It was revealed that Arbor Realty Trust funded the recent acquisition of a 440-bed skilled nursing facility in Syracuse, New York. Alexander Kaushansky of Arbor worked on behalf of the borrower, VestraCare, to arrange a $41.6 million bridge loan, with Evan Goldenberg of EBEX Holdings and Ari Dobkin of Meridian Capital Group also assisting in the financing.
The facility had a history of operational challenges, but since being acquired in 2015 by a partnership between a New-Jersey based skilled nursing operator and an Illinois lawyer, occupancy had improved from 64% to 89% in just a year. Now, VestraCare, which is controlled by Long Island-based Edward Farbenblum, is taking over at a cost of $45 million, or just over $100,000 per bed. In addition to renaming the facility, replacing the administrator and re-training staff, VestraCare plans to invest $4 million in renovations to the facility.
