Senior Housing Finance Activity: Berkadia, Cambridge, Ziegler, More

Lancaster Pollard Assisted Kan. CCRC with Bond Refinance

Lancaster Pollard recently assisted Brewster Place Retirement Community, a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community in Topeka, Kan., in refunding an existing bond issue.

The 30-acre CCRC has 229 independent living units, 28 assisted living units and a fully licensed 97-bed skilled nursing facility. Lancaster Pollard developed a credit profile for Brewster Place and solicited an investor that provided the lowest cost of capital with the greatest flexibility.

The organization refunded the existing bonds with a private placement of $10 million in tax-exempt bonds at a fixed interest rate of less than 3.5% for 12 years. Part of the proceeds will be used to finance nearly $2 million in general improvements. Additionally, the existing debt service reserve fund was released and not required for the new bonds. Bill Wilson, senior vice president and regional manager of the firm’s office in Lawrence, Kan., was the lead banker on the transaction.

Love Funding Secures $8.7 Million Loan for Calif. Skilled Nursing Facility

Love Funding recently announced the closing of an $8.7 million loan refinancing for Country Villa Rehabilitation Center, a skilled nursing facility in Los Angeles, Calif.

Senior director Leonard Lucas out of Love Funding’s Boston office, together with Citra Capital Management LLC, secured the loan through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 232/223(f) LEAN loan program. The loan refinanced existing debt with a low interest rate that is fixed for 26 years. The refinancing provided enough additional proceeds to fund repairs and property improvements.

Country Villa has 180 beds and is part of the Country Villa Health Services network, a family-owned and operated company that began operations in 1969 and has grown to one of the largest skilled nursing providers in California.

Cain Brothers Closes $25 Million Bond Issue for Cayuga Medical Center

Cain Brothers announced it has structured and closed $25.0 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds for Cayuga Medical Center, a 190-bed health care facility located in Ithaca, N.Y. The financing consisted of a 10-year fixed rate bank direct purchase used for the purpose of reimbursing various project costs.

On behalf of CMC, Cain Brothers conducted a competitive bid process to determine the bank partner from a group of regional and national banks. Cain Brothers negotiated best and final proposals from all participants. The tailored process allowed CMC to achieve a favorable interest rate, a longer term, favorable security terms, and a reasonable covenant package.

Greystone Originations $28 Million Financing Two Senior Apartment Complexes

Greystone recently announced that it has provided a total of $28 million in bridge loan financing to United Group of Companies Inc., for two market rate senior apartment communities located in New York and Georgia. The loans were originated by Donny Rosenberg, a Managing Director in Greystone’s multifamily lending group, in conjunction with Steve Germano, Managing Director of Greystone’s Portfolio Lending Group.

The loan proceeds were used to refinance existing debt, and Greystone will work with United Group of Companies to provide long-term financing prior to the maturity of the bridge loan.

Schulyler Commons in New York and The Lodge at BridgeMill in Georgia received $28 million of loan proceeds through Greystone’s bridge loan program. Both properties received attractive terms with a new maturity allowing the borrower to execute their business plan.

Berkadia Funds $60 Million Portfolio of SNFs in Arkansas for OHI

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC recently originated $59.8 million through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 232/223(a)(7) program to refinance a portfolio of 12 skilled nursing facilities in Arkansas.

Jay Healy, assistant vice president of Berkadia, worked with borrower Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (NYSE:OHI) to secure the financing.

OHI acquired the assets in December 2011 and assumed HUD debt through a transfer of physical assets from the previous owner. Berkadia closed all 12 loans simultaneously on March 26, 2013. As a result of the portfolio refinance, OHI is realizing approximately $1 million in annual debt service savings.

The portfolio consists of individual loans ranging from $1.9 million to $9.4 million, spanning more than 1,400 beds.

Ziegler Closes $37.7 Million SNF Portfolio Refinance

Ziegler Financing Corporation, the FHA-insured mortgage lending arm of Ziegler, recently announced the successful closing of the $37,653,300 portfolio refinancing of six skilled nursing facilities, owned and operated by Extendicare Health Services, Inc.

Extendicare is the U.S. subsidiary of Extendicare Inc. (TSX:EXE), which operates 150 senior care communities nationwide. ZFC assisted Extendicare with the refinancing of their existing facilities located in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin using FHA’s Section 232/223(f) refinancing program.

ZFC closed more than $136 million (par amount) of FHA-insured loans in 2010, 2011, and 2012 on behalf of Extendicare.

