Pillar provides $36m in HUD loans for California senior housing facilities

Maryland-based multifamily and affordable housing lender Pillar, an affiliate of Guggenheim Partners, has provided Los Angeles-based Brius Management Company with $36m in HUD loans to refinance a portfolio of five senior housing facilities with 403 beds in California.

The fixed rate, fully amortizing HUD 232/223(a)(7) 25-year loans priced at 3.65 percent, take out previous HUD loans made in 2011.

The loans on the skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities include $8.7m on the 99-bed Brighton Place San Diego; a $6.8m loan on the 50-bed Presidio Health Care Center in Spring Valley; $6m on the 99-bed Vernon Healthcare Center in Los Angeles; and $5.5m on the 75-bed Brighton Place Spring Valley.

Pillar also provided a $8.5m, 35-year fixed-rate, fully amortizing loan at 3.45 percent for the 80-bed California Nursing and Rehab Center in Palm Springs, part of the HUD’s Lean 232/223 (f) program.

The lender resolved multiple issues with the facility leases in addition to the refinancing, said Pillar managing director Joshua Hausfeld, who originated the loans with director Evan Hom.

“Issues such as bifurcating an existing master lease that was part of a larger portfolio with another facility, creating a new master lease structure and a cross default guarantee agreement, a new accounts receivable line of credit, and other issues had to be addressed before we could close the loans,” he said.

The HUD loans used on the deal are tailored specifically for the acquisition or refinance of residential care, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities. They are administered through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and insured by the Federal Housnig Administration (FHA). Brius Management Company, owned by Shlomo Rechnitz, operates about 57 nursing homes in California.