LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — Carnegie Capital has arranged a $24 million bridge loan to refinance a two-story skilled nursing and assisted living facility along the North Shore of Long Island. The borrower is a local owner-operator that has managed the property for over a decade. The community includes 324 licensed beds. The name of the facility was not disclosed. The two-year loan will restructure operating debt and fund a rehabilitation of the upper level. The note features a fixed rate with a flexible exit after the first year to give the owner the option to either refinance or dispose of the asset. JD Stettin of Carnegie Capital arranged the financing. A private bridge fund provided the capital.
Billy Meyer, managing director of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Advisors, doesn’t mince words when talking about the bridge lender’s cautious approach to financing seniors housing product today. “We don’t underwrite hope as a strategy anymore. It’s just not a good execution strategy, we believe.” Against the backdrop of elevated levels of construction, rising interest rates and operational challenges in seniors housing, Columbia Pacific Advisors is scrutinizing operators heavily before providing funding. “We’re bridge lenders. That is all that we do. Our average loan is 19 months. It’s a short horizon of how far away our exit is, so we need to make sure that [pathway] is very real and clear,” said Meyer. Meyer’s insights on the loan underwriting process came during InterFace Seniors Housing Midwest on Thursday, June 7. The one-day event, which took place at the recently opened four-star Marriott Marquis Chicago at McCormick Place, drew 372 professionals from across the region. Panel discussions focused on everything from design to development to growth strategies for operators, in addition to the state of the capital markets. Moderated by Mike Taylor, senior vice president and group manager for healthcare lending at First Midwest Bank, the capital markets panel also included Ari Adlerstein, …
DALLAS — The Legacy Senior Communities, a not-for-profit organization based in Plano, has broken ground on The Legacy Midtown Park, a $175 million seniors housing community in Dallas. Situated on 10 acres just off North Central Expressway, the property will consist of 184 independent living apartments, 50 assisted living units, 36 memory care residences and 54 suites for short-term rehabilitation or long-term care. Amenities will include multiple dining options and a fitness, aerobics and aquatic center. The project is expected to create approximately 350 jobs upon completion. The developer expects the community to begin opening for some services in fall 2019 with other levels of care becoming available in 2020. SunTrust Bank served as the lead lender for the project with Frost Bank as a participating lender.
OKLAHOMA CITY — A partnership between Denver-based developer Confluent Senior Living and Florida-based management firm Harbor Retirement Associates has broken ground on a 112-unit seniors housing community, HarborChase of South Oklahoma City. The property will be situated on six acres and feature 80 assisted living units and 32 memory care units. Amenities will include a full-service bistro, chapel, clubrooms, beauty salon, library and a fitness and wellness center. The community is scheduled to open in fall 2019.
TUCSON, ARIZ. — Willis Development has completed construction of Sage Desert, an assisted living and memory care community in Northwest Tucson. The community features 86 assisted living units and 20 memory care units, with views of the surrounding desert and mountains. Dekel Strategic Investors provided equity capital for the development, while East West Bank provided construction financing. Milestone Retirement is operating the property. The design team included Jeffrey Demure + Associates and StudioSix5. W.E. O’Neill managed construction. This is the second senior living development project that Willis Development and Dekel have completed together, with a third in California scheduled for groundbreaking later this year.
CHANDLER, ARIZ. — Spectrum Retirement Communities has opened The Enclave at Chandler Senior Living, an independent living, assisted living and memory care community in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler. The three-story, 165,000-square-foot community features a total of 90 independent living units, 45 assisted living units and 24 memory care units. The property will also offer Spectrum’s Residence Club, which offers a transitional step between assisted living and memory care. Spectrum now owns and operates seven seniors housing communities in the Phoenix metro. The developer is based in Denver.
DURHAM, N.H. — Ziegler has closed on $110.5 million in bond financing for the development of RiverWoods Durham, a 222-unit continuing care retirement community (CCRC). The property will be located in Durham, near the Atlantic coast in the southeast corner of the state midway between Boston and Portland, Maine. The community will feature 150 independent living units, 24 assisted living units, 24 memory care units and 24 skilled nursing beds. The financing includes $53 million in permanent bonds, $45.4 million in temporary bonds, and a $12.1 million subordinated note. The bonds are tax-exempt, non-bank qualified bonds issued through the New Hampshire Health and Educational Facilities Authority. RiverWoods Exeter, another property from the same owner-operator, will provide the taxable subordinated note. TD Bank and SunTrust Bank were selected as co-lead banks and People’s United Bank was selected as participant bank for the financing package.
MISSOURI — American Healthcare Investors and Griffin Capital Co. LLC, the co-sponsors of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV Inc., have entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of eight skilled nursing facilities throughout Missouri for $88.2 million. The undisclosed properties total 1,112 beds and approximately 384,000 square feet. The portfolio is fully leased under a 15-year absolute net lease. As of June 13, the REIT has acquired a 2.7 million-square-foot portfolio of 45 medical office buildings, senior housing facilities and skilled nursing facilities in 16 states.
CHICAGO — There is one surefire way to make sales hum in seniors housing, says Margaret Wylde, an industry consultant who has conducted research in this niche property sector for 34 years. Know who your customer is, the product they want and how much they will pay to get what they want. “If you deliver what they actually want, they actually pay more and feel there is value for the dollar spent,” says Wylde, CEO of Oxford, Miss.-based ProMatura Group. The problem is the industry’s knowledge of customers is “not good,” Wylde is quick to add. “We know them in a generic manner. We know their age, we know how many of them there are, and we know how much money [they have]. But we don’t know who they are. And once they get to that golden age, we think they want seniors housing, and that everybody who wants seniors housing is exactly the same because we are giving them a list of stuff.” What’s worse, she believes, is that the industry is by and large chasing the luxury market, which is less than 10 percent of the potential market. “The middle market is 320 percent larger than the market …
Contemporary Healthcare Capital Closes $13.3M Refinancing for Skilled Nursing Facility in New Jersey
NEWTON, N.J. — Contemporary Healthcare Capital has closed $13.3 million in senior and mezzanine loans to refinance a 128-bed skilled nursing facility in Newton. The mezzanine loan was $1.9 million and the senior loan was a $10 million secured buy with $1.4 million cash secured. The borrower was an owner-operator that serves New York and New Jersey. Newton is located in the northwest portion of the state, approximately 60 miles west of New York City. Contemporary’s senior lending partner on the transaction was Commercial Bank of Harrogate, Tenn.