Cash Incentives Help Drive $99 Million Buyout of Blackstone Portfolio
	Carlyle Beefs up Portfolio with Premiere Texas Property
	Real Capital Analytics, NIC Join Forces to Track Seniors Housing Property Sales
	Marcus & Millichap Arranges $7.4 Million Construction Loan for Assisted Living Facility in Utah

Operating incentives, often in the form of cash, are taking center stage lately as investors seek to boost returns and property managers look to share in revenue gains.

Earlier this month, assisted living owner and operator Emeritus Corp. announced that it has agreed to pay $99 million to take full ownership of 24 assisted living buildings it jointly owns with Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. The deal is expected to close by June 30.

Emeritus operates the properties and has a 19% share in the portfolio. New York-based Blackstone owns 81% of the portfolio. Under the joint venture agreement, Emeritus has the first right to purchase the properties.

The partners paid $190 million in 2007 for the properties, which are scattered across the country. Typical of the facilities is a 96-unit assisted living and memory care building, Emeritus at Sarasota, in Florida. The properties are now valued at $310 million because of building upgrades and improved cash flows.

The joint venture is structured so Emeritus earns an increasing share of investment returns as building operations improve. The deal foreshadows a much bigger transaction involving Blackstone and Emeritus.

The Carlyle Group, a giant asset manager, has expanded its seniors housing portfolio with the purchase of an independent living rental community in Fort Worth, Texas. The 203-unit Franklin Park at Cityview was purchased April 28 and has been renamed Vantage at Cityview.

The seller was USA Franklin Park, DST, a West Coast–based investor that had owned the property for about a year. The project was built by Franklin Development of San Antonio, which owns a handful of seniors housing facilities in Texas.

The sale price was not disclosed. Leisure Care, based in Seattle, is now managing the property.

In an effort to provide the seniors housing community with improved transaction data, Real Capital Analytics (RCA) and the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry (NIC) have entered into a collaborative initiative.

As part of the agreement, NIC will provide RCA with its U.S. database of seniors housing information, and RCA will enhance this transaction data to provide jointly produced industry trend reports and analytics.

The transaction database and analytical reports will be offered to both NIC MAP subscribers and RCA clients later this year. In addition, a NIC-RCA quarterly transactions report will be produced and be available through each organization.

Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. has arranged a $7.45 million construction loan and long-term commitment for an assisted-living facility in St. George, Utah.

The construction loan is for two years and then a 75% loan-to-value, long-term loan will be in place to take over upon occupancy.

Jeffrey Meierhofer, an associate director in Salt Lake City, arranged the transaction in a market where construction funding is scarce. “When local lenders were unable to provide funding, Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. was able to draw upon the firm’s mid-market relationships to secure financing,” says Meierhofer.