C&W Arranges $145M for Senior Housing Buy

Merrill Gardens at Campbell was one of the properties acquired in West Coast Collection portfolio sale.

Boston—Cushman & Wakefield Senior Housing Capital Markets Group has arranged the sale and acquisition financing for a 456-unit senior housing portfolio. The seller of the portfolio, called the West Coast Collection, was a joint venture of Merrill Gardens and an affiliate of Heitman. The buyer is a new joint venture between Merrill Gardens and institutional investor AEW Capital Management, for which Cushman & Wakefield arranged $145 million in long-term acquisition financing from Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers.

The portfolio includes the recently completed Merrill Gardens of Huntington Beach, Merrill Gardens at Lafayette, Merrill Gardens at Campbell and Merrill Gardens at First Hill. The properties offer independent and assisted living as well as memory care services, and are located in Orange County, Calif., San Francisco, Silicon Valley and downtown Seattle. Merrill Gardens at Lafayette is expected to close separately later this year.

Merrill Gardens developed the Huntington Beach, Lafayette and Campbell communities in California and acquired the First Hill community in Seattle. The company, which is a subsidiary of R.D. Merrill Co., continue to operate the communities.

The Cushman & Wakefield team involved in the transactions included Executive Managing Director Richard Swartz, Managing Director Jay Wagner, Senior Director Aaron Rosenzweig, Senior Director Michael Kane and Director Timothy Hosmer.

“The competition for the portfolio was intense, highlighting the strong demand for stabilized, newly constructed properties in coastal in-fill locations,” said Swartz.

Swartz also told MHN that the properties were particularly attractive because of their location in affluent West Coast markets, strong leasing performance and “outstanding sponsorship/management from Merrill Gardens.” In addition, three of the four buildings were newly developed.

“We know the portfolio would be very attractive to both buyers and lenders. Our objective was to optimize the pricing and terms of the two transactions,” he added.

Seattle-based Merrill Gardens owns 33 communities in six states, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Nevada and Washington.