for the prior year.  During the year ended December 31, 2016, our Adjusted EBITDA increased by 5.9% when compared to the year ended December 31, 2015.  Adjusted EBITDA includes integration, transaction, transaction-related and strategic project costs of $54.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 and $116.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, net cash provided by operating activities increased to $365.7 million, an increase of $73.4 million, or 25.1%, over our net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2015.  The increase in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily attributable to the payment of $81.4 million of cash during the prior year to terminate 15 community leases upon the acquisition of the underlying real estate associated with the communities and due to a $61.5 million decrease in integration, transaction, transaction-related and strategic project costs compared to the prior year.  During the year ended December 31, 2016, our Cash From Facility Operations increased by 21.5% when compared to the year ended December 31, 2015.  Cash From Facility Operations includes integration, transaction, transaction-related and strategic project costs of $62.1 million (including $7.9 million of debt modification costs excluded from Adjusted EBITDA) for the year ended December 31, 2016 and $123.7 million (including $6.9 million of debt modification costs excluded from Adjusted EBITDA) for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Consolidated Results of Operations

Comparison of Year Ended December 31, 2016 and 2015

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, statement of operations items and the amount and percentage of change of these items. The results of operations for any particular period are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period. The following data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes, which are included in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

As of December 31, 2016 our total operations included 1,055 communities with a capacity to serve 103,374 residents.

(1)	Management services segment revenue includes management fees and reimbursements for which we are the primary obligor of costs incurred on behalf of managed communities.

(2)	Period end units operated excludes equity homes. Weighted average units operated represents the average units operated during the period, excluding equity homes.

(3)

Total RevPAR, or average monthly resident fee revenues per available unit, is defined by the Company as resident fee revenues, excluding entrance fee amortization, for the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the weighted average number of available units in the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the number of months in the period.

(4)

RevPOR, or average monthly senior housing resident fee revenues per occupied unit, is defined by the Company as resident fee revenues, excluding Brookdale Ancillary Services segment revenue and entrance fee amortization, for the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the weighted average number of occupied units in the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the number of months in the period.

(5)

RevPAR, or average monthly senior housing resident fee revenues per available unit, is defined by the Company as resident fee revenues, excluding Brookdale Ancillary Services segment revenue and entrance fee amortization, for the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the weighted average number of available units in the corresponding portfolio for the period, divided by the number of months in the period.

Resident Fees

Resident fee revenue decreased $8.5 million, or (0.2)%, compared to the prior year primarily due to disposition activity, through sales and lease terminations, since the beginning of the prior year and a 130 basis point decrease in occupancy at the 876 communities we owned or leased during both full periods.  The decrease in resident fees was partially offset by a 3.1% increase in RevPOR at these communities compared to the prior year. Total RevPAR for the consolidated portfolio also increased by 3.0% compared to the prior year. The 81 communities disposed of subsequent to the beginning of the prior year generated $126.2 million of revenue during 2016 compared to $202.0 million of revenue in the prior year.

Retirement Centers segment revenue increased $21.6 million, or 3.3%, primarily due to a 3.1% increase in RevPOR at the communities we owned or leased during both full years. Subsequent to the beginning of the prior year, the Company disposed of six communities, which generated $7.2 million of revenue during 2016 compared to $12.5 million of revenue in the prior year.

Assisted Living segment revenue decreased $26.0 million, or 1.1%, primarily due to the impact of disposition activity since the beginning of the prior period as well as a 170 basis point decrease in occupancy at the communities we operated during both full periods. The decrease was partially offset by a 3.4% increase in RevPOR at the communities we operated during both full years. Subsequent to the beginning of the prior year, the Company disposed of 71 communities, which generated $90.8 million of revenue during 2016 compared to $148.6 million of revenue in the prior year.

CCRCs - Rental segment revenue decreased $11.7 million, or 1.9%, primarily due to the impact of disposition activity since the beginning of the prior year as well as a 110 basis point decrease in occupancy at the communities we operated during both full years. The decrease was partially offset by a 2.2% increase in RevPOR at the communities we operated during both full years. Subsequent to the beginning of the prior year, the Company disposed of four communities, which generated $28.2 million of revenue in 2016 compared to $40.9 million of revenue in the prior year.

Brookdale Ancillary Services segment revenue increased $7.7 million, or 1.6%, primarily due to an increase in home health average daily census and the roll-out of our home health and hospice services to additional units subsequent to the beginning of the prior year period, partially offset by a decrease in therapy service volume.  During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we significantly reduced the number of outpatient therapy clinics located in our communities as lower reimbursement rates and lower utilization made the business less attractive.  Despite an increase over the prior year period, our home health average daily census was negatively impacted by the loss of a number of associates to a new competitor in several of our Florida markets. For home health in 2017, CMS has implemented a net 0.7% reimbursement reduction, consisting of a 2.8% market basket inflation increase, less a 0.3% productivity reduction, a 2.3% rebasing adjustment, and a 0.9% reduction to account for industry wide case-mix growth.  We expect the total effect of the changes for 2017 to reduce our reimbursement by approximately 3.2%.

