FREDERICK, MD. — Wagman Construction has completed construction of The Lodge at Willow Ponds, a new independent living expansion on the Willow Ponds continuing care retirement community (CCRC) campus in Frederick, approximately 50 miles west of Baltimore. Homewood Retirement Centers of the United Church of Christ owns the CCRC, which is located on over 100 acres. The $50 million expansion project added a four-story, 277,000-square-foot building totaling 150 apartments and patio homes. An additional 50 units may be added in the future. Noelker and Hull served as lead architect and designer on the project. Wagman is a construction firm with offices in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Homewood is a faith-based operator with communities throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Seniors Housing
Cushman & Wakefield Arranges $145M Acquisition Financing for West Coast Seniors Housing Portfolio
by Nellie Day
SEATTLE — Cushman & Wakefield has arranged $145 million in acquisition financing for Merrill Gardens, which will use the funds to purchase a 456-unit seniors housing portfolio on the West Coast. Merrill Gardens, a seniors housing owner-operator based in Seattle, already operates the four communities that it will now own, along with a joint venture partner that was not named. The portfolio includes properties in the high-barrier-to-entry markets of Orange County, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and downtown Seattle. The properties acquired are Merrill Gardens of Huntington Beach, Merrill Gardens at Lafayette, Merrill Gardens at Campbell, and Merrill Gardens at First Hill. The communities offer independent living, assisted living and memory care. Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, acting on behalf of an institutional investor, provided the $145 million in long-term financing. The Cushman & Wakefield team, which arranged both the loan and the transaction, included Richard Swartz, managing director; Jay Wagner, managing director; Aaron Rosenzweig, senior director; Michael Kane, senior director; and Timothy Hosmer, director.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Watercrest Senior Living has opened Watercrest of San Jose, a 90-unit assisted living and memory care community in Jacksonville. The 79,000-square-foot, resort-style property offers 66 units of assisted living and 24 memory care apartments. Situated on the banks of Goodby’s Creek, the property features a signature spa (Spa W), wine bistro and multiple dining venues. Watercrest of San Jose will be co-owned by Starling Senior Living.
Western States Lodging, Colmena Group to Build $30M Assisted Living Community in Scottsdale
by Nellie Day
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Western States Lodging & Management and Colmena Group have announced plans for Legacy Village at Sale River, a 230-unit assisted living and memory care community within the Pima Center business park in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. Development costs are estimated at $30 million. Construction on the multi-building project is expected to begin in early 2017, for opening in 2018. When completed, Legacy Village will feature a three-story building with 130 assisted living units and a two-story building with 70 assisted living units and 30 memory care units. Beecher Walker Architects designed the community. Pima Center is a 232-acre mixed-use development within the Salt River Indian Reservation. Mainspring Capital is developing the business park, which includes more than 1 million square feet of office space and 430,000 square feet of industrial/flex facilities. Western States is a developer of hotels and seniors housing communities, including the Legacy brand. Colmena is a development and investment group with a portfolio of nearly 11,000 housing units. Both companies are based in Salt Lake City.
ORLAND PARK, ILL. — Caddis and Pathway Senior Living have begun construction on Heartis Village Orland Park, a seniors housing community in Orland Park, 26 miles southwest of Chicago. The 94-unit, 89,950-square-foot assisted living and memory care community will be located at 159th Street and Harlem Avenue. A Caddis affiliate will own the community, and Pathway Senior Living LLC will be the operator. Amenities will include fitness classes, excursions, games, movies, fishing, boating and horseback riding. The community will feature a salon and spa, two interior courtyards, a private dining room, arts and crafts room, media room, 24-hour emergency call system, laundry services and personal transportation. Heartis Village Orland Park will be complete in fall 2017. Austin, Texas-based Katus LLC is the architect for the project, and McShane Construction Co. is the general contractor.
