By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer
Levittown, Pa.—The multifamily portfolio of Tryko Partners has grown again, with the acquisition of Levittown, Pa.’s Galilee Village, a 170-unit property that provides HUD-subsidized apartment living for independent older adults.
Galilee Village, was acquired in an off-market transaction from Congregation Beth El, which built the property in 1977 and has owned it since.
Acquiring the property appears to make sense for Brick, N.J.’s Tryko Partners. “This is an all-senior property, and we own other senior properties, affordable and non-affordable,” says Uri Kahanow, company director of acquisitions.
“We own skilled nursing facilities. We’re very familiar with assisted and senior living investments . . . All around, it was a good fit.”
Galilee Village offers two separate areas designed to match differing levels of need among its older residents. Traditional efficiencies and one-bedroom apartments are found in the 120-unit Village portion of the community.
The 50 studio residences of the Pavilion portion come with services supporting activities of daily living. Pavilion residents receive meals, transportation and the services of an on-site social worker.
The Pavilion units will be operated as a not-for-profit, and the Village units operated in a for-profit manner by Tryko Partners, Kahanow says.
Tryko Partners dealt with a number of obstacles in completing the deal. “We had to work with HUD and PHFA [Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency] for a long time,” he adds. “As part of the deal, we committed to putting in all new kitchens, all new windows in all the assisted living units, and redoing the parking lot and sidewalks. We go through units as we acquire a property, and make a unit-by-unit list of renovation requirements. This property has been very well maintained, but we always are continually upgrading our properties.”
Adds Chad Buchanan, Tryko’s vice president of investments: “As always, the pool of lenders that truly understand the affordable housing niche is limited.
“We are fortunate to have fostered strong financing relationships with groups that do ’get it.’ Additionally, beyond the inherent complexities of working through HUD agency approvals, in the case of Galilee Village we also were making the purchase from a non-for-profit. Simply put, the deal had a large number of moving parts. It was gratifying to see them all come together.”
Buchanan noted that within the past few months, Affordable Housing Finance named Tryko Partners one of the nation’s top 10 groups in acquiring affordable properties, and top 10 in affordable housing rehabilitation projects.
“We’re a privately-held, family-owned business that takes pride in its assets,” he says. “[Levittown] residents will be happy that not only will the property continue to be affordable, but it will be a nice asset for the community.”
He adds Tryko Partners intends to be more active in senior affordable housing than in any other housing category. “We are very proud affordable housing owners and operators,” Buchanan says. “We think there will be long-term continuing need across the nation, and specifically in the mid-Atlantic region, for affordable housing to serve our nation’s elderly and aging population.”