LTC Properties Prices Public Offering of 3.5 Million Shares of Common Stock

LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE:LTC) announced last Friday it priced its underwritten public offering of 3.5 million shares of its common stock at $44.50 per share. LTC Properties has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 525,000 additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based REIT expects net proceeds of about $149 million from the offering, or $171.3 million if the underwriters exercise the overallotment option in full.

Wells Fargo Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets are acting as joint book-running managers for the Offering. Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., CSCA, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, LLC, JMP Securities LLC and Sidoti & Company, LLC are acting as co-managers for the Offering.

LTC Properties intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to pay down amounts outstanding under its unsecured line of credit, to fund acquisitions and the current development pipeline, and for general corporate purposes.

The offering is expected to close on May 8, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.

Cambridge Closes $44.2 Million in Loans 

Cambridge Realty Capital Companies recently announced closing on a $19.8 million FHA-insured HUD Lean loan to refinance Horizon Health and Subacute Center, a 180-bed skilled nursing home in Fresno, Calif.

The fully-amortized, 30-year term loan was arranged for the owner, a California limited partnership, using the HUD Section 232/223(f) funding program.

Hymie Barber, Cambridge’s National Originations Manager and the Managing Director of Catalyst/Cambridge Health Care Finance in Los Angeles, the company’s West Coast affiliate, coordinated the transaction, which was underwritten by Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois.

Cambridge also recently announced it has closed on a $14.4 million FHA-insured HUD Lean loan to refinance Skokie Meadows, a 224-bed skilled and intermediate-care nursing home in Skokie, Ill.

The fully-amortized, 29-year term loan was arranged for the owner using the HUD Section 232/223(a)(7) funding program. Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois underwrote the loan.

The company announced on Thursday the closing of a $7.3 million FHA-insured loan to refinance Burbank Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, a 188-bed skilled care nursing home in Burbank, Calif.

The 27-year term loan was arranged using the HUD Section 232/223(a)(7) program and was also arranged by Hymie Barber and underwritten by Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois.

Also on Thursday, Cambridge announced the closing of a $2.7 million loan to refinance Oakley Courts, a 46-bed assisted living facility in Freeport, Ill.

The 35-year term loan was arranged for the owner using the HUD Section 232/223(a)(7) funding program and was underwritten by Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois.

Oak Grove Capital Closes $259 Million Credit Facility for Brookdale

Oak Grove Capital this week the closing of a $259 million Fannie Mae DUS credit facility for Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD). The 10-year, variable-rate facility was used to refinance existing mortgage debt.

“Fannie Mae was very creative in designing a credit facility to accommodate differing maturity dates for Brookdale’s debt and the repayment of tax-exempt bonds on a date certain,” said Bill Kauffman, managing director of Oak Grove Capital’s Seniors Housing and Healthcare Finance Group.

Brookdale Senior Living used the new debt to refinance existing loans for 23 different properties, totaling 1,781 units. The collateral pool consists of assisted living, independent living and memory care units located in 10 states, including Florida, New York, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Health Care REIT to Raise Up to $1.7 Billion in Stock Offering

Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN) announced Wednesday the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 20,000,000 shares of common stock at $73.50 per share. The offering was increased in size from 18,000,000 shares and underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 shares during the next 30 days.

HCN estimates that the gross proceeds from this offering will be approximately $1.5 billion (or approximately $1.7 billion if the underwriters’ option is exercised in full).

The Toledo, Ohio-based REIT intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay advances under its unsecured lines of credit, to repay other outstanding indebtedness and for general corporate purposes, including investing in health care real estate and seniors housing properties.

UBS Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets acted as joint book-running managers for the offering.

LTC Properties Nets $171 Million from Public Offering

LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE:LTC) announced Wednesday the closing of its previously-announced public offering of 3,500,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $44.50 per share. The REIT also sold 525,000 shares of its common stock the same price pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, resulting in a total public offering of 4,025,000 shares for net proceeds of approximately $171.3 million.

Wells Fargo Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets are acting as joint book-running managers for the Offering. Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., CSCA, J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, LLC, JMP Securities LLC and Sidoti & Company, LLC are acting as co-managers for the Offering.

Oak Grove Capital Originates $31.9 Million of Senior Housing Loans

Oak Grove Capital recently announced originating loans totaling about $31.9 million for two senior housing properties.

One was a $22 million Fannie Mae loan for Abbotswood at Irving Park in Greensboro, N.C. The other was a $9.87 million loan through the HUD Section 232/223(a)(7) funding program for The Inn at Westport in Sioux Falls, S.D.