The three deals were orchestrated in the past 30 days. In the newest transaction, completed Dec. 30, CNL Retirement Properties Inc. has contracted to pay Bethesda, MD-based Marriott Senior Living Services Inc. $170 million or about $19 million each for nine senior housing properties in 13 states.
The deal hinges on McLean, VA-based Sunrise Assisted Living Inc. buying all of Marriott Senior Living stock in early 2003. At that time, CNL will sign a long-term management contract with Sunrise to operate the nine properties as well as the 12 senior housing properties CNL bought from Marriott in mid-December for $89 million or about $7.42 million per location.
The two December deals follow the first CNL-Marriott transaction in July when CNL paid Marriott $59 million or about $117,063 per unit for senior-housing properties in Ohio, Massachusetts, Maryland and California.
In October, CNL Retirement added another 1,372 units to its portfolio with the $109-million purchase of 11 Brighton Gardens communities in seven states from Prime Care Properties LLC of Indianapolis. In 2002 alone, CNL has grown its senior housing portfolio to 58 properties in 21 states from three properties in two states.
CNL's total acquisition from Marriott involves 3,368 units. That portfolio comprises 875 independent-living units; 1,467 assisted-living units; 518 special-care (dementia) units; and 408 skilled-nursing units.
In a separate December deal, CNL Hospitality Corp. and Beverly Hills, CA-based Hilton Hotels Corp. partnered to buy two hotels in Texas and Arizona (928 rooms) from Metropolitan Life Insurance Corp. for $121 million or about $130,388 per room.
In a prepared statement, James M. Seneff Jr., founder, chairman and CEO of CNL Financial, says the deal with Sunrise, one of the country's oldest (21 years) and largest (220 communities) senior-housing managers, "aligns our strategy of partnering with the industry's top-tier operators of senior-living facilities." This is Sunrise's first deal with CNL.
Seneff says the newest deal with Marriott "further diversifies our geographic reach into seven new states and significantly broadens the scope of our senior-housing concept."
The property categories involved in the transaction include 12 Brighton Gardens, four MapleRidge, two Hearthside, one independent, full-service and two continuing-care retirement communities. The two continuing-care properties are in Fort Belvoir, VA and Haverford, PA.
Dean Fritchen, a senior associate in the Winter Park, FL office of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT, calls the CNL deals "outstanding long-range strategy. Those deals show how commercial real estate deals can get done when there is cash on the table." Fritchen isn't associated with any of the transactions.
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