Ziegler successfully closed $42.5 million in rental senior housing bonds, consisting of both taxable and tax-exempt bonds, to support Wingate Healthcare’s acquisition of two senior living communities in New England. The Pittsfield, Massachusetts community has 125 beds in 118 units, while the Providence, Rhode Island community has 96 beds in 93 units.
Both offer assisted living and memory care services and were previously operated and leased by an affiliate of Wingate, which should make for an easier ownership transition. Wingate will also reposition the properties, including converting the previously closed skilled nursing beds at the Providence property into early-stage memory care units as well as making substantial renovations across both locations.
The overall bond issue was $42.545 million and represented about 97.5% of the total costs. The taxable closing in Massachusetts will convert to tax-exempt once the state has available capacity. They have a final maturity of 32 years, and most of the bonds will be amortized on a long-term basis with taxable tails paid off in 2028. Proceeds of the bonds will fund not only the acquisition costs and capital expenditures, but also a debt service reserve, an operating reserve and costs of issuance. Ziegler’s Capital Markets division handled the distribution of the bonds.
