The bank bond placements keep coming from Ziegler, and the specialty investment bank has already announced several in the last few weeks for not-for-profit CCRC clients. The latest was arranged for a 362-bed/unit CCRC in Manheim, Pennsylvania, that is sponsored by the not-for-profit Pleasant View Communities. Just like Ziegler’s refinance of a CCRC in Texas announced last week, Truist was involved in the deal, as was Fulton Bank, to provide both short-term and long-term debt.
A couple of planned expansion projects spurred the refinance. Opened in 1954 and growing to include 152 independent living apartments and cottages, 95 personal care (assisted living) units and 115 skilled nursing beds (licensed for 133 beds), the community wished to develop an additional two buildings that would house 18 IL units on its existing campus. The second project would consist of 32 IL units and be built in nearby Lititz on the site of the historic Wilbur Chocolate Factory.
In addition to funding the new developments, ownership wanted to take out an existing tax-exempt bank loan. Ziegler had also previously refinanced existing bank debt in 2018 with public, fixed-rate bonds to provide for increased bank financing capacity for the two future projects. So, after soliciting 13 commercial banks, Ziegler first worked with Fulton Bank to provide $34.13 million loan for a 15-year commitment, swapping the portion of the debt that refunded the existing $7.2 million bank loan at an all-in rate of 2.191% for the 15 years. The cost of a previous swap termination was also embedded into the new swap rate.
Then, Truist stepped in to provide the short-term debt in the form of an $18.9 million loan with a five-year bullet maturity that will be redeemed by the entrance fees collected from the new units. Both banks agreed to term sheets in early 2020 and recently closed the deal.
Ziegler also successfully priced $199.4 million in Series 2020A-D fixed-rate bonds for Acts Retirement-Life Communities, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit senior living providers. The proceeds will go to a number of projects across its 26 Life Plan Communities, including the addition of independent living units, repositioning of healthcare units, common area renovations and general infrastructure improvements. This pricing marks the largest senior living bond financing to-date in 2020.
