Was it just us, or did it seem like every time we left a meeting at the NIC Conference in Chicago last week, there was another Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors announcement in our inbox? We exaggerate…a little. The firm announced four deals during the conference, starting with one that we had learned about last month that saw Regional Health Properties sell four skilled nursing facilities in Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma to affiliates of MED Healthcare Partners for $28.5 million. The existing operators were retained at all locations. Brooks Blackmon, Trent Gherardini and Ben Firestone led the way on the deal.
Then, in Inman, South Carolina, Blueprint sold two skilled nursing facilities on behalf of a New York-based national owner in a strategic, non-core disposition. Located in the Spartanburg/Greenville/Asheville MSA, the facilities got a new owner in a reputable Illinois-based real estate investor with a new operating platform that it is expanding in the Southeast. Mr. Gherardini along with Christopher Hyldahl and Gideon Orion handled that deal.
Next up, the dynamic duo of Ben Firestone and Michael Segal represented a publicly traded REIT in the final phase of its operating partner’s complete exit from the state of Kentucky as part of its portfolio management strategy. The deal saw 10 skilled nursing facilities and over 900 total beds sell to an out-of-state investor with a growing Midwest portfolio. Cash flow was positive, with average occupancy near 90%, so the buyer should be able to hit the ground running. Housing & Healthcare Finance sourced the bridge financing for the buyer.
Finally, Messrs. Hyldahl, Firestone, Orion and Segal teamed up to sell a 120-bed skilled nursing facility in Ogden, Utah. Also working on behalf of a public REIT and its operating partner looking to exit the state, they brought in The Ensign Group as the buyer, as the facility complements its existing operations in northern Utah. Built in 1986 with a substantial renovation finished in 1997, the facility is located across from Ogden Regional Medical Center. However, there are over 900 skilled nursing beds within five miles of the facility, so while occupancy was in line with other facilities in the area, it was below operationally stabilized levels. Ensign’s scale and referral networks could break that cycle.
And we want to thank Blueprint, along with Housing & Healthcare Finance, Oxford Finance, Sabra Health Care REIT and Valuation & Information Group for another great time at the House of Blues in Chicago.
