Ziegler successfully closed the $47.9 million Series 2025 bonds for Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community. Ziegler has had a relationship with Bishop Gadsden for more than 20 years.
Bishop Gadsden owns and operates a not-for-profit CCRC on James Island in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1850, Bishop Gadsden provided housing for seniors on the peninsula of Charleston but moved to its current location in 1987 on land donated by St. James Episcopal Church. Over the years, the community has grown to include a campus of 125 acres consisting of 283 independent living units, 79 assisted living units, 32 memory care units and 100 skilled nursing beds (32 of which are rehabilitation beds), together with a variety of related common areas.
Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Communities, the parent company established to facilitate future growth, became the controlling and supporting organization of Kiawah Life Plan Village, Inc. doing business as Seafields by Bishop Gadsden. Seafields is a CCRC on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, that opened in late 2025 and consists of 88 independent living units and 16 assisted living units, and provides skilled nursing services through an agreement with Bishop Gadsden. Neither BGEC or Seafields are members of the Bishop Gadsden Obligated Group.
Bishop Gadsden is starting capital improvements consisting of a variety of new, renovated or expanded settings on the campus to include an expanded Wellness Center (including a new aquatic complex, an expanded fitness center with new training and cardio equipment, new locker rooms, new pickleball and multi-sport courts, and a new clinical pavilion with an expanded physical therapy suite, all anchored by gathering space in the Wellness Hub), a performing arts and event space project, culinary upgrades, meeting space and office projects (new resident meeting spaces, an expanded board room and culinary service area, additional administrative offices and new restrooms), additional parking, a new team member lounge and courtyard, and previously completed central plant improvements (HVAC/new chillers, among other improvements).
These capital improvements were funded with the Series 2025 bonds, which will be issued through the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority. The Series 2025 bonds have a 30-year final maturity with a wrapped debt service structure that results in a weighted average maturity of 20.03 years, and a blended yield to maturity of 5.13%. The offering attracted participation from nineteen institutional investors.
