An investor who specializes in distressed real estate recently bought an unfinished senior housing complex in Hilliard, Ohio for a fraction of what it cost former owner Erickson Retirement Communities LLC to develop.
Alex Dorsey, owner of The Windsor Companies, placed the winning—and sole—bid of $8.26 million for Hickory Chase, a retirement community with a nearly-completed $34 million first phase, reports the Columbus Business First.
A previous attempt to sell the 87-acre site at public auction this past summer failed because a minimum reserve bid of $9.99 million was not met. This time, the minimum bid was lowered to $7.99 million.
Erickson Retirement Communities, now known as Erickson Living following its 2009 acquisition by Redwood Capital, was forced to halt development on Hickory Chase due to the worsening economy.
Originally planned as a 1,529-unit high-end continuing care retirement community, according to the journal, the complex currently has about 145 unfinished residential units that cost Erickson about $34 million.
Erickson had purchased the site in early 2008 for $11.9 million before suspending construction in 2009, when the property ultimately fell into foreclosure.
Redevelopment plans are in the works, Dorsey told Business First.
“We will work with the city of Hilliard on a complementary development on that site,” he said, adding that while he does expect to complete the first phase of the senior housing development, the complex will not follow Erickson’s original plans.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
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