KeyBank Provides $116.6M in Financing to Recapitalize Sentio Seniors Housing Portfolio
by John Nelson
ORLANDO, FLA. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided $116.6 million in loans to Sentio Healthcare Properties, a REIT based in Orlando. Sentio will use the money to recapitalize its portfolio of eight seniors housing properties throughout the United States. The financing was structured as a $62 million in direct (balance sheet) loan and a series of Fannie Mae loans totaling $54.6 million. The specific eight properties involved in the financing were not disclosed. Grant Saunders and Sarah Belmont of KeyBank Real Estate Capital’s Healthcare Group originated the bank term loan, while Charlie Shoop of Key’s Healthcare Mortgage Banking Group arranged the Fannie Mae financing. Sentio is a public, non-traded REIT established in 2006. The company primarily invests in seniors housing and healthcare communities with investments in 34 properties across 16 states.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An age wave is coming that will be the most extraordinary demographic disruption in history, and one which will create both winners and losers in the seniors housing space, predicts Ken Dychtwald, a noted psychologist, gerontologist and author. The number of people 65 and older in this country is projected to increase 81 percent between 2010 and 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The first of the Baby Boomers will turn 80 in 2026. That demographic tsunami presents great opportunities and risks for owners and operators of seniors housing. “You will win if you can imagine this generation, understand what’s in their hearts and souls and minds and bodies, and then project them into a stage of life that itself is morphing as they migrate into it,” said Dychtwald, founder and CEO of Emeryville, Calif.-based Age Wave, a thought leader on issues relating to an aging population, including the business and social implications. The comments from Dychtwald came during the 2016 NIC Fall Conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. The three-day event attracted a record turnout of more than 2,500 attendees, largely owners, operators, developers and lenders. Dychtwald was the first of three speakers …
CBRE Arranges $24.9M Refinancing for 102-Unit Seniors Housing Community Near San Diego
by Nellie Day
SANTEE, CALIF. — CBRE Capital Markets’ Debt & Structured Finance team has arranged a $24.9 million loan for The Grant Companies to refinance The Pointe at Lantern Crest, a seniors housing community in the San Diego suburb of Santee. CBRE’s Bill Chiles, Scott Peterson and Brian Cruz secured a 10-year loan through Freddie Mac. The loan will refinance the existing construction loan. The Pointe at Latern Crest opened in 2012 offering assisted living and memory care units. The second phase, which was completed in 2015, added independent and assisted living. The Grant Companies was formed in 1989 as a joint venture between three California corporations. The company has developed or constructed more than $500 million in medical office buildings, apartment complexes, industrial buildings, shopping centers, motels, restaurants and mixed-use developments.
GLENDALE, ARIZ. — Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, has arranged $20.5 million in non-rated, fixed-rate bonds for Glencroft Senior Living, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Glendale. The community, built by Friendship Retirement Corp. in 1970, comprises several entities: Glencroft Towers I, Sarah’s Place, Friendship Foundation and Colter Commons. The CCRC totals 752 units. Glencroft Towers I and Sarah’s Place were funded with HUD and FHA-insured loans, respectively, which the new bonds will refinance. The new bonds are part of a turnaround effort for Glencroft, which was hit hard by the Great Recession. New management took over the community in 2014, converting from an entry-fee model to a standard rental model to attract middle-market seniors.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS AND SAN FRANCISCO — Enlivant, an owner and operator of senior living communities, and global investment firm TPG have purchased 48 seniors housing communities in 14 states from several unrelated organizations. The sales price was not disclosed. The acquisition totals 3,084 independent living, assisted living and memory care apartment units, which represents a nearly 40 percent expansion for Enlivant. Sixteen of the transactions recently closed, and the remaining 32 are expected to close over the next several months. “These transactions mark a period of significant business momentum for Enlivant as it continues to scale its national operating platform while maintaining its founding commitment of providing each of its residents with the highest level of attentive, individualized and personalized care in a home-like setting,” said Avi Banyasz, partner and co-head of TPG Real Estate, TPG’s real estate division. The acquired communities are located in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Following these acquisitions, Enlivant will operate approximately 230 senior living communities spanning 11,000 apartment units across 27 states. Many of these new communities have larger total unit counts and more services than Enlivant’s typical community. TPG acquired Enlivant …