Management Services Revenue

Management Services segment revenue, including management fees and reimbursed costs incurred on behalf of managed communities, increased $24.9 million, or 3.2%, primarily due to additional costs incurred on behalf of managed communities resulting from increases in salaries and wages and other facility operating expenses at the communities operated in both full periods and an increase in incentive fees earned under the terms of our management agreements.

Facility Operating Expense

Facility operating expense increased $10.5 million, or 0.4%, over the prior year primarily due to a $46.5 million increase in salaries and wages due to wage rate increases at the 876 communities we owned or leased during both full periods and $18.4 million of expense increases for our ancillary services in connection with higher home health and hospice average daily census. This increase was partially offset by disposition activity, through sales and lease terminations, since the beginning of the prior year and a $35.4 million decrease in insurance expense from changes in estimates due to general liability and professional liability and workers compensation claims experience. The 81 communities disposed of subsequent to the beginning of the prior year, either through sales or lease terminations, incurred $99.6 million of facility operating expenses during 2016 compared to $164.5 million of facility operating expenses in the prior year. 

Retirement Centers segment facility operating expenses increased $12.3 million, or 3.3%, primarily driven by an increase in salaries and wages arising from wage rate increases. The communities disposed of subsequent to the beginning of the prior year incurred $4.2 million of facility operating expenses during 2016 compared to $8.8 million of facility operating expenses in the prior year.

Assisted Living segment facility operating expenses decreased $25.5 million, or 1.6%, primarily driven by the impact of disposition activity since the beginning of the prior year period and a decrease in insurance expense from changes in estimates due to general liability and professional liability and workers compensation claims experience. The 71 communities disposed of subsequent to the beginning of the prior year incurred $71.6 million of facility operating expenses during 2016 compared to $121.1 million of facility operating expenses in the prior year. The decrease was partially offset by increases in salaries and wages due to wage rate increases.

CCRCs - Rental segment facility operating expenses increased $5.3 million, or 1.2%, primarily driven by increases in salaries and wages due to wage rate increases. Disposition activity since the beginning of the prior year partially offset this increase.  The four communities disposed of subsequent to the beginning of the prior year incurred $23.8 million of facility operating expenses during 2016 compared to $34.7 million of facility operating expenses in the prior year.

Brookdale Ancillary Services segment operating expenses increased $18.4 million, or 4.7%, primarily due to expense increases in connection with higher home health and hospice average daily census and increased salaries and wage expense due to wage rate increases.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expense decreased $57.2 million, or 15.4%, over the prior year primarily due to a $61.5 million decrease in integration, transaction-related and strategic project costs. Integration costs include transition costs associated with the Emeritus merger and organizational restructuring (such as severance and retention payments and recruiting expenses), third party consulting expenses directly related to the integration of Emeritus (in areas such as cost savings and synergy realization, branding and technology and systems work), and internal costs such as training, travel and labor, reflecting time spent by Company personnel on integration activities and projects.  Transaction-related costs include third party costs directly related to the acquisition of Emeritus, other acquisition and disposition activity, community financing and leasing activity and corporate capital structure assessment activities (including shareholder relations advisory matters), and are primarily comprised of legal, finance, consulting, professional fees and other third party costs.  Strategic project costs include costs associated with strategic projects related to refining our strategy, building out enterprise-wide capabilities for the post-merger platform (including EMR roll-out project) and reducing costs and achieving synergies by capitalizing on scale. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in salaries and wages due to wage rate increases.

Transaction Costs

Transaction costs decreased $4.3 million, or 51.6%.  Transaction costs in the prior year period were primarily related to direct costs related to acquisition and community leasing activity. Transaction costs in 2016 were primarily related to direct costs related to community disposition activity, through sales and lease terminations.

Facility Lease Expense

Facility lease expense increased $6.1 million, or 1.6%, primarily due to annual rent increases, including the impact of variable rent increases.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $212.8 million, or 29.0%, primarily due to disposition activity subsequent to the beginning of the prior year and amortization of in-place lease intangibles acquired as part of our acquisition of Emeritus reaching full amortization subsequent to the beginning of the prior year.

