HJ Sims Arranges $20M Refinancing for Seniors Housing Community Near Boston

CANTON, MASS. — HJ Sims has arranged $20 million in bonds to refinance Orchard Cove, a continuing care retirement community in Canton. Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL) operates the community, which opened in 1993. HJ Sims underwrote the original bonds to build the community in 1992, and has provided expansion financing and capital planning over the intervening years. The new transaction will refinance the community’s existing tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds. Financing objectives included creating a level annual debt service schedule compared with the fluctuating existing schedule, and maximizing annual debt savings over the near term to fund community improvements without increasing the debt load. The maturity on the new bonds was extended and amortized over 30 years, but included a five-year call provision to maintain future flexibility. The maximum annual debt service was reduced by approximately $1.2 million, and aggregate debt-service savings over the next seven years will be $15.4 million, according to HJ Sims.