During this construction boom in seniors housing, developers are getting creative with where to build their communities. Although the majority of senior care communities are purpose-built, ground-up developments, some developers are taking advantage of existing buildings (like medical office buildings or hotels) that may not have been built for senior care but could be converted to house seniors. Hotels, one would assume, are especially suitable for conversion, with each room already having a bathroom. So, when Bruckal Development saw a need for private pay seniors housing in north Phoenix, Arizona, the firm decided to buy a 126-bed, four-story hotel and reconfigure it into a 119-unit assisted living/memory care community, with 15 of those units being semiprivate rooms for memory care. Built in 2000, the building sits on 3.3 acres and features an outdoor pool and patio area (amenities that will come in handy post-conversion). The hotel also featured plenty of common areas and space for Bruckal to add amenities. All told, the conversion should cost around $4 million, or about $34,000 per unit.

A joint venture partnership between PacVentures LLC and RA Rauch & Associates sold the property to the family-owned Bruckal Development for approximately $8.3 million, or just over $66,000 per unit. Bruckal will bring in Ridgeline Properties to operate the community, which is expected to open in February 2018. Tim Dulany of Colliers International handled the transaction. Although Bruckal has been focused on apartment renovations and infill construction projects in the Phoenix area for the past 10 years, the company also built and operated seniors housing communities in Canada from about 1999 to 2009. So, they are not debutantes to the industry, which should help in the converted community’s future success.