Asset Impairment

During the year ended December 31, 2016, we recorded impairment charges of $248.5 million.  We recorded property, plant and equipment and leasehold intangibles impairment charges of $166.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, primarily due to lower than expected operating performance at certain properties and to reflect the amount by which the carrying values of assets exceeded their estimated fair value.  We recorded $15.8 million of impairment charges related to communities identified as assets held for sale, primarily due to excess of carrying value, including allocated goodwill, over the estimated selling price less costs to dispose.  We recorded $36.8 million of impairment charges related to investments in unconsolidated ventures, primarily due to lower than expected operating performance at the communities owned by the unconsolidated ventures and these charges reflect the amount by which the carrying values of the investments exceeded their estimated fair value.  Additionally, we recorded $28.2 million and $1.5 million of impairment charges related to community purchase options and health care licenses, respectively.  These impairment charges are primarily due to lower than expected operating performance at the communities subject to the community purchase options and reflect the amount by which the carrying values of the community purchase options exceeded their estimated fair value.  During 2015, we sold 17 communities for an aggregate selling price of $82.9 million and recorded $18.4 million of impairment charges related to the communities sold, inclusive of the allocation of $8.1 million of goodwill to the disposed communities.  During 2015, we recorded $15.2 million of impairment charges related to 17 communities identified as held for sale as of December 31, 2015, inclusive of the allocation of $12.2 million of goodwill to the disposal groups.  Additionally, during 2015, we recorded $23.4 million of impairment charges for property, plant and equipment and leasehold intangibles for communities to be held and used.  These impairment charges are primarily due to lower than expected operating performance of the underlying communities.

Loss on Facility Lease Termination

Loss on facility lease termination decreased $65.0 million, or 85.4%.  A loss on facility lease termination of $76.1 million was recognized during 2015 for the difference between the amount paid to acquire the underlying real estate associated with 15 communities that were previously leased and the estimated fair value of the communities, net of the deferred lease liabilities previously recognized.

Gain on Sale of Assets, Net

Gain on sale of assets, net increased $5.9 million, or 468.3%, primarily due to increased community disposition activity during the current year.

Costs Incurred on Behalf of Managed Communities

Costs incurred on behalf of managed communities increased $14.3 million, or 2.0%, primarily due to additional costs incurred on behalf of managed communities resulting from increases in salaries and wages and other facility operating expenses at the communities operated in both full years.

Interest Expense

Interest expense decreased by $3.1 million, or 0.8%, primarily due to lower interest expense on capital and financing leases.

Other Non-operating Income

Other non-operating income increased by $6.2 million, or 73.0%, primarily due to increased insurance recoveries for property losses.

Income Taxes

The difference in our effective tax rates for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 was primarily due to recording a valuation allowance against our deferred tax assets during the year ended December 31, 2016, the negative tax benefit on the vesting of restricted stock, a direct result of the Company's lower stock price in 2016, and the non-deductible write-off of goodwill in 2016.  We recorded an aggregate deferred federal, state and local tax benefit of $139.6 million as a result of the operating loss for the year ended December 31, 2016, which was offset by an increase in the valuation allowance of $142.9 million. We evaluate our deferred tax assets each quarter to determine if a valuation allowance is required based on whether it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax asset would not be realized. Our valuation allowance as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 was $264.3 million and $121.6 million, respectively. As described in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements, we expect to record a significant increase to the valuation allowance in connection with the transactions related to the Blackstone Venture.

We recorded interest charges related to our tax contingency reserve for cash tax positions for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 which are included in provision for income tax for the period. Tax returns for years 2012 through 2015 are subject to future examination by tax authorities. In addition, the net operating losses from prior years are subject to adjustment under examination.

Comparison of Year Ended December 31, 2015 and 2014

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, statement of operations items and the amount and percentage of change of these items. The results of operations for any particular period are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period. The following data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, which are included in "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."

Our results reflect our acquisition of Emeritus subsequent to July 31, 2014, the closing date of the merger.  On August 29, 2014, we completed several transactions with HCP, including our entering into an unconsolidated venture (the "CCRC Venture") with HCP in which we obtained a 51% ownership interest and to which we contributed all but two of our legacy Brookdale entry fee CCRCs, our  entering into an unconsolidated venture (the "HCP 49 Venture") with HCP in which we obtained a 20% ownership interest and to which HCP contributed 49 communities leased and historically operated by Emeritus, and our amending and restating the terms of certain existing triple net leases between us and HCP (including those acquired in the Emeritus merger).  Our results reflect our previously existing ownership, lease and/or management interests through August 29, 2014, and reflect our venture and management interests and amended lease terms subsequent to such date.  The results of the entry fee CCRCs contributed the CCRC Venture are reported in the CCRCs – Entry Fee segment for the time periods prior to being contributed to the CCRC Venture.  The results of the two legacy Brookdale entry fee CCRCs that were not contributed to the CCRC Venture are included in the CCRCs – Entry Fee segment for the six month period ended June 30, 2014 and the CCRC – Rental segment for the periods subsequent to June 30, 2014.  See Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements for more information regarding our acquisition of Emeritus and our transactions with HCP.

During 2014, one community was moved from the Retirement Centers segment to the CCRCs – Rental segment to more accurately reflect the underlying product offering of the community.  The movement did not change our reported segments, but it did impact the revenues and expenses reported within the Retirement Centers and CCRCs – Rental segments.

At December 31, 2015 our total operations included 1,123 communities with a capacity to serve 108,420 residents.