$217M Funds Chartwell's Seniors Housing Buy

ATLANTA-Ontario, Canada-based Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT has acquired the 21-property Merrill Gardens senior housing portfolio with $217.3 million in financing.

The portfolio properties are located in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. They will be managed under a master operating lease by Horizon Bay Chartwell LLC, which is a joint venture between Chartwell and Tampa-based Horizon Bay Senior Communities.

The first mortgage loans were provided by locally based Collateral Real Estate Capital LLC and subsequently sold to Freddie Mac using its seniors housing standard delivery loan product. Each loan featured a 10-year term, plus a one-year extension period, with five years of interest-only followed by amortization on a 30-year schedule. The fixed-rate loans closed with interest rates in the upper 5% range.

“This is the fourth or fifth time we’ve worked with Chartwell,” Collateral director Richard Thomas tells GlobeSt.com. “The senior industry is very strong. We’re at the early stages of the Baby Boomers retiring, so it’s only going to get stronger.”

Combined the properties contain 1,927 independent and assisted living units. Properties include one- and two-bedroom units with kitchens, garages, private patios, billiard rooms, activity and craft centers, and other features.

“It was important for Freddie Mac and Collateral to work closely together to deliver the loans as time–from quote to close–was extremely tight [approximately 30 days],” says Collateral managing director Scott Kavel, in a prepared statement.