Grand Lifestyles has acquired a slate of supportive living communities formerly belonging to defunct operator Pathway to Living as part of a $150 million portfolio transaction.
The properties include eight supportive living facilities with a total bed count of 921 beds across the portfolio, all of which are in the greater Chicago metro area. The transaction was made possible by lender Greystone, which provided a two-year bridge loan for the deal and plans to transition the debt into long-term, fixed-rate financing.
All of the newly acquired communities were originally managed by Pathway under the umbrella of its Victory Centre affordable senior housing brand. Under the model, the communities’ rents were based on a percentage of monthly income, and residents could use Medicaid dollars to stay in their units should they run out of personal funds.
Grand Lifestyles plans to offer both supportive living and independent living in the communities.
The company already owns and operates five supportive living communities under the Grand Regency brand and operates an independent living community in Palatine, Illinois, called the Grand at Twin Lakes.
Grand Lifestyles had looked to acquire the Victory Centre communities “for quite a few years,” according to Principal Eli Finestone.
“The Victory Centre chain is a well-known name in the supportive living market, and we intend make a great product even better,” Finestone told Senior Housing News. “We have always operated under the belief that our mission of improving the quality of life of the seniors we serve drives our margin.”
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (IHFS) licenses and helps fund supportive living communities in the state. Other examples of the program at work can be found in developer Evergreen Real Estate Group’s Ravenswood Senior Living community in Chicago.
Pathway to Living’s future as a company was called into question after real estate firm Waterton transitioned all of the Chicago-based operator’s management agreements to other operators, including Sonata Senior Living. The decision was driven not by operational difficulties, but by a shift in long-term strategy at Waterton, insiders told Senior Housing News earlier this year.
“Waterton is a well-respected owner and management company in many asset classes,” Victory Centre Co-Owner and Pathway Co-Founder Brian Cloch told SHN in April. “Their exit from senior living highlights the difficulty and challenges that senior living operators face, especially in comparison to similar asset classes.”
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