LCB, Grosvenor JV on NH Senior Housing

BEDFORD, NH-A joint venture of LCB Senior Living and Grosvenor Fund Management has acquired the Arbors of Bedford, a specialized assisted living facility here, for $35 million. It's the first deal for Norwood, MA-based LCB in a newly launched acquisition and development growth program, and represents the second buy for a GFM fund that was formed to acquire up to $500 million in senior housing and medical office facilities.

The seller was not identified; a source familiar with the deal tells GlobeSt.com it was Merrimack Health Group, which had developed the Arbors at Bedford in 1998. JV equity for the deal was provided by Grosvenor, with acquisition financing from Bank of America.

Cushman & Wakefield's Senior Housing Capital Markets Group, which advised LCB, arranged both the JV equity and the acquisition financing. The C&W team in the deal included Richard Swartz and Phil Anderson as co-heads of the senior housing capital markets team, as well as senior director Jay Wagner, director Aaron Rosenzweig and associate Stuart Kim. “Senior housing as an asset class continues to attract private equity investment as well as growing attention from the lending community,” Swartz says in a release. 

LCB Senior Living is a newly formed senior housing owner/operator consisting of the former management team of Newton Senior Living, which was the nation's 16th largest senior housing company by the time it was acquired by Lazard Freres in 2005. LCB currently operates two other assisted living communities in the Greater Boston area: Traditions of Wayland in Wayland, MA; and Traditions of Dedham in Dedham, MA.

The Arbors at Bedford was designed to provide housing and healthcare for residents with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Its 83 beds are nearly fully occupied, according to a release. The acquisition includes an adjacent four-acre wooded parcel that could be developed as complementary seniors housing. The new ownership has plans to repurpose underused space within the existing structure, creating seven new beds in the process.