Senior Living (Febuary 2006)

California developer bound for China

SUNNYLIFE GLOBAL ENTERS DEAL TO DEVELOP 1,500 ASSISTED LIVING UNITS

By John Mugford

Talk about taking its senior living development show on the road.

West Covina, Calif.-based Sunnylife Global Inc. recently entered a land-lease agreement with the Chinese government that’s expected to lead to the development of 1,500 units of assisted living care units in China. The first two projects will take place in the Baotou Province, an area of 2 million people in the northern part of the country.

Publicly traded Sunnylife (OTC: SYNL) plans to lease a total of 2,500 acres at five separate sites of 500 acres apiece. Each of the facilities will have 300 units; the overall project is to be called Garden of the Silver.

The company also announced that it has entered an agreement in which another California firm, Grand Field Inc., will be responsible for the development, management and ultimate sale of the senior housing units as condominiums.

According to Sunnylife officials, each of the five assisted living properties will cost approximately $8.6 million to develop, with revenues from sales at each of the sites totaling an estimated $13.5 million. As part of the deal with the government, Sunnylife would receive 70 percent of the net profits while China would take 30 percent. The agreement with Grand Field calls for a 60-40 split, with Sunnylife receiving the 60 percent share.

Construction on the assisted living facilities is expected to start in fall 2006 and be completed in 2007.

The venture is not Sunnylife’s first in China. The company, in fact, has developed a health care management system (HCMS) in conjunction with the Chinese government to revitalize and renovate a number of 300-bed to 500-bed hospitals in the country. Under the plan, Sunnylife is contracted to upgrade the hospitals to meet certain current international standards. Revenues from the deal are expected to be about $18.75 million.

CNL acquires

25 facilities

from EdenCare

ORLANDO, Fla. – CNL Retirement Properties Inc. in late December announced that it has made another blockbuster senior-housing deal. This time, CNL has acquired 22 senior housing facilities from Alpharetta, Ga.-based EdenCare Senior Living Services LP for about $172 million. McLean, Va.-based Sunrise Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: SRZ) will manage the 22 properties and Harbor Retirement Associates LLC of Vero Beach, Fla., will serve as the tenant.

In another separate transaction, CNL announced that it has acquired three senior housing facilities from EdenCare for $27 million. Harbor Retirement plans to lease and operate the three properties under long-term agreements.

The two portfolio acquisitions represent a total of 1,913 units: 380 independent living, 1,095 assisted living and 438 memory care communities. The facilities are located in seven states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

With the acquisition, CNL’s senior housing portfolio now stands at 119 properties with more than 12,000 units in 27 states. CNL Retirement’s parent company, CNL Financial Group and its entities, has more than $9 billion in assets consisting of more than 3,000 properties in 49 states.

Trilogy acquires

Ohio senior

living facility

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trilogy Health Services of Louisville recently acquired Calvary Manor, a 78-bed nursing home in Ottawa, Ohio, for undisclosed terms.

With the acquisition, Trilogy now operates 30 senior-living facilities in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The company has been active in acquisitions and developments in the past year, as it has built or acquired six new facilities with 573 beds since May 2005.

For 2006, Trilogy says it plans to spend about $50 million to open eight new facilities in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

The wait is over

for Chicago

senior project

CHICAGO – As demand soars for supportive living housing units in the Rogers Park community of Chicago, a developer has stepped forward with a plan for an 84-unit, $15 million project. The local plan commission also sees the need, as it recently endorsed Skokie, Ill.-based developer Barry Ray’s proposal.

The project, to be called Glencrest, is proposed as a six-story building that would open in 2007.

Plans for a similar project were approved back in 1997. However, at that time only 64 units were allowed and the project did not proceed. Currently, zoning of the 1.8-acre site allows for 84 units, a 35 percent increase over the number allowed eight years ago. The site is currently home to a six-flat multifamily rental building, which will be demolished, as well as a 312-unit skilled nursing facility.

The project will include a library, beauty salon, kitchen and dining room, as well as 16 one-bedroom and 68 studio units. The architect on the project is SAS Architects & Planners Inc.

156-unit project

planned for

Hudson, Mass.

HUDSON, Mass. – Quincy, Mass.-based Thorndike Development Co. plans to break ground this spring on a 156-unit senior housing development on 44 acres in Hudson, Mass., between Boston and Worcester.

The project is being designed in a village-like setting with 80 multifamily units and 76 detached homes. Construction is expected to take place over the course of four years, with the first occupants moving in by spring 2007. The condos range in size from 1,800 square feet to 2,400 square feet, while the 76 detached homes will be between 2,300 square feet and 2,600 square feet.

For the Record

DBN Development LLC recently acquired a 22-acre parcel in San Jacinto, Calif., for more than $5 million. The company’s plans for the site entail developing a 240-unit senior apartment complex and a 75,000 square foot, two building medical office complex. The $40 million development is to be called Parkside San Jacinto. The acquisition is DBN’s third in San Jacinto in the last year… Boston Capital has acquired the to-be-built $10.1 million, 78-unit Columbia-Blackshear Senior Residences in Atlanta. Columbia Residential is Boston Capital’s general partner in the acquisition. Boston Capital will provide $8.3 million in equity financing for the development… KeyBank Real Estate Capital recently provided a $50 million permanent mortgage via the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) for Ashton Gardens at Pelican Pointe, a 341-unit senior living campus in Venice, Fla. The deal was unusual in that Fannie Mae provided the fixed-rate financing before the project reached a stabilized level of occupancy and cash flow. Officials with KeyBank, a division of Cleveland-based KeyCorp, say they negotiated an early loan with Fannie Mae to take advantage of low interest rates… The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently awarded $4.4 million for the construction of low-income housing for seniors in Battle Creek, Mich. The money is slated for the construction of 45 to 50 apartments for seniors with incomes of $25,000 or less per year. Expected to open in the middle of 2007, the units will be owned by the nonprofit Presbyterian Villages of Michigan… Collateral Mortgage Capital of Birmingham, Ala., has funded a $9.75 million first mortgage loan for Greenwood Terrace, a senior housing project in Lenexa, Kan. The 20-year, self-liquidating, fixed-rate loan was funded by Collateral through the Fannie Mae DUS loan program. Greenwood Terrace is a 115-unit, three-story property comprising approximately 70,000 square feet… Greystone Servicing Corporation Inc. of Bethesda, Md., recently provided a $3.46 million Fannie Mae DUS loan to Timothy H&G TIC for the refinancing of senior living facilities Timothy House and Timothy Gardens, located in Annapolis, Md. In addition, Greystone has provided a $3.2 million loan to Patatka Retirement Villas Inc., located in Palatka, Fla., for the refinance of a HUD 202 loan on Barry Manor Apartments. Also, Greystone provided a $11.9 million loan for the refinance of Covenant Woods Village, a 172-unit independent living and assisted living facility located in Columbus, Ga…. Cambridge Realty Capital Cos. has provided a $5.8 million conventional bridge loan to refinance the Brookside Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center, a 120-bed skilled nursing home facility in Roslyn, Pa. The loan is to be amortized over a 25-year period, providing cash-out of equity for the borrower, Old Quarry Realty LLC of Lakewood, N.J. The interest rate on the loan was 7.63 percent. q