HJ Sims Closes $214 Million Financing For Start-Up CCRC Sinai Residences of Boca Raton

FAIRFIELD, Conn., May 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HJ Sims is pleased to announce the successful closing of the $213,785,000 financing for Sinai Residences of Boca Raton, a start-up continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Boca Raton, Florida.

Located on the campus of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County (the Federation), Sinai Residences is a resort-style CCRC that will host over 500 residents in 237 independent living units, 48 assisted living units, 24 memory-support units and 60 skilled-nursing suites. Scheduled to open in 2015, the community is sponsored by Federation CCRC Operations Corp. which is a not-for-profit corporation organized to develop, own and manage the community.

Supported by findings from a demographic study of the area by the Federation, the need was identified for a CCRC to serve the residential, medical and other care needs of the aging population in south Palm Beach County. HJ Sims began working with the Federation in 2010, along with a team comprised of experts in the development of CCRCs, to review a number of alternatives for the creation of Sinai Residences.

Tasked with raising pre-development capital for Sinai Residences, HJ Sims raised two tranches of tax-exempt Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs). The first $9,450,000 tranche of BANs was raised in June 2011.  The second $2,900,000 tranche of BANs was raised in March 2013 to fund additional development and marketing costs.

The permanent $214 million financing for Sinai Residences structured by HJ Sims includes $120,735,000 of tax-exempt, non-rated, fixed rate bonds and $69,000,000 of tax-exempt Entrance Fee Principal Redemption Bonds^SM. Approximately $76 million of these bonds were sold to retail investors through the HJ Sims sales organization, with the balance of the bonds sold to 36 institutional investors. Additionally, the permanent financing includes $24,050,000 of Draw Down Bonds that will be purchased over an eighteen month period to significantly reduce the amount of capitalized interest. HJ Sims required the purchaser of the Draw Down Bonds to provide a third-party irrevocable letter of credit to ensure sufficiency of funds.

The success of the HJ Sims sales and marketing organization combined with an improvement in the housing and financial markets and the strength of the pre-sales velocity at Sinai Residences resulted in an annual debt service savings of greater than $1 million per year versus a feasibility study conducted prior to the financing.  Pre-sales of independent living units at Sinai Residences achieved 91% by the time the bonds were priced in April 2014.

"HJ Sims is proud to deliver such a successful financing for the Federation and Sinai Residences," commented Aaron Rulnick, Principal of HJ Sims. "We worked closely with the Federation and the development team for more than four years stringently monitoring the housing and financial markets to ensure we developed an efficient and effective financing structure. We're pleased to help the Federation create what we are sure will be a world-class senior living community that will support the Federation's core mission and programs for the local Palm Beach County community."

"Working with Sims on the $250 million Sinai Residences project since its inception through closing has been a total pleasure," said Mel Lowell, Chief Operating Officer of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. "Their financial acumen, counsel, leadership, innovation, availability and professionalism allowed our project to be successfully financed. You could not ask for a better financial development partner."

The Sinai Residences project team includes HJ Sims as financial advisor, Greenbrier Development as development and marketing consultant, Life Care Services as manager of the community and Perkins Eastman as the architect. 

HJ Sims is a full service investment bank specializing in structuring and underwriting senior living and long term care financings, including tax-exempt and taxable bonds, mezzanine loans, equity, seed money, bank financing, and FHA-insured loans.  HJ Sims also provides financial advisory services in the areas of capital planning, restructuring and mergers & acquisitions.

About HJ Sims:

Founded on Wall Street in 1935 as Herbert J. Sims & Company, HJ Sims is a privately held broker-dealer with approximately $1.6 billion of assets under management.  Known as one of the country's oldest underwriters of tax-exempt and taxable bonds, the first tax-exempt revenue bond issues for a hospital and a long term care facility were structured by Sims bankers in 1964 and 1965.  A pioneer in financing for senior housing and long term care, HJ Sims has raised more than $16 billion for senior living projects throughout the US.  The financing experience highlighted in this communication may not be representative of future performance. The firm is based in Fairfield, Connecticut, with investment banking, private client wealth management and trading offices in, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas and Puerto Rico.  All client assets are custodied at Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.  Member FINRA/SIPC.

About the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County:

The mission of the Federation is to further the welfare of the Jewish community by strategically engaging donors, supporters and community partners in addressing and planning for current and future needs of the Jewish people locally, in Israel and around the world. In support of this mission, the Federation provides the surrounding Palm Beach County community with numerous facilities and programs such as family services, early childhood education, cultural activities and extensive health and wellness programs. Sinai Residences will occupy approximately 21-acres on the 100-acre Boca Raton campus of the Federation.

SOURCE HJ Sims