Chris Bilotto, president and CEO of Diversified Healthcare Trust (Nasdaq: DHC), sat down for a video interview during Nareit’s REITworld: 2025 Annual Conference in Dallas, Dec. 8–11.
Bilotto described a favorable operating backdrop for DHC, driven by strong industry tailwinds and a supply-constrained environment that has made new construction costly. As a result, both senior housing and medical office portfolios are experiencing improving occupancies.
DHC benefits from a diversified presence across these sectors and has spent the past few years stabilizing the portfolio through asset sales, repositioning efforts, and active asset management, Bilotto explained. Senior housing is a particular area of optimism, while medical office remains well supported by broader health care demand trends. Life science is a smaller, right-sized segment of the portfolio, concentrated in core markets such as Boston/Cambridge, the Bay Area, and San Diego, where the company remains cautiously bullish but not focused on near-term expansion.
As for the balance sheet, deleveraging has been a central priority. DHC has addressed large near-term maturities through agency financing and other capital markets activity, using proceeds to pay down debt. The company expects to have no significant debt maturities until 2028, positioning it to focus more fully on operations and fundamentals.
Looking ahead, the biggest opportunity lies in the senior housing operating portfolio (SHOP). Significant capital has been invested to refresh assets, add acuity, and drive organic growth. The transition to seven operators—five new to DHC—following the exit of a major operator creates meaningful upside potential through improved occupancy, margins, and overall performance, particularly in 2026, according to Bilotto.